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How does NBA Top Shot work?: How to Pre-Order Base set packs and what are the most expensive items sold on NBA Top Shot

Samir Mehdi
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How does NBA Top Shot work?: How to Pre-Order Base set packs and what are the most expensive items sold on NBA Top Shot

NBA Top Shot has added pre-order base sets to their collection; how does NBA Top Shot work and do you get these pre-order packs. 

The concept of NFT (non-fungible tokens) has taken over the world by storm. The NBA became one of the first to take advantage of this recent obsession with NFTs and launched NBA Top Shot. In short, NBA Top Shot allows players to test their luck with virtual packs, just as someone would do physically with trading cards, in an effort to acquire rare, in-game moments. 

These moments could be anything from an Anthony Edwards poster on Yuta Watanabe to a flashy lob dunk by Mile Bridges from LaMelo Ball. NBA Top Shot works solely off of two concepts when it comes to deciding the worth of a certain moment: how grand of a moment it is and its serial number. 

In terms of how grand the moment is, a LeBron James dunk would be much more valuable and likely to appreciate in value than say, a Mason Plumlee ankle breaker. The reason as to why NBA Top Shots have such high resale value is because of the serial numbers. Each moment only has a couple hundred or thousand duplicates. 

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NBA Top Shot uses blockchain technology to mitigate the possibility of knockoffs being circulated. The closer the serial number is to 1, the more valuable it is. For example, a Damian Lillard moment with the serial number 6 is more valuable than the same exact moment with a serial number of 12. 

How to pre-order base set packs? 

Due to the massive influx of consumers on the website, NBA Top Shot makes sure each user is placed in a queue. People at the front of the queue receive priority over people at the end of the queue, when it comes to the distribution of packs. So, there is a chance that, despite someone waiting in queue for days for a pack drop, could miss out on acquiring a single pack, because they were too far back in the queue. 

To help solve this, NBA Top Shot has started to drop pre-order packs. On March 29th, they announced that they have opened up the waiting room/ queue for their base set packs that could contain moments such as LaMelo Ball passes and LeBron James dunks. 

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A total of 2.5 million packs will be dropped, which seems like a lot, but with the way packs have been flying off ‘shelves’, they definitely won’t last long. Click here to join the queue for the pre-order base set packs. 

What are some of the most expensive NBA Top Shots that have ever been sold? 

As expected, the biggest ‘box office’ draws of the league possess some of the most valuable NBA Top Shot moments. It’s no surprise that LeBron James is at the top of this list as he has a multitude of moments that have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Currently, LeBron James’s dunk against the Sacramento Kings last season ranks at number 1, having been sold to a user named ‘jesse’ for a whopping $208,000. He has also had a block of his from the 2019-20 season sold for $100,000. Ja Morant and Zion Williamson have had their respective poster dunks sell for $100,00 as well. Most moments with serial numbers in the top 100 tend to sell for the most. 

About the author

Samir Mehdi

Samir Mehdi

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Samir Mehdi is a senior strategist for the NBA division at The Sportsrush. Ever since he was 13 years old, he’s been obsessed with the game of basketball. From watching Kobe Bryant’s highlights on YouTube to now, analyzing and breaking down every single game on League Pass, Samir’s passion for the game is unwavering. He's a complete basketball junkie who not only breaks down current games but also keenly watches ones from the 60s’ and 70s’ while also reading comprehensive books on the history of the league. Samir’s life revolves around basketball and he hopes that shows in his work. Aside from work, he loves to spend time in the gym and with his friends at social gatherings.

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