Random Wax: 2023-2024 Donruss Basketball

23-24 Donruss:  De'Aaron Fox caught grief during the NBA Finals, and deserved for the most part, but he's really good.  He has career averages of 21 PPG and 6 APG.

Great pull in this pack.  KAT is now a Knick and a champion!  This is a pack I picked up two years ago.

Brandon Miller had another good year with Charlotte averaging 20/4/3 in his 3rd season.  The Hornets seem like they are ready to go to the next level.

Wow, did this pack hit.  I like that SGA photo.  He won his second MVP this past season.

I'm a big fan of New Zealander Steven Adams and that's a great looking Green Laser Holo Parallel.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
3 – Rated Rookie
2 – Green Laser Holo
1 – The Rookies

Random Wax: 1991-1992 SkyBox Basketball - 3 Packs

91-92 SkyBox:  Karl Malone was nothing short of a beast.  The Mailman played 19 seasons and had career averages of 25/10/3 with 2 MVP trophies and 14 All-NBA selections.  He was also a 4X All-Defensive team member.  He was also incredibly durable playing 80 or more games in 17 of those seasons.  And you can add 193 playoff games, averaging 41 minutes per playoff game, on top of that.  That's amazing.  

Big man love!  Moses Malone's played 3 season in Atlanta and average 16 and 10 with the Hawks.  Another unicorn, Moses played 21 seasons leading the league in rebounding 6X and 7X leading the league in offensive rebounds.  He still holds the all-time offensive rebounding average for a career with 5.1 per game.  He was also a 3X MVP and 8X All-NBA.  Crazy great career. 

Three All-Rookie cards and all three were solid players.  Derrick Coleman was a big man with a soft touch.  He averaged 16 and 9 for his career and was a 2X All-NBA selection.

I like cards like this giving us highlights from the season.

A couple of my all-time favorite players in Larry Smith and Trent Tucker and I really like Terry Cummings as well.  Like Moses, Smith was a great offensive rebounder.  He once led the league in offensive rebounds and had a career average of 3.9, good for 8th all-time.

The backs were great.  Gerald Wilkins was one of the sharpest dressed men in the league and Karl Malone was an outdoorsman and didn't disappoint.

More great highlights and two of the great shot blockers of the era.

Dee Brown with the no look dunk!  Assume this is from the 1991 Slam Dunk Contest.

The fronts o fmy Best Single Game Performance pulls.

Centennial Highlights give us game history.

Such a great set and so much fun.  Reggie Lewis was the future of the Boston Celtics before passing away too soon at the age of 27.

BREAKDOWN:

45 – Total Cards

3 – All-Rookie Team

3 – Best Single Game Performance

2 – Centennial Highlights

1 – Checklist

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Illusions Basketball

21-22 Illusions:   I know the Spurs are in a 2-0 hole, but maybe Jerry West can give them some inspiration.  He's 5th all-time in NBA scoring average in the playoffs at 29.13 PPG right behind Kevin Durant.  Jerry West played with as much determination and fire as MJ and Kobe in my opinion.  He's the only player to win the Finals MVP on a losing team (1969 NBA Finals).  He's also 7th all-time in regular season scoring average at 27.03 PPG, again right behind Kevin Durant.

Josh Giddey, on this Intriguing Players insert, is now on the Bulls.  He's coming off a year in which he averaged 17/8/9 with the Bulls.  That Trendon Watford is an Orange Parallel.

I've always liked Illusions brand for some reason, and this one had a pretty good design to it.  The set included retired greats like Dwyane Wade and I always like retired greats.

Small pack of cards I purchased back in 2022, but I liked it.  Enjoy the game tonight and hopefully the Spurs can get a win.

BREAKDOWN: 
12 – Total Cards
3 – RC
2 – Retired Great
1 – Orange Parallel
1 – Intriguing Players

Random Wax: 2024-2025 Donruss Basketball

24-25 Donruss:  Wemby had a great third season and helped the Spurs take a big leap forward this year.  We get him here on a Magicians insert.

Domantas Sabonis is on a Holo Green Laser Parallel.  KAT and the Knicks have had a really good season.  Feels like he has some ups and downs but he's so talented and maybe the best shooting big man we've seen.

Zach Edey only played 11 games this season, but he looks like he'll be a good center when he can stay healthy.

Big man love.  Dereck Lively is the only player still on the team shown.  Nurkic was in Utah this season while Horford played for the Warriors.

Jalen Johnson really took a leap this year.  He averaged 22/10/7 for the Hawks this year shooting 35% from deep.

Tyrese Maxey is one of the top guards in the NBA.  I'd be very surprised if he isn't an All-NBA selection this year.  DeMar DerRozan is now 16th on the NBA's all-time scoring list passing Tim Duncan and Oscar Robertson amongst others.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
5 – Rated Rookie
2 – Holo Green Laser Parallel
1 – Magicians
1 – Great X-Pectations

2025-26 Topps NBA Hoops Basketball Hanger Box

25-26 Hoops:   Jimmy Butler was having a good year until an ACL did his season in.  With Steph out a good part of the season as well, the Warriors season was doomed.  It'll be interesting to see what Golden State does in the off season.  Not sure if a to be 37 year-old Butler coming off a major injury is part of the way forward but not sure they'll be able to move him.  Either way, I'm a big Butler fan and I love this photo.

I wasn't aware Topps had a Hoops basketball brand but recently found them at Wal-Mart.  These cards have a holo/shiny vibe to them.  I know not all cards show it in the scans, but that Wagner is how all the cards look.  It's an alright design.  I'm not a fan of "shiny" cards but this is more in line with regular cards with a shiny vibe to them.

I like the Highlights subset.  Good looking cards in a horizontal design.

Youngsters including a The Buzz insert.  Ace Bailey averaged 13 points per game in his rookie campaign.  More is expected from the highly touted youngster as Utah looks to take a step forward next season.  And "Ace" is some great name game.

There are 30 cards in the All-Stars subset and I love it!  I'm not a fan of the NBA All-Star game anymore but I love cards with actual photos from the All-Star game.

A Rainbow Purple & Blue Parallel #/199, Orange Hoops Parallel, and Net 2 Net insert.  I like that purple and blue card and Net 2 Net isn't too bad either.

The back of my Steph Curry Highlights card.  There are 10 cards in this subset.

The backs are fine though there is a lack of stats.  We expect more from you Topps.  I was skeptical of these at first, but they are growing on me.  More expensive than base Topps so that factors in to these a bit. Jalen Duren had an All-Star season for the Pistons averaging 19 and 10 as one of the better bigs in the league. 

BREAKDOWN:
25 – Total Cards
3 – RC
2 – Highlights
1 – The Buzz
1 – Net 2 Net
1 – Orange Hoops
1 – Rainbow Purple & Blue #/199
1 – 2025 All-Star Game Weekend

Random Wax: 1991-1992 SkyBox Basketball - 3 Packs

91-92 SkyBox:   Two of the all-time great centers on one card.  Having these two in the nineties was amazing.  It's one thing to watch two stars but when you get to see them go against each other it's even better.  I was surprised that Robinson and the Spurs had a big advantage head-to-head in games where these two squared off (30-12).  Hakeem is one of my all-time centers.  Top two or even at the top depending on the day.  Robinson was amazing and probably top 10 all-time.  Their career stats were fairly even.  I'm a big fan of both.

This is a great set and there are so many memories for me.  I've always loved the NBA.  Charles Barkley had a hall of fame career and to me is just as accomplished in the studio.  Chuck, Ernie, Kenny and Shaq do such a great job on Inside the NBA with the humor and insight.  Just fun which is what it should be.  And of course Chuck is always good for honesty.

These two combined for 3 Defensive Player of the Year honors and led the league in blocks 3 times.  Hakeem 2X and Robinson 1X for each.  I like these Single Game Performance cards.

Some guard love.  I really like Hall of Famer Sidney Moncrief but I will admit seeing him in a Hawks uni always throws me off.  He also won Defensive Player of the Year 2X in his career.

Centennial Highlights.  What better highlight than the man who gave us the game.

And we love the backs.  Even Charles Oakley.

Some of my all-time favorite players in Larry Smith and Trent Tucker.  They feel somewhat random in my NBA fandom but I'm big fans.  Both are in my top 10.  I've always liked the hard-nosed Terry Cummings as well.

Defensive wizards abound in this post.  Alvin Robertson led the league in steals 3X and holds the all-time average for steals per game at 2.7.

Tom Chambers was fun to watch.  He was such an athletic big.    

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards
3 – Centennial Highlights
3 – Best Single Game Performance

Random Wax: 2025-2026 Topps Basketball Hanger Box

25-26 Topps:   Donovan Mitchell has been so good in his career.  Playing in Utah and Cleveland I think he's gone under the radar of the casual fan.  But he really a good player.  2X All-Pro and 7X All-Star so far in his 9 seasons.  Career averages:  25/4/4 per game career averages on 36% shooting from deep.

I'm not a Kyrie guy but he's been excellent over the course of his career.  NBA Champ, 3X All-Pro, and 9X All-Star.

I like the horizontal cards Topps gives us.

Drake Powell averaged 6 points per game for the Nets.  That's the highlight of my rookie pull.

One of my Checklist cards.  I like how Topps does 'em.

Trey Murphy had the best season of his career averaging 21/5/3 while shooting 37% from long range.

Dylan Harper had a solid rookie campaign for the surging Spurs.

Rainbow Foil Parallel, Diamante Parallel, and 1980-1981 Topps Basketball pulls.  I really like the Diamante cards.

Jazz have some nice youth on their team led by Lauri Markkanen but made a big move trading for Jaren Jackson Jr. this season showing they are looking at the playoffs in the seasons to come.

Brook Lopez, Star Wars fan and NBA Champion, is a favorite of mine.

I love Detlef Schrempf.  One of the four retired greats I pulled.

More retired greats and an 8-Bit Ballers and Power Players insert.  I really like the colors on Power Players.  Groovy...

BREAKDOWN:
59 – Total Cards
8 – RC
6 - Checklist
4 – Retired Greats
2 – 8-Bit Ballers
2 – Power Players
2 – Diamante Parallels
1 – Generation Now
1 – Rainbow Foil Parallel
1 - 1980-1981 Topps Basketball