After quite a long time, the Golden State Warriors every knows, the one with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green in it, finally returned on the court earlier this year. But as fate would have it, the trio has just played for a very short time together with Green suffering a back injury just as Thompson returned. Just recently, Curry would miss some time too due to a foot injury, causing his rookie card value to be affected in the market.
With the Splash Brother projected to miss the rest of the regular season, there's bound to be some fallout with his stock in the hobby. We take a look below at how Curry has performed this season, both on the court and in the market, and what his present condition means for his rookie cards.
Stephen Curry's 13th season in the NBA
As the Warriors started the current season, there was a lot of hype from fans and collectors alike. For starters, Curry and Green were healthy with Thompson set to rejoin them. Andrew Wiggins was finally playing to his potential and the Dubs were starting to win games again.
Of course, it can't be denied that Curry's MVP-worthy performance during the last few months of 2021 was the engine behind Golden State's dominance. During that stretch, the two-time MVP notched 27.7 points on 43% shooting from the field and almost 40% of his 13.5 attempts from downtown while making 5.3 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per contest.
The best game Curry had before 2021 ended was a match against Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks in early November. In that contest, the All-Star splashed 50% from the field and 47% from three to post 50 points in 35 minutes. His 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 1 block also helped the Warriors get the 127-113 win over the Hawks.
As the new year started, Curry would go on being his productive self. Even though there were some games when his shot wasn't falling, the point guard still managed to keep the offense running through other means. Of course, the best-case scenario is that the All-Star point guard would go bonkers on the offensive end with Thompson acting as his wingman and Green providing intensity on the other end of the floor. Unfortunately, the Warriors' recent match against the Boston Celtics derailed that plan.
In the play shown above, Marcus Smart dived for the ball with the Celtics up 33-25 against the Warriors with 4:19 to go in the second quarter. This play resulted in a sprained ligament in Curry's left foot, causing him to miss around one to two weeks. It's also expected the All-Star will return at some point during the first round of the playoffs.
Although the injury itself isn't as bad as some expect, the absence of Curry can lead the Warriors to slide down in the standings. Since that match against the Celtics, Golden State has lost to the San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic and recently won against the top-seed in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat.
With nine games left in Golden State's schedule, it remains to be seen if Curry's absence will affect the Warrior's push to go higher in the standings. It remains to be seen if the Dubs can prevail over these squads, which include the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns. In any case, collectors should keep a close eye on those Stephen Curry rookie cards to see whether the All-Star's injury will have a bad effect on his stock.
The state of Stephen Curry rookie cards in the market
For the most part, Curry's recent injury has affected his rookie cards in different ways. The two most obvious examples are his 2009 Topps encased in PSA 10 and BGS 9.5 slabs.
In a three-month graph by Card Ladder, the PSA 10 graded Stephen Curry card has gone down from $13,000 to $8,850. This is a 32% drop over the course of 17 sales on eBay. But while that's the three-month trend, there's no sign of movement yet after the All-Star point guard suffered his most recent injury.
While the PSA 10 value seems to remain stagnant, the same can't be said for its BGS counterpart. In another graph from Card Ladder covering the same period, the same card encased in a BGS 9.5 slab started at $3,500, peaked at $6,000 late last month, and settled at its current price of $3,550.
The graph shows that one day after the injury, the BGS Stephen Curry rookie card was at $5,124 then dropped to $3,550 four days later. It isn't far-fetched to assume that this drop can be attributed to the star's recent injury. In any case, it might take a few more days or sales before a solid downward trend is formed.
The verdict on Stephen Curry rookie cards
The recent injury Curry has to recover from is definitely a big bummer, not only to Warriors fans, but to those who have invested in the All-Star point guard in preparation for the playoffs. But the key thing to remember here is that the injury he sustained isn't season-ending at all.
Golden State has a good record in the West and they're not projected to slide all the way down to the play-in tournament. Curry is expected to make his return during the postseason, which will help his card value to recover during that time. And if all goes according to plan, the Warriors will be back in full strength to attempt a run towards the Finals this year.
As such, it won't be a wise move to sell those Stephen Curry rookie cards before the Splash Brother actually gets to show off in the postseason. It's not good to buy his stock since they're quite pricey at this point in time, especially those encased in gem-mint PSA 10 slabs. That leaves collectors with the option to hold until a better opportunity comes along in the following weeks.
Holding won't be such a bad thing since this is Stephen Curry we're talking about. For a guy who's known as the greatest shooter ever and a sure lock for the Hall of Fame once his career is over, there's really no losing in keeping his rookie cards in your collection.
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