Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg will be the cover athlete for 2025-26 Topps Basketball, the company announced Thursday.
Scheduled to release Oct. 23, the set will be the first licensed flagship NBA release for Topps since the 2009-10 season. Topps parent company Fanatics took over exclusive rights to make NBA trading cards through deals with the league as well as the NBAPA on Wednesday.
Prior to Oct. 1, Panini America had been the exclusive maker of licensed NBA cards since 2009.
BREAKING: Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg will be the cover athlete for 2025-26 Topps Basketball, which releases Oct. 23.
— Ben Burrows (@BenMBurrows) October 2, 2025
Topps plans to hold launch events at select locations, including NBA stores in NYC and LA, to celebrate its first licensed NBA cards since 2009. pic.twitter.com/RwePONpiHD
Topps plans to celebrate the return of licensed NBA cards with a series of launch events at select locations Oct. 23, including the NBA stores in New York and Los Angeles. Knicks players Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and comedian Seth Meyers are expected to appear in New York, and Clippers guard Chris Paul is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles.
Topps’ upcoming flagship set is the latest cover for Flagg after previously headlining collegiate products, including 2024 Bowman University Chrome Basketball, 2024-25 Bowman University Best Basketball and 2024-25 Bowman University Chrome Sapphire Basketball.
Flagg enters his rookie season with the Mavericks as one of the most popular basketball players among collectors. His 2024-25 Bowman Chrome U Superfractor Autograph 1/1, which features Flagg in his Duke uniform, sold for $97,600 in June to set the record for any Flagg card at public auction.
According to Card Ladder’s records, Flagg has already had five cards sell for $50,000 or more and 44 sales of $10,000-plus.
Flagg’s game-used memorabilia has been highly coveted, too, with his Summer League debut jersey selling for $95,250 at Sotheby’s in August, and his NBA Draft Combine jersey fetching $22,860 in July.
Flagg signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Fanatics and Topps in January for cards, autographs and game-worn memorabilia to be inserted into cards.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the collectibles editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.