Everything you need to know about NBA Top Shot, the latest sports collecting craze

Let’s dive in.

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You may have seen it trending on Twitter or talked about among friends or seen headlines: something about “NBA Top Shot” and A LOT of money being exchanged over the internet.

What’s it all about? That’s what we’re here to do, to help you answer any and all questions you have about the new sports collecting craze that has taken over, which has basketball fans and others buzzing about it.

So let’s dive into it and see if we can fully answer your queries.

What is NBA Top Shot?

Using blockchain technology, fans can buy and sell NBA video highlights that are licensed by the league.

Wait, wait. Go back. Blockchain?

Sorry. Blockchains are databases of information linked together that can be used record ownership or transactions of a product. It can’t be changed and it’s stored in a way so that not one person controls the information — say, when someone buys something — and it’s transparent to all users.

I think I’ve heard of that being used with Bitcoin.

Yep!

OK, so what does cryptocurrency have to do with NBA highlights?

It’s the technology being used for those who get these highlights and put them into a very secured, encrypted “wallet.”

Can’t I just watch these highlights on YouTube and Twitter?

Yes, you can. But the way this works is that you own an officially licensed highlight like you would own a trading card. And some of those highlights might be limited to just a few “printings,” which drives the price up.

But how is there value in that?

That’s probably the question that I struggle to answer. There’s value in anything that other people value thanks to supply and demand, right? If there are a ton of collectors who see a dollar value in a super-rare, officially-licensed highlight of a big-name NBA player that others want, there’s a market for it.

For a better answer, here’s Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on his blog:

I get to enjoy knowing I own my Maxi Klieber dunk Moment, along with knowing the serial number and much more. Some people might complain that I can get the same video on the internet anywhere any time and watch it. Well guess what, I can get the same picture on any traditional, physical card on the internet and print it out, and that doesn’t change the value of the card.

And when I want to sell the card, NBA Top Shots offers a marketplace I can sell it in, which by virtue of the site being created on Flow BlockChain offers me the ability to see every Maxi card being offered, the serial number, its price and more. All the foundations required for a consumer friendly, efficient marketplace. But I do have to add that I don’t know why anyone would sell a Maxi Moment. Maxi is a top 10 defender in the NBA, just saying !

How do I go about getting these?

The Top Shot site offers a couple of different ways: you can buy various priced “packs” of highlights, which drop at certain times. Or you can go find highlights offered by other users who are selling them.

Full disclosure: I have tried to buy a pack and fallen well short:

How much money is exchanging hands here?

A LOT!

For example, last year, a LeBron James dunk went for $3,800.

Per the Baltimore Sun, a Zion Williamson block went for $100,000 and a James swat also went for that sum.

Holy [expletive].

I know.

Does the NBA make money off of this?

Yes, and so does Dapper Labs, the company that runs Top Shot.

From The Athletic:

Whenever users can cash out, it won’t be for free. Dapper Labs said it charges the $25 fee to cover the costs it’s charged by banks for the wire transfers, but doesn’t profit from withdrawals. Instead, the company generates its revenue from the initial retail sale of every pack and from collecting a fee on peer-to-peer sales. Users that cash-out do so via a wire transfer to a U.S. bank or in the form of cryptocurrency transferred to a Coinbase or Ethereum digital wallet.

The NBA also gets a cut of peer-to-peer sales. The league and Dapper Labs, along with the players union, started talking a few years ago and all work jointly to create the highlight cards.

Are players into it?

It appears so, yes!

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