Aesthetically best / best-looking cards of [insert All-Time Great here]

[GOATcards]

We have the Jordan, James, and Russell threads.

Now, how about the best-looking cards of the other All Time Greats, especially the other 5 players in the Top Eight (chronologically: Chamberlain, Jabbar, Bird, Johnson, Duncan) but also of the 7 or so others deemed to be Legends of the sport (the top candidates being the likes of Robertson, West, Olajuwon, Garnett, O'Neal, Bryant, Durant, Curry, Antetokounmpo, Jokic, whoever else in the top 20 or so in Award Shares who qualifies).

In another thread I showed some of my favorite-looking cards, here they are for some of them:

Wilt:


Kareem:


Magic:


Timmy:


I'm having a hard time finding great-looking cards of Larry and Shaq although I haven't looked all that hard for Shaq aside from his RCs (I guess his Beam Team RC is the best-looking).

As for Kobe, I'd go with:


also:
(96 Ultra Rising Stars)


Steph:
(2010 Rookies & Stars - Longevity)


there's also that 2016 Select Chef in the other thread (this looks like a prizm parallel):


and I also like this one of Chef:


but I haven't really done anywhere close to an exhaustive search...

[Tallboy]

Love these aesthetic threads!

I mostly look to do comparisons year-by-year in the competitive age (1989-90 onward for basketball), but let me focus on some guys from before then.

Bill Russell - 1957-58 Topps



Aside from being an RC - which acts as a significant tiebreaker for me - there's the matter that it actually shows him playing defense, which is important for the man who defined what basketball defense at the highest level actually meant.

I also give Topps a lot of credit for this. I think Panini does plenty of things well, but if Evan Mobley has a single RC where he's playing defense, I hope someone tells me. Insane to me that someone clearly seen as primarily a defensive prospect and displaying possibly the best rookie defense since I don't know when doesn't make Panini think that one of the 12,000 cards they put out for him shows him playing defense.

Kareem-Abdul Jabbar - 1972-73 Topps AS



First card of him doing his signature hook and done against Wilt! Hard to beat that.

Wilt Chamberlain - 1972-73 Topps - Lakers Champs



'72-73 Topps again! Of any of the cards that came while Wilt played, to me this is the one that captures him on the court best.

Oscar Robertson - 1961-62 Fleer In Action



In theory a picture of him passing, which is just the sort of thing I'd want.
In reality it looks ambiguous whether that's really what he's about to do...but that's still fitting for Oscar as perhaps the first NBA player who could be described as heliocentric.

Jerry West - 1961-62 Fleer In Action



West getting a rebound isn't what I'd ideally see in a card for him, but within his own era, the photography options are pretty limited. This is a nice looking card, showcasing West's - perpetually surprising to people born later - verticality. It also - as with Oscar - happens to be on a RC.

(It also happens to be the In Action rather than the posed photo, and it's just always funny to me that people favor the latter over the former, but at least some of them really want portraits in general, and that's understandable.)

Julius Erving - 1975-76 Topps All-Star



No card that really nails Erving's glide through the air, but I feel like this comes closest. Here he is matched up against a tough rival with the best shot-blocker in the ABA, and possibly in all of basketball at the time, and he seems to be flying the wrong way away from the basket. But with Erving's hands, he could always sweep the ball around the chasing defender's arm.

Bird/Erving/Magic - 1980-81 Topps



So singular it warrants a mention even if it's not the best subject photography.

Larry Bird -

1984 Star Larry Bird #11



First card to really capture Bird about to do some brilliant improvisation - his signature even above the shooting.

Competitive Era

1990-91 Hoops Team Checklist



Here you get the signature plays all together.

Magic Johnson -

1986 Star Magic Johnson #10



You'd think it wouldn't be hard to find Magic actually doing magician's work, but I don't think we really see it until this card...with a photo that was 4 years old at that point.

Competitive Era

1990-91 SkyBox



Words cannot express how mind-blowing card like this were at the time. It's a shame that there are things that hold this set back from being seen as a candidate for best set ever - overproduction, no true iconic rookie, hideous RCs - because it's innovation compared to what came before is second to none.

Hakeem Olajuwon

1986-87 Fleer Stickers



Signature play, against Magic Johnson, whose Lakers Olajuwon had just led the Rockets past to reach the finals.

Competitive Era

1994-95 E-Motion



Such a unique set, and capturing this skying swatter diving to the floor right in the era where Olajuwon won it all makes it really stand out.

Michael Jordan

1985 Star Slam Dunk Supers



Hard to single one card out, but Star's team colors really help, and I love the way he's holding the basketball out toward us.

Competitive Era

1995-96 Topps Power Boosters #1



I love the way this shot really let's us see the 3D acrobatics of Jordan.

Also, normally I don't specifically consider parallels, but I think the (shiny) silver background really helps over the blue of the main set.

[REGGIE206]

I absolutely love this Kobe card:

[8collector34]

@GOATcards

The 1997-98 RC photoshoot with the chain link fence is possibly the best shoot done on cards. Yes, even better than the ladder they used in '95 presented in the 95-96 Collector's Choice set. Duncan holding the ball to the camera really gives some depth to the picture, which is necessary since we do not have a court or people in the stands to do that. My favorite Duncan RC by far. Possibly my fave Duncan card. Great choice.

@Tallboy

Action shots are superior to poses. No wonder once photography advanced enough the poses were dropped. But, then it became the symbol of an era so to speak.



Topps came out with this Shaq card for the 2001 All-Star Weekend, and made me so happy that I can add some variety to the earth shattering dunks, and boxing out in the paint kind of stuff. I only wish he would have wore the jersey backwards.


Personally.

I cannot separate Shaq from Kobe. Or, Kobe from Shaq. I have looked through every set for the perfect one two punch combo, and while there are plenty of good candidates 2000-01 Fleer Showcase takes the cake. Not the best Showcase, but still a Showcase. Just tell me you do not see the action unfolding infront of you when you are looking at these photos from their 1st championship season...


(hope the link works. It never does for me on this board. Sadge)

[Tallboy]

Originally Posted by 8collector34

@Tallboy

Action shots are superior to poses. No wonder once photography advanced enough the poses were dropped. But, then it became the symbol of an era so to speak.



Topps came out with this Shaq card for the 2001 All-Star Weekend, and made me so happy that I can add some variety to the earth shattering dunks, and boxing out in the paint kind of stuff. I only wish he would have wore the jersey backwards.


Personally.

I cannot separate Shaq from Kobe. Or, Kobe from Shaq. I have looked through every set for the perfect one two punch combo, and while there are plenty of good candidates 2000-01 Fleer Showcase takes the cake. Not the best Showcase, but still a Showcase. Just tell me you do not see the action unfolding infront of you when you are looking at these photos from their 1st championship season...


(hope the link works. It never does for me on this board. Sadge)

Good insight. Part of what we associate with "rookie cards" is a non-playing photo, and so certain things then got really weird.

I will say though it's not that I don't have love for a great portrait - as my avatar can attest.

My favorite Shaqs incidentally, one is something of a portrait:

[GOATcards]

Originally Posted by Tallboy

Wasn't expecting there to be a 'Gallery Heritage,' I thought the idea of the Gallery line was to have crisp magic-hour photos.

edit: not magic hour exactly, just pretty hues

[GOATcards]

Originally Posted by Tallboy

a lot like his initial Classic release but with a pro uniform (and flashier design).