The Biggest Shot I Missed: I Kept the Kings and Not the Jordans

1986-87 Fleer Sacramento Kings

When Fleer returned to the basketball card market in 1986, it produced one of the most famous sets in hobby history. While collectors often focus on Michael Jordan’s rookie card, the set also captured the Sacramento Kings during their first NBA season in Sacramento after relocating from Kansas City in 1985.

Featured here are Larry Drew, Eddie Johnson, Reggie Theus, LaSalle Thompson, and Mike Woodson—five players who helped introduce NBA basketball to Sacramento fans.

As a longtime Kings fan, I owned dozens of each of these cards, most of which were pulled from packs purchased at a local drug store that I’d ride my bike to as a kid. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep any of the Michael Jordan rookies that passed through my hands over the years.

Today, those Jordans might be worth enough to buy a new car, but these Kings cards tell a different story—the beginning of Sacramento’s NBA journey. Every card has a story, and these cards remind me where my Kings fandom began.

The very first De’Aaron Fox card

2017 Panini Draft17 Card # 1 of 25

Having been a De’Aaron Fox fan when he played in Kentucky and having my Hometown Sacramento Kings draft him, I was on a mission to collect whatever cards would come out of De’Aaron.

So I just made a YouTube about this and the link is below. Basically, the 2017 National Sports Card Convention (NSCC) was the first chance there might be Fox cards so I took a few days off to watch eBay like a hawk for any cards listed for sale and to join live show breaks. And sure enough a couple cards were listed.

I believe these cards were from the VIP Party as these cards were in top loaders, had the Panini Sticker and were serial numbered # 14/25 and # 16/25.

Fast forward a couple years later I was shocked to see Card # 1/25 come up for sale on eBay and I quickly bought it. I knew from acquiring my other cards that # 1/25 would literally be De’Aaron’s first card ever and now my most important card in my Fox Collection!!!

2017 Panini Draft17 # 1 of 25