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Draymond Green Show: Draymond reacts to Danilo Gallinari's comments on Kawhi Leonard "I think wishing the NBA took $50 million from a player is disgusting... that also wasn't his first time being traded, so for him to sit and act as if Kawhi Leonard ruined his career, that's bulls**t... I think Gallinari would choose Paul George over himself and if you won't, that's crazy, that's ridiculous... Kawhi Leonard does not have the power to trade a player, he can request... but he don't have the ability to make that trade."
Actor and entrepreneur Rob Gough stunned the sports card and memorabilia hobby for the first time in January 2021 when he purchased a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle in a PSA 9 (Mint) grade for $5.2 million. It was the most expensive known transaction for a sports card at the time and remains among the top 10 in 2026. Today, industry experts, as well as card pricing tool Card Ladder, place the card’s value between $20-$30 million. “When I announced my Mickey Mantle purchase, it went viral because everybody thought I was absolutely out of my mind,” Gough told The Athletic in August. “Who’s this insane guy spending $5.2 million on this baseball card? Is this guy crazy? That’s the reason why it was in the news. Everyone thought I was absolutely out of my mind.” He wasn’t crazy. Just early.
Gough shook the hobby again last month when he consigned a Michael Jordan “Last Dance” jersey worn during Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals to auction house Joopiter. Among the most important pieces of Jordan memorabilia to surface publicly, the jersey has a pre-sale estimate between $10-$15 million. A $10 million bid (more than $12 million, including Joopiter’s buyer’s premium) on Tuesday has ensured the Jordan shirt will top the public record of $10.1 million for a basketball jersey when the auction closes on Sept. 29. The previous record sum was spent on the jersey worn by Jordan in Game 1 of the 1998 Finals — a 88-85 Utah Jazz win over Jordan’s Chicago Bulls — at Sotheby’s in 2022. Gough’s Game 3 jersey was worn for a record-setting 96-54 Bulls win, which gave Chicago a 2-1 series edge, behind 24 points from Jordan. Chicago would go on to win Game 4 and Game 6 to secure the team’s second three-peat and sixth title in eight years. Neither of those jerseys have surfaced at public auction.
Gough’s Jordan jersey once sold for $104,281 in 2015 with a letter of authenticity from memorabilia evaluation service MEARS. It was later photo-matched to Game 3 specifically by third-party authenticator MeiGray to give the jersey a direct link to a key moment in time. “For me, it has to be a winner,” Gough said of the jersey. “And I love things that change the momentum of something. That, to me, was so important. This jersey was from the most important game and was the most important jersey to own.”
The auction for Jordan’s Game 3 jersey arrives alongside a surging market for sports memorabilia and trading cards in particular. According to price tracker Card Ladder’s records, there have already been 53 known sales of $1 million or more so far in 2026, which is the highest total recorded in a single year. Many of the highest card sales in recent years have included game-worn pieces of memorabilia from the players featured, and Gough believes that trend has helped drive the market for memorabilia.
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“I think the growth of the high-end card market has been very positive for game-used memorabilia,” Gough said. “Cards helped turn sports collectibles into a much more established alternative asset category. They brought in new collectors, created better price discovery, professionalized authentication and grading, and demonstrated that historically important sports objects could command eight-figure prices. “I think we’re now seeing some of that sophistication migrate into game-used memorabilia, particularly as photo-matching and provenance have improved. The markets are connected, but game-used memorabilia is fundamentally different. A card is a representation of an athlete or moment. A jersey worn during an important game is an artifact from the moment itself.”
Taj Gibson's first day as a coach came with a phone call he did not expect to last as long as it did. One day after retiring from the NBA and being named an assistant on Tiago Splitter's Bulls staff, Gibson described how Tom Thibodeau, his head coach during his early years in Chicago, reached out immediately. “Yesterday was such a whirlwind, but one of the first calls I got was from Tom Thibodeau,” Gibson said in an appearance at 14.3 The Score. “I thought it was going to be like a quick little 10 minutes. It went from 10 minutes to almost an hour and a half call.”
Taj Gibson: Today is a very emotional day for me. After 17 seasons in the NBA, I can honestly say I gave this game everything I had. Basketball gave me the opportunity to live a dream. As a kid from Brooklyn, NY, I was lucky to get a chance to display my talent on the biggest stage. From Fort Greene Projects to USC, to the Chicago Bulls , and every team and city that came after, I’m grateful for every moment, every teammate, every coach, and every person who believed in me. I wanted to be the guy my teammates could count on someone who brought toughness, energy, leadership, and heart every time I stepped on the court. To my family, my friends, my teammates, my coaches, my agent, the NBA , NBPA and the fans, thank you. You were all a part of this journey. But this isn’t goodbye to Basketball. It’s the beginning of a new chapter. After 31 years of basketball, I can walk away with no regrets, knowing I left everything on the floor. God has truly blessed me. Thank you Basketball
Joel Lorenzi: Bulls PR announces that with the addition of Taj Gibson, Tiago Splitter has finalized his staff for the season. New faces: Blake Ahearn, Jamelle McMillan (son of Nate), Rex Kalamian, Jonah Herscu, Jordan Brink, Gibson
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Karl-Anthony Towns: Congrats to my brother @TajGibson on an incredible career. Real one. True vet. Taught me so much! Now watch him cook as a coach in Chicago 👏 The city's lucky to have you big fella!
Norman Powell: "Being 33 and making my first All-Star, it's very funny because I don't feel 33. It was one of the personal goals that I had set out for myself when I was a little kid. I finally accomplished it, even though it's in my 11th year, it's still a great feat."
Legion Hoops: N3on: “Who is the most overrated team in the NBA?” Norman Powell: “The Lakers”