Shohei Ohtani's dominance of the hobby continues to generate eye-popping numbers.
Coming off his fourth MVP season and second World Series championship, the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar has jumped into second place all time with more than 1.13 million total graded cards, according to new data released by GemRate.
.@gemrate has released its top 50 graded athletes of all time ????
— cllct (@cllctMedia) January 6, 2026
Shohei Ohtani is already up to No. 2 and Wemby is in the top 10.
What sticks out most to you? pic.twitter.com/srnji0Cv3g
At the end of 2024, Ohtani was the fifth-most graded athlete in history, but after another historic season, the two-way phenom jumped Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Ken Griffey Jr. in 2025.
Former Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan remains the most graded athlete ever with more than 2.53 million cards across the four major authenticators.
Caitlin Clark, Jayden Daniels and Paul Skenes were among the new names who vaulted into the top 50 most graded athletes on the latest list.
That trio, along with Elly De La Cruz and Lionel Messi, are among the five athletes who entered the top 50 following strong collector interest in 2025. The group replaced Trae Young, Kevin Durant, Randy Johnson, Sammy Sosa and Wander Franco.
San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama passed Shaquille O’Neal for 15th on the list in late 2024, and has now climbed up to sixth after passing notable names including Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter, Tom Brady, Nolan Ryan and Luka Dončić.
Messi is the lone soccer player among the top 50, while Clark is the lone female athlete.
In total, 28 of the top 50 are active athletes, including 10 of the top 20.
Surprising names among the top 50 include Zion Williamson (No. 13) and Ja Morant (No. 14), the top two picks in the 2019 NBA Draft. Both players saw their markets surge during the COVID-19 pandemic but have experienced cooling collector interest since.
Collector interest in Daniels, Clark and Skenes has also been particularly impressive, with Daniels now No. 28 after just two seasons in Washington.
Clark’s popularity has completely reshaped the WNBA product on the court and the league’s collectibility off of it. Skenes has also been a rare exception with collectors typically preferring to buy position players over pitchers.
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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.