2022-23 Select Basketball Review: Should You Invest In This Late Release?

Select Basketball 2022-23 brings back the signature basketball set for a release on June 28, 2023. Boxes are pre-ordering around $400.  

The product is celebrating a decade of success after first released in 2012-13, so how did Panini celebrate by bringing new changes to the product on this special year? By basically doing nothing to it. The 2022-23 set has very minimal changes.

Here’s everything you need to know about 2022-23 Select Basketball. 

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2022-23 Panini Select Basketball product introduction 

“Fashionably late” feels too generous. The product that spent almost a decade as a March release is dropping after the 2022-23 NBA season – and Finals – come to a close. While the timing is unfortunate and snatches some of the fun from rookie investing, the product still looks to be as good as ever. 

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Select was traditionally a hobby-only release, but a retail edition helps it rank in the top tier of mass-market optichrome sports card royalty along with Prizm and Optic. 

Select, unlike the other two, is a bit more complicated to collect. Why? The product has three unique tiers cards that represent different levels of increasing scarcity: concourse, premier level, and courtside. Select NFL decided to make a head-scratching move and switch up the names of the levels after a decade, so we’re happy to see Select Basketball elected to keep the names the same. 

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What to expect from 2022-23 Select Basketball

Select 2022-23 looks to remain almost exactly the same as we’ve grown to expect. In fact, the only mention of the word “New” on Panini’s notes is referring to a new insert: Color Wheel (short print). Not much change. 

Find 3 Autographs or Memorabilia Cards in each Hobby Box! Search for autographs of – Each Hobby Box contains 12 Prizms, which could be Silver, Scope, Tri-Color, Light-Blue (#’d/299), Blue Scope (#’d/249), Red (#’d/199), White (#’d/149), Neon Green (#’d/75), Copper Plaid (#’d/49), Tie-Dye (#’d/25) , Gold (#’d/10), Green (#’d/5) , Black (one of one), or Zebra!

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The makeup of each box is the same as last year:  hobby boxes consist of 12 packs with 5 cards per pack. Each box averages 3 autographs or memorabilia cards. Expect an average of 12 parallels per box, and we’ll look at the parallels in just a moment. With a pretty deep class that includes rookies of Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith Jr, Jalen Williams and more,  $400 feels pretty reasonable. 

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2022 Panini Select Basketball checklist information 

The 2022 checklist looks a lot like previous years apart from the changing of the names of the different tiers. 

While the NFL version seems to have slightly different parallels for each level of scarcity, the NBA checklist doesn’t distinguish. Instead, here are the listed parallels:

• Silver Prizm
• Scope Prizm
• Tri-Color Prizm
• Zebra Prizm
• Light Blue Prizm – #/299
• Blue Scope Prizm – #/249
• Red Prizm – #/199
• White Prizm – #/149
• Neon Green Prizm – #/75
• Copper Plaid Prizm – #/49
• Tie-Dye Prizm – #/25
• Gold Prizm – #/10
• Green Prizm – #/5
• Black Prizm – 1/1

So, to recap, there should be a 1/1 in the concourse, premier and courtside levels for each player. 

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As far as inserts go, the returning sets are En Fuego, Select Future, Sensations, Snapshots, and Unstoppable. Some of these can be traced back to Select’s 2012-13 Origins.

Investing in 2022-23 Select Basketball 

With a pre-order price of $400, this is the most affordable Select release since 2019… and one of the stronger rookie classes (none have been disappointing, to be fair).

Still, does that make it a good investment?

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One pro for the product is that each box has 60 cards, while many of the expensive recent releases have only included 8 – 10 cards, so at least with Select you have more chances of pulling nice cards and getting your money back.

But still, you’re paying for a new box of Select and it’s a big investment in something that might not pay off at all. Here’s our take on how to consider investing in Select. 

Investing in sealed boxes of 2022-23 Panini Select Basketball

If you’re investing in sealed boxes with the intent of holding them, here are some numbers to consider.

• Current resell of 2021-22 hobby: $375
• Current resell of 2020-21 hobby: $455
• Current resell of 2019-20 hobby: $800
• Current resell of 2018-19 hobby: $1,400
• Current resell of 2017-18 hobby: $865

A couple of takeaways here.

For one, obviously is that the rookie class matters. The year’s with rookies of Jayson Tatum, Donavon Mitchell, Luka Doncic, Jaren Jackson Jr, Trae Young, Zion Williamson and Ja Morant are worth more than the last couple of years, who haven’t shown to have a top 10 player… year (we see you, Anthony Edwards).

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But, more importantly, Select seems to age well. In fact, I don’t think the 2017-18 class is discernably better than 2020-21. There might be a bit more high-end talent with Tatum, but 2020-21 probably has a lot better young talent across the board… and with more potential baked in.

For that reason alone, the 2017 boxes shouldn’t be worth 2x the 2020 boxes, meaning the product ages well (the one exception would be if the recent overprinting is baked into the price).

Still, if you are buying a sealed box to sit on, Select isn’t a bad option – especially if you like the 2022-23 rookie class. 

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Investing in NBA Select rookies

Select rookie cards are one of the blue-chip investments of modern Panini rookies – perhaps second to only Prizm. If you’re going to invest in just one card of anybody, Select is a great way to go.

Your best bet of making a guaranteed profit on this product is finding a few silvers or courtside rookies of players you believe in, buying them raw (after asking for more pictures), then getting them graded. 

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If you can scoop up silvers of the rookies you like and grade, then you’ll be set for a long-term hold. Collectors go nuts for Select PSA 10s, especially if you can get cards in one of the two rarest tiers.

But caution: don’t buy the first Select cards that appear on eBay for this year. The price will inevitably drop as the supply meets the demand.

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Bottom line: Rip, hold or pass?

Select has been going strong for an entire decade. If you’re looking for something sealed to invest in, it’s not a bad option and carries decent upside potential. 

What do you think of this product? What will it be worth in 5 years? Let us know on Twitter @card_lines. 

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