Return of the King

A few weeks back, The Diamond King ran his own unique twist on the Big Fun Game. The BFG is a Napkin Doon creation that has seen a few iterations, but it is still alive in several forms, and for that, he is always with us.

The DK ran a fun one where he gave every player a balance - 100 DK$ - and you essentially bid on the items he posted. Players could also receive bonus DK$ for answering trivia questions or unlocking hidden moments of the game.

I only one won lot - I was a little too stingy with my DK$ - but I came home with a good one.

I feel bad because I sniped a fellow blogger, but it just so happened I was near my phone as the bidding was coming to a close, so I took care of business.

The item I wanted centered not only around basketball RCs, but had a few MJs as well. Fitting that I won it for 45 DK$, a strategic number I used because one of the Jordans was of him wearing #45:

The real apple of my eye was a RC of this guy:

Dirk was a player I really enjoyed watching, and the chance to score a beautiful Flair RC of him was too much to pass up.

This was the second most interesting card to me, for obvious reasons. Any Kobe adds right now are solid.

I had never seen these M3 rookie cards, They are pretty fun. In doing a little research, the ones with LeBron are obviously the most sought after. I liked the ones with Melo and D-Wade, though.

Next, some RCs of guys in a college product. Fun cards. You've got a beardless James Harden, right before his college career was brutally ended by Syracuse. You've got Derrick Rose, who I saw play for Memphis at MSG and I was convinced OJ Mayo was going to be better. Then you've got Pierce and Duncan. Sweet!

The DK also threw in a few non-auction items, including a signed Tino USA RC and a few others. I asked if he had a story behind the Tino, but just said it came from a cheap box at a show once, The signature looks legit to me though.

This was indeed a fun game. Just wish I didn't keep 62 unused DK$!

RIP, Kobe

What a horrible tragedy.

RIP 8.

RIP 24.

Kobe's last All-Star Game

Tonight is the NBA All-Star game. Growing up, I collected basketball cards more than baseball cards. My birthday is right around the time new releases came out, plus Christmas is in the heart of hoops season, so I always got basketball cards as gifts.

More of my friends were NBA fans than baseball fans. My co-worker has 10 and 12-year-old boys, and it's the same for them. The NBA fan base has always skewed significantly younger than baseball (and all major sports, really), and that trend is certainly continuing today.

Anyhow, whether you like the NBA or not is not the purpose of the post. Instead, I just wanted to give a quick tribute to Kobe Bryant, playing in his last All-Star Game tonight. Kobe is one of the best players to have ever played the game, and while I can't say I was always his biggest fan, I certainly respected him as an incredible player. I saw in person twice - once at MSG, and once at the 2013 NBA All-Star Game in Houston. Both times, he owned the stage. Have you ever been to a baseball game and refused to go get a beer when a certain player was due to come up to bat? Bonds or ARod or Pujols in their primes? Mike Trout or Bryce Harper now. That kind of thing. Kobe was like that. When he was on the floor, you don't step away or go to the bathroom. You watch and hope to catch a glimpse of greatness.

I don't have a ton of Kobe cards. He was getting big as as I was transitioning to really focusing on baseball cards. I am lucky enough to have his rookie card, pictured above, from Collector's Choice. While it's low-end, it's still a RC. Man, I loved Collector's Choice.

The NBA won't be the same without Kobe. Sure, there's still LeBron and Durant and Harden and Curry. But Kobe was a breed of his own, and he'll certainly be missed.