{"product_id":"graded-1996-upper-deck-ud-collectors-choice-allen-iverson-301-rookie-rc-basketball-card-psa-10-auto-grade-gem-mint","title":"Graded 1996 Upper Deck UD Collector's Choice Allen Iverson #301 Rookie RC Basketball Card PSA 10 Auto Grade Gem Mint","description":"\u003cp\u003e🏀 \u003cstrong\u003eVintage Graded 1996 Upper Deck UD Collector's Choice Allen Iverson #301 Rookie RC Basketball Card PSA 10 Gem Mint – The Collector's Choice Rookie Card of “The Answer,” the Philadelphia 76ers Point Guard Who Crossed Over Michael Jordan, Won the 2001 NBA Most Valuable Player Award, Led the 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals, Won Four Scoring Titles, Was Named to Eleven All-Star Rosters, and Who Was Inducted Into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016 as One of the Most Culturally Significant Players in the History of the Game, Graded PSA 10 GEM MINT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e🏀 Upper Deck Collector's Choice was the accessible tier of the Upper Deck basketball card lineup – a product designed to deliver officially licensed NBA cards at a price point that expanded the hobby beyond the premium products that Upper Deck was simultaneously producing, and that made the Rookie Cards of the 1996 NBA Draft class available to collectors at every level of the market. Card #301 in the 1996-97 UD Collector's Choice set is Allen Iverson's Rookie Card, graded PSA 10 GEM MINT, documenting the beginning of a professional career that would produce an MVP award, four scoring titles, and an induction into Springfield on a first ballot that recognized his unique place in the game's history. On a 1990s Collector's Choice card, achieving PSA 10 GEM MINT requires a level of card condition that was difficult to maintain given the era's production standards, making this a genuinely premium collector piece from Iverson's official Rookie Card year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e🏀 Allen Iverson was born June 7, 1975, in Hampton, Virginia, and grew up in circumstances that produced a relentless drive and a competitiveness that his coaches at Georgetown identified as something they had not seen before. He was selected first overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers – a franchise that in 1996 was at a low point, winning only 18 games the previous season and in need of the kind of transformational talent that a first overall pick might deliver. What Iverson gave Philadelphia was precisely that transformation, but delivered in a style that no one had anticipated and that the league was not fully prepared for – a 6-foot point guard who played with a ferocity more commonly associated with players a half-foot taller, who was impossible to contain in the open court, who changed direction at full speed without breaking stride, and who made the crossover dribble a weapon so devastating that footage of him doing it to Michael Jordan was replayed so often that it became one of the defining moments of the decade.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e🏀 The 2001 season Allen Iverson produced is one of the great individual performances in NBA playoff history – averaging 31.1 points per game in the regular season to win the MVP Award, then carrying a 76ers team into the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers (who were in the midst of their three-peat) and winning Game 1 against the defending champions before the Lakers took the next four. His performance in that run – and specifically his step-over of Tyronn Lue in Game 1 after hitting the go-ahead shot – crystallized a player whose relationship with pressure was the inverse of normal human response: the bigger the moment, the more comfortable he appeared. The 1996 Collector's Choice Rookie Card is the beginning of that story, in perfect PSA 10 GEM MINT condition. Condition: NOS.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e🏅 PSA 10 GEM MINT is Professional Sports Authenticator's highest certification – four perfectly sharp corners, centered printing, and surfaces free of any defect. On a 1996-97 Upper Deck Collector's Choice card, the combination of age and the production standards of the mid-1990s makes PSA 10 a rare and significant achievement. Condition: NOS.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e🏀 Allen Iverson. Hampton, Virginia. Philadelphia 76ers. 1996 NBA Draft #1 Overall Pick. 2001 NBA MVP. 2001 NBA Finals. Four NBA Scoring Titles. Eleven NBA All-Star Selections. Basketball Hall of Fame 2016. “The Answer.” 1996 UD Collector's Choice #301 Rookie RC. PSA 10 GEM MINT. Hall of Fame Sports Memorabilia. Condition: NOS.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hall of Fame Sports Memorabilia","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48039613137128,"sku":"1996-UDCC-AI-301-PSA-10-AUTO","price":299.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/2718\/4037\/files\/graded-1996-upper-deck-ud-collectors-choice-allen-iverson-301-rookie-rc-basketball-card-487.webp?v=1770143449","url":"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/graded-1996-upper-deck-ud-collectors-choice-allen-iverson-301-rookie-rc-basketball-card-psa-10-auto-grade-gem-mint","provider":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}