What Was I Thinking?!?!? Basketball Starting Lineup Edition

After finishing my series on SLU's I reflected back on all the lineups I bought throughout the years and remembered the good ones.....and the bad ones as well. This post will showcase what I believe are the 5 WORST lineups I ever bought in Basketball. Now honestly, I don't think basketball was as atrocious as the other sports, since Basketball was my wheelhouse, but still, there were a couple regrettable decisions i made. Yes I paid full retail for these babies...brace yourself

#5 1996 Extended Dikembe Mutombo 

It's not like the player is bad, Mutombo is one of the greatest defensive players ever to play the game. It was just a relatively easy figure to find and probably wasn't worth paying full retail for. I was on a Basketball Extended kick at the time though, and bought this and the Larry Johnson in the New York Knicks Throwback (which I still think is a cool, but easy to find piece).

#4 1996 Joe Smith

The story is cooler than the piece. I vividly remember being at basketball practice on a Saturday Morning and after practice my dad had this in the car. He had found it at Wal Mart, and remember it's Joe Smith's Rookie Piece and to find it at the local Wal Mart was Amazing at the time. I think it's one of those "defensible at the time" purchases, as it wasn't one I ever saw on shelfs again, but at the end of the day it IS Joe Smith, a journeyman who played for well over double digit teams.

#3 1994 LaPhonso Ellis

This was a pre collecting boom purchase and I remember vividly getting this and the Latrell Sprewell for Christmas. My parents found them at the local Venture. Again, maybe defensible at the time, but at least Joe Smith was a #1 pick and still had promise. I think at this time Ellis was basically a role player and probably not even worth making a SLU of.

#2 1998 Vin Baker

I already had Baker's harder to find (so to speak) 96 Rookie Piece, there was no excuse to buy this one. It's from the last Starting Lineup set and trust me, there were PLENTY to be found. I could've waited and got this on clearence for a couple bucks instead of the 7 or 8 bucks I plunked down.

#1- 1998 Terrell Brandon

 

Terrell Brandon's rookie piece was easy to find and I never bought it, so why would I buy his easier to find 2nd piece?? Basketball isn't really about the player selection, I mean Terrell Brandon was an All Star as was Vin Baker, but these two pieces were very easy to find. They were EVERYWHERE, and despite that I still decided to pay full retail price.

OK, It's alllll over now, can I please show off my favorite pieces now?