Lakers News: Magic Johnson Raises NFT Bets on Top Shots

Two years after the release of the NBA Top Shot project, Lakers legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson is releasing his first licensed NFTs for purchase. The Top Shot program has seen an increase in trades since the beginning of the year and plans to expand further after Johnson’s entry.

The NFT Top Shot Project has announced the release of new collectible NFTs featuring great moments from the career of Earvin “Magic” Johnson. The release will feature five Moments for fans to collect and trade. The licensed videos were released on June 7.

In an interview with sports magazine The Athletic, Johnson spoke of the NFTs as “another way to live forever on these memories.” He further explained how the NFT platform allows fans young and old to relive their favorite moments in an affordable and personalized way.

The Top Shot Project

The Top Shot project was born in 2020 as a partnership between the NBA, the NBA Players Association and Dapper Labs. Dapper Labs created the Flow blockchain, where Top Shot users can buy and exchange “moments” in the form of NFTs. The moments serve as a modern and digital version of trading cards and feature legendary gameplay videos from modern and historical players.

The NFTs can be purchased using cryptocurrencies, usually used for gambling investments and games on platforms such as cherryredcasino.com and fiat currencies.

The platform releases new moments weekly, which vary in rarity, just like trading cards. Categories include Common (96.6% or 40,000 of all moments), Fandom, Rare, and Legendary. Some more rare NFTs are sold at auction, with the most expensive ones – usually featuring dunks by LeBron James – fetching hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Replace or supplement collector’s cards?

The idea behind the Top Shot initiative was to act as a more modern and technological version of trading cards. Some feared that this could mean that the very popular trading cards that fans have collected for decades would now be replaced and forgotten. However, this is not the case. Even “Magic” Johnson explained in an interview that he believed the cards would still be as valuable as ever.

That said, NFT moments are significantly more accessible than traditional trading cards, especially as they can be purchased with cryptocurrency or fiat currency. Furthermore, the online engagement events where fans can use their purchased NFTs on a global scale create long-lasting interest and excitement.

Unstable market

Top Shot’s popularity has been vulnerable to the rise and fall of the crypto market during the pandemic. However, it has recently found new ground. In January, the market increased by over 70%, which many attribute to the commercials with Kevin Durant at the end of last year. After the ads were released, the project received $53.8 million in trades in just 30 days.

The project’s vulnerability to being affected by the volatile cryptocurrency markets has been highlighted as one of the drawbacks. Some critics have called the project a “disservice” to fans, as the call to invest in a risky market comes from unregulated investment advisers. Others also point to issues with NFT marketplaces, with many Top Shot users previously unable to process withdrawals.

There is also a problem with speculative assets that risk the reputational credibility of teams. However, many still believe that the new vertical is an opportunity to transform and reinvigorate fan engagement.

Fan engagement for NFTs set to grow

There are rumors and teasers from the creators Dapper Labs that there will be even more online uses for the purchased NFTs. The virtual collectibles can already be used in challenges and missions, where fans must present a specific type of NFT by the deadline to receive rewards for new moments. Earlier this year, Top Shot held an auction and giveaway for VIP passes to five All-Star Games, including several benefits for Top Shot users.

The next steps for the partnerships appear to be more VIP tickets, materials such as signed merchandise, etc. There are rumors of an upcoming upgrade for user-to-user interaction in the Top Shot program. An arcade game called “Hardcourt” is being developed where users can use and customize their own NFT moments to play against other users. No release date has been set for any of these releases.