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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Top 100 Cards of My Collection-#86 95-96 Topps Finest Kevin Garnett RC

It's crazy to think years ago there was a time where there were no one and done players. All rookies usually had 3 or 4 years of college experience before they turned pro. Then in the 90's it all changed. At first it was underclassmen like Kenny Anderson, Chris Webber and others who bypassed more than a year of college eligibility to turn pro. In 1995 though, one player would open the flood gates to what we basically have now. Kevin Garnett became the first player since the 70's (Moses Malone and Daryl Dawkins) to jump directly from high school to the pros. Garnett would become the pioneer for prep to pro basketball players and there was a lot riding on his shoulders. Should he have failed, it would've definitely put a halt to giving kids a chance to play with the big boys, but instead Garnett exceeded expectations and he along with others such as Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and LeBron James ushered in the new era of players, who skipped college completely to play and succeed in the pros. Of course now high schoolers must be 1 year removed from graduation to declare for the NBA draft which leads to a lot of one and done
players, but even that can be attributed to KG. KG proved that
you don't necessarily need college to succeed in the league, and though he had some
growing pains along the way, he worked very hard and he has become one of the greatest players
in the game today. Card #86 is his best rookie card, as Topps Finest for 3 years
represented the ultimate Rookie Card  to own before Topps Chrome took that crown in 96-97 .
I love the design of the card and although not an action shot. I still like the draft day shot as it shows the absolute beginning of KG's journey to superstardom. KG's Finest Rookie is definitely a must have rookie in any collection and it definitely is one of my favorite basketball rookie cards in my collection.

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