After Mike Tyson, it’s the turn of another legend of his sport to get into non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Former basketball star Magic Johnson has announced the release of a collection of NFTs in partnership with the blockchain game NBA Top Shot.
Magic Johnson releases a collection of 1600 NFTs
One of basketball’s legends, Magic Johnson, joins the long list of athletes to look at non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The Lakers star has announced, in partnership with blockchain game NBA Top Shot, the release of a collection of NFTs titled “The anthology: Magic Johnson”.
I’m really excited to partner with @nbatopshot to release my first NFTs and bring some of my favorite Moments from my career to fans everywhere. Fans get to see just a few of my favorite plays from my career! https://t.co/5hGKT6BwiJ pic.twitter.com/7egr3xBZsv
– Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 23, 2022
According to NBA Top Shot, the collection will consist of 1,600 unique NFTs including the best moments of Magic Johnson’s career. They will be sold as packs, priced at $399 each. The game said that 1,200 packs will be reserved for those who score at least 150,000 points this year.
Unsurprisingly, the rarity of the different coins will vary depending on the era and the importance of the associated events. Some will recall Magic’s first year as a rookie in 1979, others the victory game in the mythical finals between the Lakers and Celtics in 1988.
Magic Johnson’s record is staggering. In his 17-year career, the iconic Los Angeles Lakers point guard has been an NBA champion five times, voted player of the year three times and an NBA All-Star twelve times. An exemplary career, making him one of the most appreciated players in the history of basketball
NBA Top Shot passes $1 billion in sales
Similar to trading cards, NBA Top Shot is a blockchain game that allows you to buy “Moments” from NBA history. These are perfectly named, as they correspond to iconic actions, shots or counters by players in the US basketball league.
Launched in 2019 by Dapper Labs, NBA Top Shot uses Flow blockchain technology, based on a Proof-Of-Stake (PoS) consensus. Through a partnership with the National Basketball Association, the game has the right to use official competition footage.
Each “Moment” is tokenised in the form of an NFT, which provides the holder with a certificate indicating ownership of the underlying asset. Moreover, it allows any sports fan to trade, buy or sell them on a secondary marketplace.
After a peak in popularity in February 2021, the blockchain game has seen a slow decline, month after month. However, this week it passed the symbolic $1 billion mark in total sales. The record for an NBA Top Shot NFT is a LeBron James dunk, which sold for $230,000 in August 2021.
