THE 10 MOST VALUABLE WNBA ROOKIE CARDS

When it comes to basketball cards, the WNBA is a corner of the hobby that’s been largely overlooked. A passionate collector exists but it’s also one that’s very niche. Cards have been there from the league’s earliest days, debuting in 1997 with Pinnacle Inside -- the line that packaged cards in a can. Over the years, the license has moved a few times with stops at Fleer/SkyBox, Rittenhouse and, now, Panini.

With only a couple of early exceptions, just one set of WNBA cards has been released each season. This has kept the league’s hobby imprint on the small side thus far. That makes keeping tabs on top players’ cards not overly difficult, even beyond their first season. For the most part, print runs are small when you compare them to other major professional sports leagues.

Because there hasn’t been a lot of sets, there isn’t ton of WNBA Rookie Cards. According to the Beckett database, between 1997 and 2019 there were 608 cards with the RC tag. That’s an average of about 26 per year. Now consider that it’s not uncommon for individual rookies from the NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL to have 30 or more each.