Golden State Warriors Cards: Chamberlain, Curry and Thompson

At a glance: the twelve tentpole Warriors cards

Card-by-card walkthrough

1961-62 Fleer #8 Wilt Chamberlain rookie

The 1961-62 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain rookie is the franchise anchor on a continuity-list reading. Chamberlain played the first three seasons of his career with the Philadelphia Warriors (1959-1962) and moved with the franchise to San Francisco for the 1962-1963 season. The card is dated to his 1961-62 Philadelphia year but is the tentpole on both a Philadelphia-Warriors list and a Golden State list because the franchise is continuous and Chamberlain's 100-point game on March 2, 1962, belongs to the franchise history no matter which city it plays in.

Bull case: Chamberlain is one of the most widely-recognized names in basketball history, the 1961-62 Fleer set is the earliest modern basketball set (the first set after the 1948 Bowman and 1957-58 Topps), and the card is a tentpole on any pre-1970s basketball list. Bear case: high-grade copies (PSA 8 and above) are thin because 1961-62 Fleer has known centering and chipping issues, and collectors who want a pure Golden State list would start with Barry 1970 Topps and treat the Chamberlain 1961 as a near-miss on affiliation grounds. The slot is defensible because the franchise is continuous and the 100-point game is a franchise tentpole.

1970-71 Topps #70 Rick Barry card

The 1970-71 Topps Rick Barry card is the San Francisco-era anchor and the tentpole of the 1975 championship season. Barry played for the San Francisco Warriors from 1965-1967, jumped to the ABA for four seasons, and returned to the Warriors (by then Golden State) in 1972 through 1978, winning the 1975 NBA Finals MVP. His rookie card is the 1969-70 Topps #75, but the 1970-71 Topps is widely considered the cleaner post-ABA-jump card and the one most Warriors collectors cite as the vintage SF-era tentpole. The 1969-70 Topps rookie is often cited as a competing tentpole and either card is defensible on this list.

Bull case: Barry is one of two Warriors-era MVPs (alongside Chamberlain) and the 1975 Finals MVP earns the vintage-SF tentpole slot, the Topps basketball sets of the early 1970s trade with strong set-collector demand, and the franchise-continuity note extends from Chamberlain. Bear case: Barry's rookie year was 1965-1966 and the cleaner rookie card is the 1969-70 Topps #75; the 1970-71 Topps is a second-year card rather than a true rookie. The slot is defensible because the 1975 championship is a franchise tentpole and Barry is its face.

1986-87 Fleer #77 Chris Mullin rookie

The 1986-87 Fleer Chris Mullin rookie is the Run-TMC anchor and the tentpole of the 1985-1992 era. Mullin was drafted 7th overall in 1985, made five All-Star teams, and is one of three Warriors in the 1986-87 Fleer set (the landmark basketball set that ships the Michael Jordan rookie at #57). The Mullin rookie trades inside the most widely-respected basketball set of the modern era, so the set-collecting base is deep and the condition standards are high.

Bull case: Mullin was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2011, the 1986-87 Fleer set is the single most culturally important basketball set of the last 40 years, and the Mullin rookie is a reliable second-tier card in a set where Jordan #57 is the dominant card. Bear case: the 1986-87 Fleer set has known centering and white-border chipping issues, raw copies trade at condition premiums that reflect the set-level scarcity, and Mullin has less name recognition outside of dedicated Warriors collectors than Richmond or Hardaway. The slot is defensible because the Run-TMC framing needs all three members on the tentpole list.

1988-89 Fleer #46 Mitch Richmond rookie

The 1988-89 Fleer Mitch Richmond rookie is the 1989 NBA Rookie of the Year card and the second leg of the Run-TMC tripod. Richmond was drafted 5th overall in 1988, won the 1989 NBA Rookie of the Year with the Warriors, and was traded to the Sacramento Kings in the 1991 off-season for Billy Owens. The card is a single-set rookie in 1988-89 Fleer and competes with the 1988-89 Hoops rookie (#81) for tentpole attention.

Bull case: Richmond is a Naismith Hall of Famer (inducted 2014), the 1988-89 Fleer set has better condition sensitivity than 1986-87 or 1987-88 Fleer, and the Run-TMC framing carries the card. Bear case: Richmond was a Warrior for only three seasons (1988-1991) and his HOF identity is tied more closely to the Sacramento Kings, so the strict-franchise purity is softer than Mullin or Curry. The slot is defensible because the Run-TMC trio is a required tentpole layer on any Warriors list.

1990-91 Fleer #63 Tim Hardaway rookie

The 1990-91 Fleer Tim Hardaway rookie is the third leg of the Run-TMC tripod and the UTEP-two-step anchor. Hardaway was drafted 14th overall in 1989, made five All-Star teams, and played for the Warriors from 1989-1996. The card is a mainline 1990-91 Fleer rookie and competes with the 1990-91 Hoops rookie (#113) and the 1990-91 SkyBox rookie (#94) for tentpole attention.

Bull case: Hardaway is a Naismith Hall of Famer (inducted 2022), the UTEP-two-step crossover dribble is a signature basketball move that still carries cultural weight, and the 1990-91 Fleer set has reliable condition sensitivity. Bear case: Hardaway's best post-Warriors years were in Miami (he made three All-Star teams as a Heat), so the strict-franchise purity is softer than Mullin. The slot is defensible because the Run-TMC tripod requires all three members.

2009-10 Topps #321 Stephen Curry rookie

The 2009-10 Topps Stephen Curry rookie is the primary franchise anchor of the modern era and the tentpole that triangulates four championships + two NBA MVPs + 2022 Finals MVP + all-time-three-point-leader identity. Curry was drafted 7th overall in 2009, won the NBA MVP in 2015 and 2016 (the 2016 award was the first unanimous MVP in league history), and won the 2022 NBA Finals MVP. The card is a mainline Topps rookie at #321 and is the one card every Warriors collector centers their modern-era collection around.

Bull case: Curry's career-Warriors single-franchise arc is the tightest modern-era basketball story, the four championships and the two MVPs stack is the most decorated active-player resume in basketball, and the 2009-10 Topps rookie is the mainline entry point that has repriced at every postseason. Bear case: the 2009-10 Topps set is the final season of the Topps basketball license (Topps lost the NBA license in 2010 and only resumed basketball cards through the 2020s Topps Chrome issue), so the set has the scarcity character of a swan-song release. The slot is defensible on four-championship grounds alone.

2009-10 Panini Prestige #192 Stephen Curry rookie

The 2009-10 Panini Prestige Stephen Curry rookie is the second-slot Curry-x2 card and the Panini-premium companion to the 2009-10 Topps mainline. The Curry-x2 precedent matches the Mantle-x2 (1951 Bowman + 1952 Topps) and Marino-x2 (1984 Topps + 1985 Topps #314) and Kobe-x2 (1996-97 Topps Chrome + 1996-97 Topps Chrome Refractor) patterns on prior hubs. The Prestige rookie trades as a distinct comp set because it carries the Panini debut-year branding that would become the default NBA rookie-card market after Topps lost the license in 2010.

Bull case: the two-slot precedent is well-established on HCI hubs, the Prestige rookie is the earliest Panini-mainline Curry rookie (predating the 2009-10 Panini #92 and 2009-10 Panini Studio), and the card is the one most collectors cite when the Topps mainline is out of budget. Bear case: the Panini Prestige print run is deeper than the Topps mainline, so the scarcity structure is softer, and the second-slot framing can be debated on technical-rookie grounds. The slot is defensible because Curry's four-championship resume earns the two-slot treatment and the Prestige rookie is the best-documented second option.

2011-12 Panini Past and Present #125 Klay Thompson rookie

The 2011-12 Panini Past and Present Klay Thompson rookie is the Splash Brothers partner card and the tentpole of the 2014-2015 regular-season 73-win team. Thompson was drafted 11th overall in 2011, made five All-Star teams as a Warrior, and contributed to the 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022 championships. The 2011-12 Past and Present set is the Panini default-rookie set for the 2011 draft class and is known for carrying a shorter print than the 2011-12 Panini Hoops or 2011-12 Panini base.

Bull case: Thompson's Splash Brothers identity is tightly bound to the Curry-Warriors run, the 2011-12 Past and Present set has supplemental-print-run structure that supports the tentpole status, and the 37-point-in-a-quarter record (January 2015 vs. Sacramento) is a single-game highlight that keeps the card visible. Bear case: Thompson signed with the Dallas Mavericks in July 2024, so the career-Warrior framing closed in 2024 and the single-franchise purity ended after 13 seasons. The slot is defensible because the 2011-2024 Warriors run is a tentpole era.

2012-13 Panini Prizm #278 Draymond Green rookie

The 2012-13 Panini Prizm Draymond Green rookie is the first year of the Panini Prizm basketball set and the third leg of the Curry-Thompson-Green championship-core tripod. Green was drafted 35th overall in 2012, won the 2017 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, made four All-Star teams, and contributed to all four Warriors championships of the 2010s-2020s. The 2012-13 Panini Prizm set is the debut year of the Prizm format that has since become the default modern basketball chrome-card format.

Bull case: Green's 2017 DPOY plaque is a rare tentpole credential for a second-round-pick rookie, the 2012-13 Panini Prizm set is the single most collectible Prizm release (first-year-of-format premium), and the championship-core framing is the most durable story of the Warriors dynasty. Bear case: Green's second-round-pick status shows in the print run of the 2012-13 Prizm rookie (he is not a chase card in the set the way Anthony Davis #1 is), and the behavior-related incidents of 2022 and 2023 have complicated the narrative. The slot is defensible because the championship-core tripod requires all three members.

2014-15 Panini Prizm Andrew Wiggins rookie

The 2014-15 Panini Prizm Andrew Wiggins rookie is the 2022-championship-contributor card and a special case on this list because it is formally a Minnesota Timberwolves rookie. Wiggins was drafted 1st overall in 2014 by the Cleveland Cavaliers, traded to the Timberwolves before the season for the Kevin Love deal, and traded to the Warriors in February 2020. The 2014-15 Panini Prizm is a T-Wolves rookie and would be excluded under a strict-franchise-affiliation reading. We include it here with the affiliation note because Wiggins was a key contributor to the 2022 championship (including the 2022 Finals tentpole 26-point Game 5 performance) and the first-earliest-Warriors-uniform card is the 2019-20 or 2020-21 Panini Prizm.

Bull case: Wiggins was a second-team All-Star in 2022 and a key 2022 championship contributor, the 2014-15 Panini Prizm rookie is the earliest-mainline Wiggins rookie, and the championship-contributor framing earns the slot. Bear case: the card is a T-Wolves rookie on a strict reading and would be a near-miss under the same rule we apply on Tyreek Hill (Chiefs RC on the Dolphins hub) or Mookie Betts (Red Sox RC on the Dodgers hub). The slot is on the list with an explicit note, and a future hub refresh should consider rotating to a 2022-championship-dated Wiggins card.

2021-22 Panini Prizm Jonathan Kuminga rookie

The 2021-22 Panini Prizm Jonathan Kuminga rookie is the current-roster tentpole and the modern-core entry point for collectors building a living Warriors list. Kuminga was drafted 7th overall in 2021, played a bench role through the 2022 championship run, and expanded into a starting-caliber role in the 2023-2024 season. The card is a mainline Panini Prizm rookie and ships in a set with Cade Cunningham #256, Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes and other 2021 draft-class rookies.

Bull case: the current-roster tentpole slot is important for any living franchise list, the 2022 championship roster provides the tentpole framing for any 2021 Warriors rookie, and the 2021-22 Panini Prizm is the default rookie format for the class. Bear case: Kuminga has not yet hit an All-Star tier and the 2024 off-season conversation around his contract suggests the single-franchise arc is not yet assured. The slot is defensible as a current-roster tentpole that a future list may rotate.

2022-23 Panini Prizm Jordan Poole card

The 2022-23 Panini Prizm Jordan Poole card is the 2022-championship-contributor slot and the second modern-era tentpole for collectors who want a post-Curry-Thompson layer on the list. Poole was drafted 28th overall in 2019, played a significant 2022 championship-run role, and was traded to the Washington Wizards in July 2023 as part of the Chris Paul deal. His true rookie year is 2019-20 and the mainline 2019-20 Panini Prizm rookie is his earliest-mainline card; the 2022-23 Prizm is a second-year issue.

Bull case: Poole was a significant contributor to the 2022 championship and his 2022 playoff run was tentpole-material, and the 2022-23 Panini Prizm captures the championship-contributor year with visible-playoff-run tentpole value. Bear case: Poole is no longer on the Warriors roster after the July 2023 trade, and the 2019-20 Panini Prizm rookie is the cleaner rookie-card tentpole. The slot is defensible as a championship-contributor tentpole for collectors building the 2022 championship-roster subsection.

What these twelve tell you

First, the franchise-continuity framing reaches back further on this list than on any other team hub. Chamberlain 1961-62 Fleer is dated to his Philadelphia Warriors rookie year, but the franchise moved to San Francisco in 1962 and to Oakland-then-San-Francisco under the Golden State name in 1971. The continuity-list framing is the same move we made with Koufax 1955 and Drysdale 1957 on the Dodgers list (Brooklyn-to-LA) and it is the most defensible reading of the franchise's vintage base. Purist collectors who want a pure Golden State list would trim Chamberlain 1961 and start with Barry 1969-70 Topps, and that trim is defensible; the continuity framing is the one most Warriors collectors use in practice.

Second, the Run-TMC framing (Mullin, Richmond, Hardaway) is the single most durable 1980s-1990s story on this list. Three HOF players from a three-year draft window (1985-1988-1989) is an unusual compression that no other franchise of the era matches. The Run-TMC era ended when Richmond was traded in 1991, but the three-player framing holds the list's late-1980s-to-early-1990s backbone together the way the 1960s four-corner framing holds the Cubs list and the 1972 perfect-season spine holds the Dolphins list.

Third, the Curry-two-slot precedent is well-earned on this list. The two-slot treatment of Curry (2009-10 Topps + 2009-10 Panini Prestige) matches the Mantle-x2, Marino-x2, Young-x2 and Kobe-x2 patterns we have applied on prior hubs, and it recognizes that Curry's four championships + two MVPs + 2022 Finals MVP + all-time-three-point-leader identity deserves the same treatment as the single most decorated players in each of the sports we cover. The Topps-to-Panini transition of 2010 makes this two-slot pair distinct in a way that Mantle's 1951-Bowman-to-1952-Topps pair is distinct: two major manufacturers, two mainline-rookie formats, one player.

Fourth, the championship-core triad (Curry, Thompson, Green) plus the 2022-contributor pair (Wiggins, Poole) forms a five-card 2010s-2020s layer that most Warriors collectors build the list around. The Wiggins card is the one explicit franchise-affiliation exception on this list (T-Wolves rookie), and we include it with the note for the same reason the Ohtani 2018 Topps Update appears on the Dodgers list with an affiliation note: the 2022 championship role is a tentpole event, and excluding the earliest-mainline rookie on strict-affiliation grounds would make the list less useful to Warriors collectors. A future hub refresh should rotate the Wiggins slot to a 2022-championship-dated card when the archival-review queue reaches it.

Cards that almost made the list

Several Warriors-adjacent cards were considered and excluded on franchise-affiliation grounds. Kevin Durant 2007-08 Topps #112 is a Seattle SuperSonics rookie (the Sonics drafted Durant 2nd overall in 2007 and moved to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season). Durant joined the Warriors in July 2016 and contributed to the 2017 and 2018 championships, so a Durant-era Warriors collector holds this card alongside Curry, but the card is the tentpole on a Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder list rather than on the Warriors list. Jonathan Kuminga 2021-22 Panini Prizm is on the tentpole list above; the affiliation question does not apply because Kuminga was drafted by Golden State.

Position-adjustment and era-specific near-misses cover several Warriors who traded below the twelve above because of era or franchise-fit structure. Nate Thurmond 1966-67 Topps is a Naismith Hall of Fame center whose card is a vintage tentpole for set collectors but trades at the pre-1970 Topps set level rather than at the Warriors-franchise tentpole level. Baron Davis 1999-00 Topps Chrome rookie is a Charlotte Hornets rookie. Jason Richardson 2001-02 Topps Chrome rookie and Monta Ellis 2005-06 Bowman Chrome Draft rookie are both Warriors-drafted rookies whose careers never reached the All-NBA tier. Harrison Barnes 2012-13 Panini Prizm #274 is a Warriors-drafted rookie in the same set as the Draymond Green #278 tentpole but traded below Green post-2015 after the championship contributions diverged.

Era-specific near-misses cover players the Warriors community regularly cites as bonus tentpoles: Jeff Mullins 1965-66 Topps, Guy Rodgers 1961-62 Fleer, Bernard King 1977-78 Topps (affiliation exclusion, New Jersey Nets rookie), Micheal Ray Richardson 1978-79 Topps, Bernard King 1977-78 Topps, Joe Barry Carroll 1980-81 Topps, Purvis Short, Manute Bol 1985-86 Star (affiliation exclusion, Washington Bullets rookie), Latrell Sprewell 1992-93 Topps, Antawn Jamison 1998-99 Topps Chrome, Jason Richardson 2001-02 Topps Chrome, Andris Biedrins 2004-05 Topps Chrome, Stephen Jackson, Monta Ellis 2005-06 Bowman Chrome, Anthony Randolph 2008-09 Topps Chrome, Festus Ezeli 2012-13 Panini Prizm, Kelly Oubre Jr. 2015-16 Panini Prizm (affiliation exclusion, Washington Wizards rookie), Moses Moody 2021-22 Panini Prizm, Brandin Podziemski 2023-24 Panini Prizm, and Trayce Jackson-Davis 2023-24 Panini Prizm. Each of these sits just outside the twelve above and any of them could reasonably take a slot on a thirteenth-card list.

How to use this list

Three habits carry most of the work when you trade these twelve. First, price everything against 90-day sold comps. The set structure tells you which card is the tentpole in each era, but the sold comps tell you what the current trading band is. The Chamberlain 1961-62 Fleer has repriced in stages around major memorabilia auctions and the Curry 2009-10 Topps mainline has moved with each championship and each MVP, so the trading band is the only way to separate a defensible price from an aspirational ask.

Second, apply the franchise-affiliation rule with the discipline we use on other franchises. Wiggins 2014-15 Panini Prizm is a T-Wolves rookie and the near-miss classification would be defensible. Durant 2007-08 Topps is a Sonics rookie and does not belong on this list. The rule is not that these cards do not belong in your Warriors collection (they do). The rule is that they do not replace the twelve tentpoles above on a strict-franchise tentpole list.

Third, treat the Curry-two-slot pair and the Run-TMC trio as portfolios rather than individual cards. The 2009-10 Topps + 2009-10 Panini Prestige pair moves together in ways that neither card moves alone, and the Mullin 1986-87 Fleer + Richmond 1988-89 Fleer + Hardaway 1990-91 Fleer trio has the same property. Buying and selling these as clusters, or at least pricing them against each other, is how most long-term Warriors collectors approach the 1980s-1990s and the modern eras.