1996-97 Topps Chrome Basketball Card Set Checklist, Information
The 1996-97 Topps Chrome basketball set is perhaps the most iconic basketball set of the 1990’s era. This was the first Topps Chrome set and basically was a Chrome version of the basic 1996-97 Topps set. Topps picked a perfect year to start the Topps Chrome brand. The 1996 NBA draft class is among the greatest of all time in terms of star power and overall depth. The set features rookie cards of 3 players that won MVPS (Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, and Allen Iverson) and 10 all-stars.
The Topps Finest brand had established itself as the premiere basketball set and premiere rookie card to have in 1993-94 and 1994-95 with the expectation that this would continue with the 1996-97 release. A player’s finest rookie card was a must have item. This would all change with the introduction of Topps Chrome in 1996.
Topps Chrome changed the basketball rookie card landscape going forward. Offered as a retail only product and featuring “chromium technology”, packs and boxes seemed difficult to come by. Perhaps Topps was testing this product out with a retail release and limited production. Even though Chrome was well received by the hobby, Finest cards were initially still more valuable and more sought after.
I distinctly remember buying a few Finest rookies back in 1996-97 and the dealer convincing me that I should also pick up a couple Chrome rookies of some Lakers prospect named Kobe Bryant. The Chrome was cheaper than the Finest at the time so I ended up picking up a couple for less than $10 each.
The cheap Chrome rookies didn’t last too long as collector’s caught on fairly quickly that Topps Chrome was in fact rarer than Topps Finest as they had more difficult finding Kobe Chrome RCs and refractors compared to Kobe Finest RCs and refractors.
Kobe Bryant can be found in the Youth Quake insert set. Michael Jordan can be found in Pro-Files, and Season’s Best. Full checklists are below.
Refractors are just 2 per box and even the commons have some value.
Both the 1996-97 Topps Chrome and Topps Finest sets are notorious for off center cards. Centering and surface scratching of the chrome can be issues with this set.
Box Breakdown
20 packs x 4 cards per pack = 80 cards per box
Inserts: Season’s Best 1:16, Pro-Files 1:8, Youthquake 1:12
Refractors 1:12 (220 card parallel set) 1:2,640 for any specific refractor!
1996-97 Topps Chrome Checklist
220 Card Set Checklist
| # | First | Last | Other | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick | Ewing | |||||
| 2 | Christian | Laettner | |||||
| 3 | Mahmoud | Abdul-Rauf | |||||
| 4 | Chris | Webber | |||||
| 5 | Jason | Kidd | |||||
| 6 | Clifford | Rozier | |||||
| 7 | Elden | Campbell | |||||
| 8 | Chuck | Person | |||||
| 9 | Jeff | Hornacek | |||||
| 10 | Rik | Smits | |||||
| 11 | Kurt | Thomas | |||||
| 12 | Rod | Strickland | |||||
| 13 | Kendall | Gill | |||||
| 14 | Brian | Williams | |||||
| 15 | Tom | Gugliotta | |||||
| 16 | Ron | Harper | |||||
| 17 | Eric | Williams | |||||
| 18 | A.C. | Green | |||||
| 19 | Scott | Williams | |||||
| 20 | Damon | Stoudamire | |||||
| 21 | Bryant | Reeves | |||||
| 22 | Bob | Sura | |||||
| 23 | Mitch | Richmond | |||||
| 24 | Larry | Johnson | |||||
| 25 | Vin | Baker | |||||
| 26 | Mark | Bryant | |||||
| 27 | Horace | Grant | |||||
| 28 | Allan | Houston | |||||
| 29 | Sam | Perkins | |||||
| 30 | Antonio | McDyess | |||||
| 31 | Rasheed | Wallace | |||||
| 32 | Malik | Sealy | |||||
| 33 | Scottie | Pippen | |||||
| 34 | Charles | Barkley | |||||
| 35 | Hakeem | Olajuwon | |||||
| 36 | John | Starks | |||||
| 37 | Byron | Scott | |||||
| 38 | Arvydas | Sabonis | |||||
| 39 | Vlade | Divac | |||||
| 40 | Joe | Dumars | |||||
| 41 | Danny | Ferry | |||||
| 42 | Jerry | Stackhouse | |||||
| 43 | B.J. | Armstrong | |||||
| 44 | Shawn | Bradley | |||||
| 45 | Kevin | Garnett | |||||
| 46 | Dee | Brown | |||||
| 47 | Michael | Smith | |||||
| 48 | Doug | Christie | |||||
| 49 | Mark | Jackson | |||||
| 50 | Shawn | Kemp | |||||
| 51 | Sasha | Danilovic | |||||
| 52 | Nick | Anderson | |||||
| 53 | Matt | Geiger | |||||
| 54 | Charles | Smith | |||||
| 55 | Mookie | Blaylock | |||||
| 56 | Johnny | Newman | |||||
| 57 | George | McCloud | |||||
| 58 | Greg | Ostertag | |||||
| 59 | Reggie | Williams | |||||
| 60 | Brent | Barry | |||||
| 61 | Doug | West | |||||
| 62 | Donald | Royal | |||||
| 63 | Randy | Brown | |||||
| 64 | Vincent | Askew | |||||
| 65 | John | Stockton | |||||
| 66 | Joe | Kleine | |||||
| 67 | Keith | Askins | |||||
| 68 | Bobby | Phills | |||||
| 69 | Chris | Mullin | |||||
| 70 | Nick | Van Exel | |||||
| 71 | Rick | Fox | |||||
| 72 | Chicago | Bulls 72 Wins | |||||
| 73 | Shawn | Respert | |||||
| 74 | Hubert | Davis | |||||
| 75 | Jim | Jackson | |||||
| 76 | Olden | Polynice | |||||
| 77 | Gheorghe | Muresan | |||||
| 78 | Theo | Ratliff | |||||
| 79 | Khalid | Reeves | |||||
| 80 | David | Robinson | |||||
| 81 | Lawrence | Moten | |||||
| 82 | Sam | Cassell | |||||
| 83 | George | Zidek | |||||
| 84 | Sharone | Wright | |||||
| 85 | Clarence | Weatherspoon | |||||
| 86 | Alan | Henderson | |||||
| 87 | Chris | Dudley | |||||
| 88 | Ed | O'Bannon | |||||
| 89 | Calbert | Cheaney | |||||
| 90 | Cedric | Ceballos | |||||
| 91 | Michael | Cage | |||||
| 92 | Ervin | Johnson | |||||
| 93 | Gary | Trent | |||||
| 94 | Sherman | Douglas | |||||
| 95 | Joe | Smith | |||||
| 96 | Dale | Davis | |||||
| 97 | Tony | Dumas | |||||
| 98 | Muggsy | Bogues | |||||
| 99 | Toni | Kukoc | |||||
| 100 | Grant | Hill | |||||
| 101 | Michael | Finley | |||||
| 102 | Isaiah | Rider | |||||
| 103 | Bryant | Stith | |||||
| 104 | Pooh | Richardson | |||||
| 105 | Karl | Malone | |||||
| 106 | Brian | Grant | |||||
| 107 | Sean | Elliott | |||||
| 108 | Charles | Oakley | |||||
| 109 | Pervis | Ellison | |||||
| 110 | Anfernee Hardaway | ||||||
| 111 | Checklist | ||||||
| 112 | Dikembe | Mutombo | |||||
| 113 | Alonzo | Mourning | |||||
| 114 | Hubert | Davis | |||||
| 115 | Rony | Seikaly | |||||
| 116 | Danny | Manning | |||||
| 117 | Donyell | Marshall | |||||
| 118 | Gerald | Wilkins | |||||
| 119 | Ervin | Johnson | |||||
| 120 | Jalen | Rose | |||||
| 121 | Dino | Radja | |||||
| 122 | Glenn | Robinson | |||||
| 123 | John | Stockton | |||||
| 124 | Matt | Maloney | Rookie Card | ||||
| 125 | Clifford | Robinson | |||||
| 126 | Steve | Kerr | |||||
| 127 | Nate | McMillan | |||||
| 128 | Shareef | Abdur-Rahim | Rookie Card | ||||
| 129 | Loy | Vaught | |||||
| 130 | Anthony | Mason | |||||
| 131 | Kevin | Garnett | |||||
| 132 | Roy | Rogers | Rookie Card | ||||
| 133 | Erick | Dampier | Rookie Card | ||||
| 134 | Tyus | Edney | |||||
| 135 | Chris | Mills | |||||
| 136 | Cory | Alexander | |||||
| 137 | Juwan | Howard | |||||
| 138 | Kobe | Bryant | Rookie Card | ||||
| 139 | Michael | Jordan | |||||
| 140 | Jayson | Williams | |||||
| 141 | Rod | Strickland | |||||
| 142 | Lorenzen | Wright | Rookie Card | ||||
| 143 | Will | Perdue | |||||
| 144 | Derek | Harper | |||||
| 145 | Billy | Owens | |||||
| 146 | Antoine | Walker | Rookie Card | ||||
| 147 | P.J. | Brown | |||||
| 148 | Terrell | Brandon | |||||
| 149 | Larry | Johnson | |||||
| 150 | Steve | Smith | |||||
| 151 | Eddie | Jones | |||||
| 152 | Detlef | Schrempf | |||||
| 153 | Dale | Ellis | |||||
| 154 | Isaiah | Rider | |||||
| 155 | Tony | Delk | Rookie Card | ||||
| 156 | Adrian | Caldwell | |||||
| 157 | Jamal | Mashburn | |||||
| 158 | Dennis | Scott | |||||
| 159 | Dana | Barros | |||||
| 160 | Martin | Muursepp | Rookie Card | ||||
| 161 | MaRookie Cardus | Camby | Rookie Card | ||||
| 162 | Jerome | Williams | Rookie Card | ||||
| 163 | Wesley | Person | |||||
| 164 | Luc | Longley | |||||
| 165 | Charlie | Ward | |||||
| 166 | Mark | Jackson | |||||
| 167 | Derrick | Coleman | |||||
| 168 | Dell | Curry | |||||
| 169 | Armon | Gilliam | |||||
| 170 | Vlade | Divac | |||||
| 171 | Allen | Iverson | Rookie Card | ||||
| 172 | Vitaly | Potapenko | Rookie Card | ||||
| 173 | Jon | Koncak | |||||
| 174 | Lindsey | Hunter | |||||
| 175 | Kevin | Johnson | |||||
| 176 | Dennis | Rodman | |||||
| 177 | Stephon | Marbury | Rookie Card | ||||
| 178 | Karl | Malone | |||||
| 179 | Charles | Barkley | |||||
| 180 | Popeye | Jones | |||||
| 181 | Samaki | Walker | Rookie Card | ||||
| 182 | Steve | Nash | Rookie Card | ||||
| 183 | Latrell | Sprewell | |||||
| 184 | Kenny | Anderson | |||||
| 185 | Tyrone | Hill | |||||
| 186 | Robert | Pack | |||||
| 187 | Greg | Anthony | |||||
| 188 | Derrick | McKey | |||||
| 189 | John | Wallace | Rookie Card | ||||
| 190 | Bryon | Russell | |||||
| 191 | Jermaine | O'Neal | Rookie Card | ||||
| 192 | Clyde | Drexler | |||||
| 193 | Mahmoud | Abdul-Rauf | |||||
| 194 | Eric | Montross | |||||
| 195 | Allan | Houston | |||||
| 196 | Harvey | Grant | |||||
| 197 | Rodney | Rogers | |||||
| 198 | Kerry | Kittles | Rookie Card | ||||
| 199 | Grant | Hill | |||||
| 200 | Lionel | Simmons | |||||
| 201 | Reggie | Miller | |||||
| 202 | Avery | Johnson | |||||
| 203 | LaPhonso | Ellis | |||||
| 204 | Brian | Shaw | |||||
| 205 | Priest | Lauderdale | Rookie Card | ||||
| 206 | Derek | Fisher | Rookie Card | ||||
| 207 | Terry | Porter | |||||
| 208 | Todd | Fuller | Rookie Card | ||||
| 209 | Hersey | Hawkins | |||||
| 210 | Tim | Legler | |||||
| 211 | Terry | Dehere | |||||
| 212 | Gary | Payton | |||||
| 213 | Joe | Dumars | |||||
| 214 | Don | MacLean | |||||
| 215 | Greg | Minor | |||||
| 216 | Tim | Hardaway | |||||
| 217 | Ray | Allen | Rookie Card | ||||
| 218 | Mario | Elie | |||||
| 219 | Brooks | Thompson | |||||
| 220 | Shaquille | O'Neal |
Season’s Best 1:16 (25 cards) 1:400 for any specific card
| # | First | Last |
|---|---|---|
| SB1 | Michael | Jordan |
| SB2 | Hakeem | Olajuwon |
| SB3 | Shaquille | O'Neal |
| SB4 | Karl | Malone |
| SB5 | David | Robinson |
| SB6 | Dennis | Rodman |
| SB7 | David | Robinson |
| SB8 | Dikembe | Mutombo |
| SB9 | Charles | Barkley |
| SB10 | Shawn | Kemp |
| SB11 | John | Stockton |
| SB12 | Jason | Kidd |
| SB13 | Avery | Johnson |
| SB14 | Rod | Strickland |
| SB15 | Damon | Stoudamire |
| SB16 | Gary | Payton |
| SB17 | Mookie | Blaylock |
| SB18 | Michael | Jordan |
| SB19 | Jason | Kidd |
| SB20 | Alvin | Robertson |
| SB21 | Dikembe | Mutombo |
| SB22 | Shawn | Bradley |
| SB23 | David | Robinson |
| SB24 | Hakeem | Olajuwon |
| SB25 | Alonzo | Mourning |
Youthquake 1:12 (15 cards 1:18 for any specific card
| # | First | Last | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YQ1 | Allen | Iverson | ||||
| YQ2 | Samaki | Walker | ||||
| YQ3 | Stephon | Marbury | ||||
| YQ4 | Damon | Stoudamire | ||||
| YQ5 | John | Wallace | ||||
| YQ6 | Michael | Finley | ||||
| YQ7 | Marcus | Camby | ||||
| YQ8 | Kerry | Kittles | ||||
| YQ9 | Ray | Allen | ||||
| YQ10 | Jerry | Stackhouse | ||||
| YQ11 | Shareef | Abdur-Rahim | ||||
| YQ12 | Antonio | McDyess | ||||
| YQ13 | Joe | Smith | ||||
| YQ14 | Brent | Barry | ||||
| YQ15 | Kobe | Bryant |
Pro-Files 1:8 (20 card set) 1:160 for any specific card
| # | First | Last | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PF1 | Grant | Hill | ||||
| PF2 | Shawn | Kemp | ||||
| PF3 | Michael | Jordan | ||||
| PF4 | Vin | Baker | ||||
| PF5 | Chris | Webber | ||||
| PF6 | Joe | Smith | ||||
| PF7 | Shaquille | O'Neal | ||||
| PF8 | Patrick | Ewing | ||||
| PF9 | Scottie | Pippen | ||||
| PF10 | Damon | Stoudamire | ||||
| PF11 | Anfernee | Hardaway | ||||
| PF12 | Juwan | Howard | ||||
| PF13 | Dikembe | Mutombo | ||||
| PF14 | Dennis | Rodman | ||||
| PF15 | Kevin | Garnett | ||||
| PF16 | Jerry | Stackhouse | ||||
| PF17 | Alonzo | Mourning | ||||
| PF18 | Karl | Malone | ||||
| PF19 | Hakeem | Olajuwon | ||||
| PF20 | Gary | Payton |