1969 Topps Lew Alcindor #25 RC

Topps comes back to basketball

Topps made basketball cards in 1957-58 and then dropped the sport. The company did not produce basketball sets again until 1969-70. In between, the only national issue was Fleer's 1961-62 set. When Topps returned, it had a decade of stars and rookies to catch up on, and the 99-card checklist (98 players plus a checklist) became the first cardboard for many of them.

Topps made the cards tall. At about 2 1/2 by 4 11/16 inches, more than an inch taller than a standard card, they earned the hobby nickname "tall boys" and were printed on heavier stock than Topps's earlier basketball cards. Fronts show a player inside an oval frame on a white background, with name and position at the top and the team city in bold letters at the bottom. Because of licensing limits, the cards carry no team logos.

Packs held 10 cards and usually sold for a dime. They also came with an insert, a series of thin paper "Rulers" that paired a cartoon of a star with a ruler showing his height.

The most decorated rookie in history

Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. was born in New York City on April 16, 1947. At Power Memorial Academy, a private Catholic high school in New York City, he led the team on a 71-game winning streak. At UCLA he was relegated to the freshman team in his first year because freshmen could not play varsity, and that freshman team beat the UCLA varsity 75-60, the first time a freshman team had done so.

Over the next three seasons UCLA went 88-2 and won three straight national championships, in 1967, 1968 and 1969. Alcindor was a three-time national player of the year and a record three-time Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament. In 1969 he became the first Naismith College Player of the Year. After his first varsity season, college basketball banned the dunk, a rule critics called the Alcindor Rule. He responded by refining the hook shot that became the skyhook.

In 1969 Milwaukee won a coin toss with the Phoenix Suns for the first pick of the NBA draft and took him. The New York Nets also made him the first pick of the rival American Basketball Association draft. The card's back reflects the hype, saying he came to the NBA "with the most impressive set of credentials in history."

A rookie who turned a team around

Alcindor debuted on October 18, 1969, and played all 82 games. He averaged 28.8 points and 14.5 rebounds in 43.1 minutes a night, scored 2,361 points and was named Rookie of the Year. Milwaukee went from 27-55 the year before to 56-26 and second place in the Eastern Division. In 10 playoff games he averaged 35.2 points and 16.8 rebounds.

The next season Milwaukee added the All-Star guard Oscar Robertson, whose own card is in this set. Alcindor won the 1971 MVP and led the Bucks to their first title in a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Bullets, and he was named Finals MVP.

The card says Lew Alcindor, the name he still used in public. He converted to Sunni Islam in the summer of 1968 and took the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but he did not begin using it publicly until 1971. At a June 3, 1971, press conference, he asked to be called by it. Sources differ on the date: the grading company's own card profile says he legally adopted the name in 1968.

Why the tall boy is so hard to find in high grade

The size that makes the card distinctive is also what damages it. Tall boys did not fit the boxes, binder pages or card cases collectors used, so many were rubber-banded and kept in shoeboxes. The large white surface shows print defects, and the cards are hard to find well centered. The sheet layout mattered too: the set was printed nine rows of 11, with Wilt Chamberlain's #1 in one corner and the checklist in another, and corner cards took the most wear.

The Alcindor is not rare. PSA has graded it thousands of times; its 2026 census listed more than 6,000 copies. The top end is very thin: 170 PSA 8s, 18 PSA 9s and two PSA 10s.

Other notable cards in the set include John Havlicek, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, many making their first card appearance, along with established stars Chamberlain, Robertson and Jerry West. The Alcindor stands alone as the set's most valuable card; Chamberlain and Robertson follow relatively far behind.

Sales from the 2016 record to today

The highest sale found for this card is $501,900 for a PSA 10 on August 26, 2016. A February 2026 review said that copy had not sold since, and that a PSA 9 last sold for $192,000 in 2023.

For the PSA 8 grade on this page, recorded sales rose sharply in the early-2021 card boom: $39,999 on February 1, $59,500 by mid-February, and $75,101 and $79,999 on March 17, 2021. By late April, copies were selling near $38,000. Prices kept falling through 2022 and 2023, landing between about $17,900 and $23,000 in 2023.

Since then PSA 8 copies have sold for $19,800 at auction in June 2024, $20,715 in November 2025, $23,180 and $19,520 at auction in March and April 2026, and $25,000 online in July 2026.

The card of the NBA's long-time scoring king

Abdul-Jabbar played 20 seasons, won six championships with Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Lakers, a record six MVP awards and two Finals MVPs, and made 19 All-Star teams. When he retired in 1989 he held the career records for points (38,387), games, minutes, field goals, blocked shots and personal fouls. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1995.

His points record stood until LeBron James passed it on February 7, 2023. This card is the only mainstream rookie card of that career, issued during the rookie season itself, and collectors call it, arguably, the most important basketball card of the 1960s.

The numbers

1969-70 season (card year)

82 G, 43.1 MPG, 28.8 PPG, 14.5 RPG, 4.1 APG, .518 FG, .653 FT; 2,361 points, 1,190 rebounds. Rookie of the Year, All-Star, All-NBA Second Team, third in MVP voting.

1970 playoffs

10 G, 35.2 PPG, 16.8 RPG, .567 FG

1970-71 season

82 G, 31.7 PPG, 16.0 RPG, .577 FG. MVP, NBA champion, Finals MVP.

UCLA (1966-67 to 1968-69)

88-2 record, three NCAA titles, three-time tournament Most Outstanding Player

Career (20 seasons)

1,560 G, 38,387 points, 17,440 rebounds, 3,189 blocks; 24.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG, .559 FG

Honors

6 titles, 6 MVPs (record), 2 Finals MVPs, 19 All-Star selections; Hall of Fame 1995

Timeline

1. Apr 16, 1947

   Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. is born in New York City.

2. 1957

   Topps issues its first basketball set, then leaves the sport for 12 years.

3. 1961

   Fleer issues its 1961-62 basketball set, the last national issue before Topps returns.

4. 1967

   UCLA wins the first of three straight national titles with Alcindor; afterward the dunk is banned in college basketball.

5. 1968

   Alcindor converts to Sunni Islam and takes the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, without yet using it publicly.

6. 1969

   UCLA completes a three-year 88-2 run; Milwaukee wins a coin toss with Phoenix and drafts Alcindor first overall.

7. Oct 18, 1969

   Alcindor makes his NBA debut.

8. 1969

   Topps returns to basketball with the 99-card tall boy set; Alcindor is #25.

9. 1970

   Alcindor is named Rookie of the Year after averaging 28.8 points and 14.5 rebounds.

10. 1971

    Milwaukee wins the NBA title; Alcindor is MVP and Finals MVP.

11. Jun 3, 1971

    At a press conference he asks to be called Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

12. 1989

    Abdul-Jabbar retires as the NBA's career scoring leader with 38,387 points.

13. 1995

    Abdul-Jabbar is inducted into the Hall of Fame.

14. Aug 26, 2016

    A PSA 10 sells for $501,900, the highest sale found.

15. Mar 17, 2021

    Two PSA 8 copies sell for $75,101 and $79,999 at the peak of the card boom.

16. Feb 7, 2023

    LeBron James passes Abdul-Jabbar's career scoring record.

17. Jul 3, 2026

    A PSA 8 sells online for $25,000.

The world in 1969

• Jan 12, 1969

  The AFL's New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III.

• Jan 20, 1969

  Richard Nixon is sworn in as the 37th president.

• Jun 28, 1969

  The Stonewall riots in New York City mark the start of the modern gay rights movement.

• Jul 20, 1969

  Apollo 11's lunar module lands on the Moon, and Neil Armstrong takes the first human steps on its surface.

• Aug 15, 1969

  The Woodstock Festival opens in upstate New York.

• Oct 15, 1969

  Millions of Americans join the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam.

• Oct 16, 1969

  The "miracle" New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles to win the World Series.

• Nov 10, 1969

  Sesame Street premieres.

Daily price data

FLOAT reprices this card every day from completed sales. Last updated November 12, 2026.

No completed sale at PSA 8 is on record yet. The same card at other grades:

Every grade and recorded sale for this card

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, 1969 Topps Lew Alcindor #25 RC is number 52 of 100 in the trading cards entries of the FLOAT 100. 97 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (36 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Bucks got Alcindor by winning a coin toss with the Phoenix Suns for the first pick.
• His UCLA freshman team beat the varsity 75-60, the first time a UCLA freshman team had done so.
• College basketball banned the dunk after his first varsity season, a move critics called the Alcindor Rule.
• Topps printed the set nine rows of 11 to a sheet, which is why the #1 Chamberlain and the checklist, sitting in the corners, are so often worn.
• The Rulers inserts sold in the same packs were planned as a set of 24, but the Bill Russell ruler, #5, was never issued.
• A February 2026 review said the record PSA 10 Alcindor had not sold in almost 10 years.