1997-98 Finest Basketball Cards

1997-98 Finest is a 326-card set issued in 6-card packs that carried a release date SRP of $5/pack, and across two series’ each with different quantities of cards – series 1 containing 173 cards and series two containing 153 cards. The set is divided into the following three tiers.

Tier	Rarity	Cards	Odds
Bronze	Common	1-120; 174-273	–
Silver	Uncommon	121-153; 274-306	1:4
Gold	Rare	154-173; 307-326	1:24

While cards were manufactured with a protective coating over their front surfaces that can be peeled off, it’s common for owners to peel them to help bump the evaluation when they’re sent in for grading. When this set was issued, unpeeled examples outsold peeled examples. A variety of parallels exist but not for every card, and include embossed, refractor, and embossed refractor. The bronze tier was never made for the embossed or embossed refractor parallels. 6 promos were made that were given to dealers and hobby press to promote the set.

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Set Information:

Date	Event
January 1997	Release Date

Set	Total Cards	Print Run	Odds
Base Bronze	220	–	6:1
Base Silver	66	–	1:4
Base Gold	40	–	1:24
Embossed Silver	66	–	1:16
Embossed Gold	40	–	1:96
Refractor Bronze	220	–	1:12
Refractor Silver	66	1090	1:48
Refractor Gold	40	289	1:288
Embossed Refractor Silver	66	263	1:192
Embossed Refractor Gold	40	74	1:1152
Promo	6	–

Promos:

Card #	Player	Card #	Player
27	Chris Webber	67	Eddie Jones
45	Vin Baker	68	Joe Smith
57	Allen Iverson	80	Gary Payton

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Checklist:

SCard #	Player	Tier	Card #	Player	Tier
1	Scottie Pippen	B	164	Mitch Richmond	G
2	Tim Hardaway	B	165	Shareef Abdur-Rahim	G
3	Bo Outlaw	B	166	Alonzo Mourning	G
4	Rik Smits	B	167	Dennis Rodman	G
5	Dale Ellis	B	168	Antonio McDyess	G
6	Clyde Drexler	B	169	Shawn Bradley	G
7	Steve Smith	B	170	Anfernee Hardaway	G
8	Nick Anderson	B	171	Jason Kidd	G
9	Juwan Howard	B	172	Gary Payton	G
10	Cedric Ceballos	B	173	John Stockton	G
11	Shawn Bradley	B	174	Allan Houston	B
12	Loy Vaught	B	175	Bob Sura	B
13	Todd Day	B	176	Clyde Drexler	B
14	Glen Rice	B	177	Glenn Robinson	B
15	Bryant Stith	B	178	Joe Smith	B
16	Bob Sura	B	179	Larry Johnson	B
17	Derrick McKey	B	180	Mitch Richmond	B
18	Ray Allen	B	181	Rony Seikaly	B
19	Stephon Marbury	B	182	Tyrone Hill	B
20	David Robinson	B	183	Allen Iverson	B
21	Anthony Peeler	B	184	Brent Barry	B
22	Isaiah Rider	B	185	Damon Stoudamire	B
23	Mookie Blaylock	B	186	Grant Hill	B
24	Damon Stoudamire	B	187	John Stockton	B
25	Rod Strickland	B	188	Latrell Sprewell	B
26	Glenn Robinson	B	189	Mookie Blaylock	B
27	Chris Webber	B	190	Samaki Walker	B
28	Christian Laettner	B	191	Vin Baker	B
29	Joe Dumars	B	192	Alonzo Mourning	B
30	Mark Price	B	193	Brevin Knight	B
31	Jamal Mashburn	B	194	Danny Manning	B
32	Danny Manning	B	195	Hakeem Olajuwon	B
33	John Stockton	B	196	Johnny Taylor	B
34	Detlef Schrempf	B	197	Lorenzen Wright	B
35	Tyus Edney	B	198	Olden Polynice	B
36	Chris Childs	B	199	Scottie Pippen	B
37	Dana Barros	B	200	Lindsey Hunter	B
38	Bobby Phills	B	201	Anfernee Hardaway	B
39	Michael Jordan	B	202	Greg Anthony	B
40	Grant Hill	B	203	David Robinson	B
41	Brent Barry	B	204	Horace Grant	B
42	Rony Seikaly	B	205	Calbert Cheaney	B
43	Shareef Abdur-Rahim	B	206	Loy Vaught	B
44	Dominique Wilkins	B	207	Tariq Abdul-Wahad	B
45	Vin Baker	B	208	Sean Elliott	B
46	Kendall Gill	B	209	Rodney Rogers	B
47	Muggsy Bogues	B	210	Anthony Mason	B
48	Hakeem Olajuwon	B	211	Bryant Reeves	B
49	Reggie Miller	B	212	David Wesley	B
50	Shaquille O’Neal	B	213	Isaiah Rider	B
51	Antonio McDyess	B	214	Karl Malone	B
52	Michael Finley	B	215	Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf	B
53	Jerry Stackhouse	B	216	Patrick Ewing	B
54	Brian Grant	B	217	Shaquille O’Neal	B
55	Greg Anthony	B	218	Antoine Walker	B
56	Patrick Ewing	B	219	Charles Barkley	B
57	Allen Iverson	B	220	Dennis Rodman	B
58	Rasheed Wallace	B	221	Jamal Mashburn	B
59	Shawn Kemp	B	222	Kendall Gill	B
60	Bryant Reeves	B	223	Malik Sealy	B
61	Kevin Garnett	B	224	Rasheed Wallace	B
62	Allan Houston	B	225	Shareef Abdur-Rahim	B
63	Stacey Augmon	B	226	Antonio Daniels	B
64	Rick Fox	B	227	Charles Oakley	B
65	Derek Harper	B	228	Derek Anderson	B
66	Lindsey Hunter	B	229	Jason Kidd	B
67	Eddie Jones	B	230	Kenny Anderson	B
68	Joe Smith	B	231	Marcus Camby	B
69	Alonzo Mourning	B	232	Ray Allen	B
70	LaPhonso Ellis	B	233	Shawn Bradley	B
71	Tyrone Hill	B	234	Antonio McDyess	B
72	Charles Barkley	B	235	Chauncey Billups	B
73	Malik Sealy	B	236	Detlef Schrempf	B
74	Shandon Anderson	B	237	Jayson Williams	B
75	Arvydas Sabonis	B	238	Kerry Kittles	B
76	Tom Gugliotta	B	239	Jalen Rose	B
77	Anfernee Hardaway	B	240	Reggie Miller	B
78	Sean Elliott	B	241	Shawn Kemp	B
79	Marcus Camby	B	242	Arvydas Sabonis	B
80	Gary Payton	B	243	Tom Gugliotta	B
81	Kerry Kittles	B	244	Dikembe Mutombo	B
82	Dikembe Mutombo	B	245	Jeff Hornacek	B
83	Antoine Walker	B	246	Kevin Garnett	B
84	Terrell Brandon	B	247	Matt Maloney	B
85	Otis Thorpe	B	248	Rex Chapman	B
86	Mark Jackson	B	249	Stephon Marbury	B
87	A.C. Green	B	250	Austin Croshere	B
88	John Starks	B	251	Chris Childs	B
89	Kenny Anderson	B	252	Eddie Jones	B
90	Karl Malone	B	253	Jerry Stackhouse	B
91	Mitch Richmond	B	254	Kevin Johnson	B
92	Derrick Coleman	B	255	Maurice Taylor	B
93	Horace Grant	B	256	Chris Mullin	B
94	John Williams	B	257	Terrell Brandon	B
95	Jason Kidd	B	258	Avery Johnson	B
96	Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf	B	259	Chris Webber	B
97	Walt Williams	B	260	Gary Payton	B
98	Anthony Mason	B	261	Jim Jackson	B
99	Latrell Sprewell	B	262	Kobe Bryant	B
100	Checklist	B	263	Michael Finley	B
101	Tim Duncan RC	B	264	Rod Strickland	B
102	Keith Van Horn RC	B	265	Tim Hardaway	B
103	Chauncey Billups RC	B	266	B.J. Armstrong	B
104	Antonio Daniels RC	B	267	Christian Laettner	B
105	Tony Battie RC	B	268	Glen Rice	B
106	Tim Thomas RC	B	269	Joe Dumars	B
107	Tracy McGrady RC	B	270	LaPhonso Ellis	B
108	Adonal Foyle RC	B	271	Michael Jordan	B
109	Maurice Taylor RC	B	272	Ron Mercer	B
110	Austin Croshere RC	B	273	Checklist	B
111	Bobby Jackson RC	B	274	Anfernee Haraway	S
112	Olivier Saint-Jean RC	B	275	Dennis Rodman	S
113	John Thomas RC	B	276	Gary Payton	S
114	Derek Anderson RC	B	277	Jamal Mashburn	S
115	Brevin Knight RC	B	278	Shareef Abdur-Rahim	S
116	Charles Smith RC	B	279	Steve Smith	S
117	Johnny Taylor RC	B	280	Tony Battie	S
118	Jacque Vaughn RC	B	281	Alonzo Mourning	S
119	Anthony Parker RC	B	282	Bobby Jackson	S
120	Paul Grant RC	B	283	Christian Laettner	S
121	Stephon Marbury	S	284	Jerry Stackhouse	S
122	Terrell Brandon	S	285	Terrell Brandon	S
123	Dikembe Mutombo	S	286	Chauncey Billups	S
124	Patrick Ewing	S	287	Michael Jordan	S
125	Scottie Pippen	S	288	Glenn Robinson	S
126	Antoine Walker	S	289	Jason Kidd	S
127	Karl Malone	S	290	Joe Smith	S
128	Sean Elliott	S	291	Michael Finley	S
129	Chris Webber	S	292	Rod Strickland	S
130	Shawn Kemp	S	293	Ron Mercer	S
131	Hakeem Olajuwon	S	294	Tracy McGrady	S
132	Tim Hardaway	S	295	Adonal Foyle	S
133	Glen Rice	S	296	Marcus Camby	S
134	Vin Baker	S	297	John Stockton	S
135	Jim Jackson	S	298	Kerry Kittles	S
136	Kevin Garnett	S	299	Mitch Richmond	S
137	Kobe Bryant	S	300	Shawn Bradley	S
138	Damon Stoudamire	S	301	Anthony Mason	S
139	Larry Johnson	S	302	Antonio Daniels	S
140	Latrell Sprewell	S	303	Antonio McDyess	S
141	Lorenzen Wright	S	304	Charles Barkley	S
142	Toni Kukoc	S	305	Keith Van Horn	S
143	Allen Iverson	S	306	Tim Duncan	S
144	Elden Campbell	S	307	Dikembe Mutombo	G
145	Tom Gugliotta	S	308	Grant Hill	G
146	David Robinson	S	309	Shaquille O’Neal	G
147	Jayson Williams	S	310	Keith Van Horn	G
148	Shaquille O’Neal	S	311	Shawn Kemp	G
149	Grant Hill	S	312	Antoine Walker	G
150	Reggie Miller	S	313	Hakeem Olajuwon	G
151	Clyde Drexler	S	314	Vin Baker	G
152	Ray Allen	S	315	Patrick Ewing	G
153	Eddie Jones	S	316	Tracy McGrady	G
154	Michael Jordan	G	317	Glen Rice	G
155	Dominique Wilkins	G	318	Reggie Miller	G
156	Charles Barkley	G	319	Kevin Garnett	G
157	Jerry Stackhouse	G	320	Allen Iverson	G
158	Juwan Howard	G	321	Karl Malone	G
159	Marcus Camby	G	322	Scottie Pippen	G
160	Christian Laettner	G	323	Kobe Bryant	G
161	Anthony Mason	G	324	Stephon Marbury	G
162	Joe Smith	G	325	Tim Duncan	G
163	Kerry Kittles	G	326	Chris Webber	G

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