NBA Top Shot: Sports First NFT Collectibles
What is NBA Top Shot?
NBA Top Shot is one NFT marketplace where basketball video clips can be bought, sold and traded. NBA Top Shot, which debuted in 2020, is a collaboration between the NBA and Dapper Labs, the company behind CryptoKitties. However, NBA legends Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson are a few prominent investors.
Users of the platform can trade digital assets based on clips from NBA games and powered by Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain. Transactions on a variety of other sports NFT marketplaces, including NFL All Day and UFC Strike, are supported by the Flow blockchain. As of 2022, NBA Top Shot had more than one million registered users as of September 2021. Since the launch of the platform, data from NFT marketplace tracker DappRadar indicates that over 500,000 NBA Top Shots have been traded for a combined volume of nearly $1 billion.
What are NBA Top Shot Moments?
Moments are video highlights offered as NFTs on NBA Top Shot. Instant value increases with rarity, much like traditional sports trading cards do. The collection potential of a video clip increases with rarity. A moment is really just a video clip of a particular play – like a Steph Curry layup or a LeBron James dunk, for example. So why would anyone pay money for video highlights when they can watch them for free on YouTube? Moments go beyond highlights.
Each moment is an NFT that is officially licensed by the NBA and is stamped with a unique serial number and data, including game and player statistics. Like other NFTs, which represent real-world items such as art, in-game items, and music, each moment represents an actual object. Plus, there’s the prestige of owning a piece of basketball history. Like a certificate of authenticity, NFTs are difficult to copy or forging because of the technology used to make them.
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How does NBA Top Shot work?
Users of NBA Top Shot can buy, sell and collect NBA NFTs that have significant “moments” that were created on the FLOW blockchain. Moments vary in rarity, but the most valuable are the rarest. Equal physical trading cards, moments are created in “Packages”. As part of a series, sets of packages are produced. Each series’ schedule corresponds to the NBA season.
As a result, users can purchase fresh digital packs of NFT Moments every week or so that highlight the most important plays from the current season. Although the current season’s events determine pack drops, fans of older plays don’t have to worry about missing out on old favorites. Retroactive moments can be collected in large quantities. For example, you can download Michael Carter-Williams’ 2013 dunk.
The project’s ultimate goal is to provide fans with a gamified experience. Users can compete in Top Shot challenges with their NFTs and win rewards such as moments, scarce packages and prizes. For one challenge, for example, contestants had to submit 12 special moments from the Series 3 Metallic Silver Fandom Edition to win a pack of Series 3 2022 All-Star Standard cards.
What are NBA Top Shot Packs?
Top Shot Moments are categorized into packs, which are developed assets as part of a series. These can be divided into two broad categories: Base and Non-Base.
Base sets are exactly what they sound like: high-end editions that are frequently released and offered at a reasonable price (usually $9 each). Base sets are removed in the series and release order they were released, so Series 1 had 12 releases. These often belong to the common rarities group and include three basic moments that are excellent for those just starting out or those looking to complete a collection.
On the other hand, there are many varieties of non-base sets. A common moment, as well as something rare and/or legendary, will always be present in non-base sets. The pack of non-Base set packs such as “Playoffs”, “Premium Pack” and “Run It Back” can all be used to differentiate them from each other. These are naturally also more expensive.
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How to buy NBA Top Shot Moments
Fans must register with Dapper Labs for NBA Top Shot before they can start using Top Shot. To do this, go to the Top Shot website and click on “register”. By opening a Dapper account, you can get a wallet that stores money and lets you buy crypto collectibles.
There is no doubt that users have made significant profits by buying and then selling Top Shot Moments. The financial benefits are hard to ignore, regardless of whether you’re a basketball fan. Therefore, the following points should be taken into consideration if you are considering joining the Top Shot community:
- Set a cost limit that you are happy with. Never make an investment you cannot afford to lose.
- Always be prepared. Stick to selling a moment quickly if you buy it with the intention of doing so. Avoid purchases you wouldn’t be happy with if your plan doesn’t work.
- Check the flow of Torque. Back to CC vs. LOL, again. High circulation Top Shot moments are gradually spread over time. The better, the rarer.
- Consider historical significance. Although superstar players dominate the sales charts, a player’s first basket or assist will always be fondly remembered by fans.
- Check for typos. Although Dapper Labs has an amazing team of developers, not everything is always flawless. Mistakes and misprints are common, whether it’s Jameer Nelson’s assist being mistakenly credited as a dunk or Marcus Smart being listed as wearing jersey #7 when he’s actually wearing #36.
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Most Expensive NBA Top Shot NFT Sale
A group led by FantasyLab co-founders Jonathan Bales and Peter Jennings purchased a Ja Morant Moment for $35,000 in January 2021. This purchase broke all previous records for the platform at the time and contributed to increased sales and popularity. Days later, SnapBack Sports founder Jack Settleman arranged for a group to pay $47,500 for the serial number 23 piece of LeBron James’ famous “Kobe Tribute” dunk.
Not to be outdone, tech entrepreneur Jeremy Levine paid $100,000 for the #1 Zion Holo Moment in the same month. In April 2021, a LeBron James dunk from the 2020 NBA Finals featured in an NBA Top Shot Moment sold for $387,600. Unfortunately, that same LeBron clip is now valued at $230,023, due to the decline in the value of every NBA Top Shot Moment overall.
Benefits of NBA Top Shot
1. Ease of use
To appeal to those unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies and NFTs, Dapper Labs created the NBA Top Shot. Using the market requires no prior knowledge of blockchain technology or investing in cryptocurrency. Just having a passion for basketball and being well versed in supply and demand will do it.
2. Amazing experience of collecting
Physical trading cards need to be stored, stored properly, and possibly even have their authenticity checked when picked up. Moments cannot be destroyed, stolen or degraded over time like physical cards because they are digital and stored online. No expensive grading procedure is needed because their authenticity is already established on the blockchain.
3. Negative protection against oversupply
NBA Top Shot creates all the moments it creates and licenses, managing the flow of merchandise into the marketplace. This should help prevent the kind of market glut witnessed in baseball cards in the 1990s, which would otherwise result in a flood of identical products on the market.
4. Lowers the entry barrier for new NFT collectors
In recent years, the cost of collectibles has increased significantly across a wide range of categories, including NFTs. NBA Top Shot makes it possible to collect NFTs.
Also read: What are NFT derivatives? How are they different from the original NFT?
Disadvantages of NBA Top Shot
1. A long process of verification
Collectors hoping to cash in on a quick sale may lose out due to Dapper Labs’ time-consuming verification process. Delays can be expensive due to the varying values of the moments.
2. Risk of financial loss
It is always possible to lose money when investing, even with NBA Top Shots NFTs. Some collectors have mentioned buying packs only to find that the moments inside are not worth what they paid for. Furthermore, there are no assurances that a seller will be able to find a buyer willing to purchase their Moments for asking price.
3. Market demand affects NFT values
NBA Top Shots moments, like all NFTs, are only worth what someone else is willing to spend on them. Basketball fans decide the prices; they really have no intrinsic value on their own. It is impossible to predict when prices will change, devaluing any previously valuable moments.
Top Shot Moments: A new way to engage NBA fans
While NFTs have made waves in the art world, Top Shot has been able to tap into an area that is less elitist and perhaps even more accessible to the general public. Sports fans have a long history of paying for the right to express their devotion, and Top Shot’s resounding commercial success is testament to this enduring phenomenon. However, purchasing a Top Shot Moment does not mean that you have acquired exclusive intellectual property rights related to that moment’s video highlight.
To further the project’s potential for success, Top Shot actively creates new ways for users to interact with and use their digital collectibles. The current annual market value of the trading card industry is $5-6 billion.
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