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Topps is bringing two of its biggest baseball card hits to the hardwood, signaling a major shift in how collectors will experience NBA rookie and award-winner memorabilia. Fanatics announced that starting with the 2025–26 season, NBA players will join the Rookie Debut Patch program, while the league’s top award recipients will wear limited Golden Logoman patches that will later appear in Topps basketball cards.

The Rookie Debut Patch concept has become one of the most successful innovations in sports cards since it launched in baseball in 2023. Each rookie wears a special patch on their jersey for the exact game they make their professional debut. After the game, the patch is authenticated and embedded into a one-of-a-kind 1/1 trading card. These cards have become hobby icons almost overnight, selling for eye-popping numbers. The record still belongs to Paul Skenes, whose MLB Rookie Debut Patch Autograph sold to Dick’s Sporting Goods for $1.1 million.

Fanatics has since expanded the Rookie Debut Patch concept to Major League Soccer in 2024, WWE in April 2025, and UFC in May 2025. Basketball is the next natural step, and collectors are already buzzing about the possibilities. The first NBA class to feature Rookie Debut Patches will include a star-studded group led by top pick Cooper Flagg, whose debut patch card is already being hyped as one of the most anticipated modern rookie cards ever.

Topps has not yet announced which product will feature the NBA Rookie Debut Patch cards, but given the company’s history, Topps Chrome Basketball is a strong possibility. For baseball, these cards have appeared in Topps Chrome Update, typically as on-card autographs with the game-used debut patch attached.

Fanatics also confirmed the addition of Gold Logoman patches for major NBA award winners. During the 2025–26 season, players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (MVP), Stephon Castle (Rookie of the Year), and Evan Mobley (Defensive Player of the Year) will wear exclusive gold versions of the NBA’s Logoman logo on their jerseys. After the season, those patches will be used to create special 1/1 Gold Logoman cards, continuing a trend that began in 2025 Topps Chrome Baseball. Some of those baseball cards included dual and signed variations, so it’s likely basketball collectors will see the same premium treatment.

The move continues Fanatics’ push to create direct ties between game-worn material and high-end hobby cards, something that has set the company apart since acquiring Topps. The combination of Rookie Debut and Gold Logoman programs gives the brand a powerful way to blend authenticity, exclusivity, and spectacle across sports.

If the baseball market is any indication, these new NBA patch cards will become instant centerpieces for collectors. With the 2025–26 rookie class already generating huge buzz and the allure of real debut and award-worn patches, Topps is setting up the next phase of basketball collecting to be its most dynamic yet.