Sports Then and Now

The clear favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award this season, LaMelo Ball is a special player. Upon entering the All-Star break, he ranked first among rookies in total points (553), rebounds (211), assists (221) and steals (57) despite not starting a game for the Hornets until February 1. 

The only rookie in the last sixty years to lead on four fronts, even team owner Michael Jordan has been impressed with his progress, telling AP;

“I think Melo has adjusted to the NBA game better than any of us ever thought this early in his career, he has exceeded our expectations so far this season.”

Here’s a roundup containing the top six LaMelo Ball rookie cards, along with investment advice during his white-hot streak.

Top 6 LaMelo Ball Rookie Cards 

As the third pick in the 2020 draft, there’s an abundance of Ball RCs, especially if you factor in for the hundreds of parallel versions. To make things a bit easier, we’ve selected the top six Melo rookie cards below, with something to suit almost every budget.

2020 LaMelo Ball Hoops RC #223

The 2020-21 Hoops set contains many of the first RCs released this season, and it’s where we’ll begin. 

Melo’s base card is reasonably simple, with an image of the player located in the middle, holding a basketball in his right hand. The image is set against a black background, with an oval shaped border which will change colour depending on the parallel. 

There’s an RC logo located on the top right corner, and his name is found in chrome at the bottom.

2020-21 Hoops Parallels: Blue, Hyper Blue, Neon Green, Purple, Purple Explosion, Purple Winter, Red Backs, Teal Explosion, Winter, Yellow, Premium Box Base (/199), Silver (/199), Green (/99), Hyper Red (/99), Green Explosion (/89), Red (/75), Teal (/70), Blue Explosion (/59), Artist Proof (/25), Hyper Green (/25), Orange (/25), Orange Explosion (/25), Red Explosion (/15), Artist Proof Gold (/10), Hyper Gold (/10), Tribute Autograph (/10), Artist Proof Black (1/1) 

2020 LaMelo Ball Donruss Rated Rookie RC #202

Another popular Melo RC that is still reasonably affordable, the Rated Rookie subset contains the next card to make the list. It focuses on the player, with a simple image of the star holding a ball in both hands.  

Don’t let the lack of an autograph put you off, graded copies of the rarer parallels are definitely worth holding onto.