Celtics Legend Bill Russell's Rookie Card Sells for Record-Setting $660,000

Bill Russell was one of the best players in NBA history, so it should come as no surprise that one of his rookie cards sold for a fortune.

A 1957 Topps Russell rookie card sold for $660,000 at auction on Thursday at PWCC Marketplace, per ESPN's Dan Hajducky. It set a new record for the highest-selling card of the Boston Celtics legend.

It is also the third-most expensive vintage (pre-1980) basketball card of all time behind a 1948 Bowman George Mikan rookie card that sold for $800,000 in March 2022 and a 1961 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain rookie card that sold for $670,000 nearly one year ago.

This particular Russell card was graded an 8.5 between mint and near-mint by PSA. Only three of these cards have been graded higher, and they have never been up for public auction, per Hajducky.

Russell spent his entire NBA career with the Celtics, winning 11 NBA titles, including eight straight, and five MVP awards between 1956 and 1969. He was also a 12-time All-Star, four-time total rebounding champion and made an All-NBA team 11 times.

Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. He died last July at 88, and the NBA announced a month later that his No. 6 would be retired league-wide.