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As a leading sports collectible, NBA Top Shot considers rookie Moments sacred. And for this special rookie class, we’re pulling out all the stops to ensure the hype matches the excitement on Top Shot all season long.
Let’s dive in.
COMMON ROOKIES
Rookies on NBA Top Shot will receive one – and only one – Common Moment this regular season. Limited to just /4,000 from the rookies’ first career game (or the first game in which they record a notable stat), the Rookie Debut Set features fan favorites and undeniable collectibles for the players’ careers.
These 4,000 collectibles – far scarcer than the millions of rookie cards that’ll exist for all of these players – will have verifiable scarcity and provide utility for collectors throughout the season to earn even more rookie Moments from this class of players.
RARE ROOKIES
Rookies on NBA Top Shot will receive at most one Rare Rookie play in a Pack drop this regular season.
This will come in the form of a dedicated Rare Rookie Set called Freshmen Gems, minted to just /199.
Rookies can appear in only two other places in the Rare tier this regular season:
- As Challenge Rewards for the Metallic Gold LE Set
- As Leaderboard Rewards for the NBA Honors Set.
LEGENDARY ROOKIES
Rookies on NBA Top Shot will receive at most one Legendary Rookie play in a Pack drop this regular season.
Rookie Revelation will make its triumphant return this season as an ultra-scarce Legendary Set, with each Moment minted to just /75.
Rookies can appear in just one other place in the Legendary tier for the regular season:
- At the end of the regular season, the three Rookie of the Year Finalists will receive an exclusive Legendary Moment in the Legendary Hardware Set. These Moments, minted to /50, will be exclusively airdropped to the top 50 collectors on the respective player Leaderboards, providing a fun reason to collect and lock rookie Moments throughout the season. Worth noting: this season, none of the rookies’ end-of-season Leaderboard Rewards will feature footage that can be found on other Moments from the season.
ULTIMATE ROOKIES
A rookie class this coveted deserves special treatment, and there’s never been a better opportunity to roll out the very first 1/1 Ultimate Moments to be released in NBA Top Shot history. These Moments will also feature the rookie year, rookie mint, and rookie premiere badges, and will feature a full highlight reel from their very first game in the NBA. These will be the first Ultimate Moments to debut on NBA Top Shot, and will serve as the definitive Ultimate Rookie collectible for years to come.
Up to 10 rookies will receive Ultimate Moments this season, and they will be distributed in various ways. More details will follow shortly.
HIGH LEVEL ROOKIE RULES
In Common, Rare, and Legendary drops this season, rookies at most can receive:
- /4,000 Rookie Debut Commons
- /199 Freshman Gems Rares
- /75 Rookie Revelation Legendaries
BUILD YOUR ROOKIE COLLECTION, CALL YOUR SHOT
POP-UP BURN LEADERBOARDS
Beyond the collectibility that comes from these Rookie Debuts being the first and only Commons for these rookies during the regular season, there’s another reason to stack these Rookie Debuts from a utility perspective:
More than 10% of each of the 30 Rare Freshman Gems plays will be set aside and available to be earned via a Burn Leaderboard in which collectors can burn /4,000 Rookie Debut Commons from a specific player to rise the ranks and earn a scarce /199 Freshman Gems Rare from the same player midway through the season.
By collecting Rookie Debuts, you can either hold the Moments in your collection and watch the Moments become more scarce over time, or you can leverage its utility to update your collection later on in the season.
PLAYER LOCKING LEADERBOARDS
A percentage of all rookie Rare and Legendary Moments in drops (Freshman Gems and Rookie Revelation) this season will be earmarked and distributed via weighted airdrop to collectors on the corresponding Player and Team Locking Leaderboards.
At the end of the regular season, the top 150 collectors atop the Player Leaderboards for the 10 rookies who make the All-Rookie 1st and 2nd team will receive an exclusive player-specific reward to recognize the dedication those collectors took to express their confidence in the rookies long term.
Additionally, at the end of the regular season, the top 50 collectors atop the Player Leaderboards for the 3 rookies who finish the season as Rookie of the Year Finalists will receive an exclusive reward commemorating the incredible season for the rookie.
LOCKING THE ROOKIE DEBUT SET FROM SERIES 4
Last week we shared our plans for this season’s Set Rewards. The first reward will be for collectors who lock the Series 4 Rookie Debut Set by Monday, November 6th at 5pm EST. This Reward will be a pack featuring one guaranteed Rookie Debut from a lottery pick (all eligible lottery picks will be evenly distributed), and will be airdropped to qualified collectors by the end of November.
We hope these rules and details will help provide clarity, confidence, excitement and a little bit of strategy to your approach around collecting rookies on NBA Top Shot this season. If you have any questions or thoughts about rookies on Top Shot, please send your feedback to mailbag@nbatopshot.com.
