1972 Topps Basketball

After 1970, Topps switched to using normal sized cards (as opposed to the tall boys). This makes the 1972 Topps set their 2nd normal sized card set.

The 1972 Topps Basketball set contains both NBA and ABA cards which makes it unique. These cards have a white border and a dark colorful background. 

There are two main rookie cards present in this set. The first is Julius Erving when he played for the Squires. This was an ABA team and he is one of the only all-time greats with an ABA rookie card. The second is Phil Jackson. He is more known for his coaching than his playing and won championships with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

One important note for collectors is that these cards tend to have issues with centering (especially) on the back of them. Also, there can be what’s known as “fish eye” which is when there is a printing bubble on the front of the card. Unfortunately, both of these problems have nothing to do with collectors, and it’s just the way they were made.

Notable Players:

Julius Erving #195

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The first is Julius Erving when he played for the Squires. This was an ABA team and he is one of the only all-time greats with an ABA rookie card. Irving won the MVP award 4 times and only won one NBA championship. This is because he wasn’t technically in the NBA until he was 26. While he was in the ABA, he also won two championships in that league.

Phil Jackson #32

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The second is Phil Jackson. He is more known for his coaching than his playing. He won championships as a coach with both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. However, he also won two rings as a player. Jackson was a role player during his career, but this card still holds value due to the legacy he holds on the game of basketball.

Card Specs:

These cards are normally sized. On the front of the card, the team name of the player is in bold. Underneath is the name of the player and the position.

On the back of these cards, you will find the card number, player’s name, position, a bio, a cartoon of the player, and the player’s stats. 

The Checklist for this set is split into two: NBA and ABA (NBA having a bigger part). Card numbers 1-176 are related to NBA players whereas cards 177-264 are related to the ABA. There are different types of cards scattered throughout the set including NBA/ABA all-star, stat leader, and championship cards.

1972 Topps Basketball Checklist

This is a 264 card set

1 Wilt Chamberlain 

2 Stan Love 

3 Geoff Petrie

4 Curtis Perry

5 Pete Maravich

6 Gus Johnson 

7 Dave Cowens 

8 Randy Smith 

9 Matt Guokas

10 Spencer Haywood

11 Jerry Sloan 

12 Dave Sorenson

13 Howie Komives

14 Joe Ellis

15 Jerry Lucas

16 Stu Lantz

17 Bill Bridges

18 Leroy Ellis

19 Art Williams

20 Sidney Wicks

21 Wes Unseld

22 Jim Washington

23 Fred Hilton

24 Curtis Rowe

25 Oscar Robertson

26 Larry Steele

27 Charlie Davis

28 Nate Thurmond

29 Fred Carter

30 Connie Hawkins

31 Calvin Murphy

32 Phil Jackson

33 Lee Winfield

34 Jim Fox

35 Dave Bing 

36 Gary Gregor

37 Mike Riordan

38 George Trapp

39 Mike Davis

40 Bob Rule

41 John Block

42 Bob Dandridge

43 John Johnson 

44 Rick Barry

45 Jo Jo White

46 Cliff Meely

47 Charlie Scott

48 Johnny Green 

49 Pete Cross

50 Gail Goodrich

51 Jim Davis

52 Dick Barnett

53 Bob Christian

54 Jon McGlocklin

55 Paul Silas

56 Hal Greer

57 Barry Clemens

58 Nick Jones

59 Cornell Warner

60 Walt Frazier

61 Dorie Murrey

62 Dick Cunningham

63 Sam Lacey

64 John Warren

65 Tom Boerwinkle 

66 Fred Foster

67 Mel Counts 

68 Toby Kimball 

69 Dale Schlueter

70 Jack Marin

71 Jim Barnett

72 Clem Haskins 

73 Earl Monroe 

74 Tom Sanders 

75 Jerry West

76 Elmore Smith

77 Don Adams

78 Wally Jones

79 Tom Van Arsdale

80 Bob Lanier 

81 Lenny Wilkens

82 Neal Walk

83 Kevin Loughery 

84 Stan McKenzie 

85 Jeff Mullins 

86 Otto Moore 

87 John Tresvant

88 Dean Meminger

89 Jim McMillian 

90 Austin Carr 

91 Clifford Ray 

92 Don Nelson 

93 Mahdi Abdul-Rahman 

94 Willie Norwood 

95 Dick Van Arsdale 

96 Don May 

97 Walt Bellamy 

98 Garfield Heard 

99 Dave Wohl 

100 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

101 Ron Knight 

102 Phil Chenier 

103 Rudy Tomjanovich 

104 Flynn Robinson 

105 Dave Debusschere 

106 Dennis Layton 

107 Bill Hewitt 

108 Dick Garrett

109 Walt Wesley 

110 John Havlicek

111 Norm Van Lier 

112 Cazzie Russell 

113 Herm Gilliam 

114 Greg Smith 

115 Nate Archibald 

116 Don Kojis 

117 Rick Adelman 

118 Luke Jackson

119 Lamar Green

120 Archie Clark 

121 Happy Hairston 

122 Bill Bradley 

123 Ron Williams 

124 Jimmy Walker 

125 Bob Kauffman

126 Rick Roberson 

127 Howard Porter

128 Mike Newlin

129 Willis Reed 

130 Lou Hudson

131 Don Chaney 

132 Dave Stallworth 

133 Charlie Yelverton 

134 Ken Durrett 

135 John Brisker 

136 Dick Snyder 

137 Jim McDaniels 

138 Clyde Lee 

139 Dennis Awtrey 

140 Keith Erickson

141 Bob Weiss 

142 Butch Beard 

143 Terry Dischinger

144 Pat Riley 

145 Lucius Allen 

146 John Mengelt 

147 John Hummer 

148 Bob Love 

149 Bobby Smith 

150 Elvin Hayes 

151 Nate Williams 

152 Chet Walker 

153 Steve Kuberski 

154 NBA Championship Game 1 

155 NBA Championship Game 2 

156 NBA Championship Game 3 

157 NBA Championship Game 4 

158 NBA Championship Game 5 

159 NBA Champs: LA Lakers

160 NBA Checklist

161 John Havlicek 

162 Spencer Haywood 

163 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

164 Jerry West 

165 Walt Frazier 

166 Bob Love 

167 Billy Cunningham 

168 Wilt Chamberlain 

169 Nate Archibald 

170 Archie Clark 

171 NBA Scoring Leaders

172 NBA Scoring Average Leaders

173 NBA Field Goal Pct Leaders

174 NBA Free Throw Pct Leaders

175 NBA Rebounds Leaders

176 NBA Assists Leaders

177 Roland Taylor 

178 Art Becker 

179 Mack Calvin 

180 Artis Gilmore 

181 Collis Jones 

182 John Roche 

183 George McGinnis 

184 Johnny Neumann

185 Willie Wise 

186 Bernie Williams 

187 Byron Beck 

188 Larry Miller 

189 Cincy Powell 

190 Donnie Freeman 

191 John Baum 

192 Billy Keller 

193 Wilbert Jones 

194 Glen Combs 

195 Julius Erving 

196 Al Smith 

197 George Carter 

198 Louie Dampier 

199 Rich Jones 

200 Mel Daniels 

201 Gene Moore

202 Randy Denton 

203 Larry Jones 

204 Jim Ligon 

205 Warren Jabali 

206 Joe Caldwell 

207 Darel Carrier 

208 Gene Kennedy 

209 Ollie Taylor 

210 Roger Brown 

211 George Lehmann 

212 Red Robbins

213 Jim Eakins 

214 Willie Long 

215 Billy Cunningham

216 Steve Jones 

217 Les Hunter

218 Billy Paultz 

219 Freddie Lewis 

220 Zelmo Beaty 

221 George Thompson

222 Neil Johnson 

223 Dave Robisch 

224 Walt Simon 

225 Bill Melchionni 

226 Wendell Ladner

227 Joe Hamilton 

228 Bob Netolicky

229 James Jones 

230 Dan Issel 

231 Charlie Williams

232 Willie Sojourner 

233 Merv Jackson 

234 Mike Lewis 

235 Ralph Simpson 

236 Darnell Hillman 

237 Rick Mount 

238 Gerald Govan 

239 Ron Boone

240 Tom Washington

241 ABA Championship Game 1 

242 ABA Championship Game 2 

243 ABA Championship Game 3

244 ABA Championship Game 4 

245 ABA Championship Game 5 

246 ABA Championship Game 6 

247 ABA Champs: Indiana Pacers

248 ABA Checklist

249 Dan Issel 

250 Rick Barry 

251 Artis Gilmore

252 Donnie Freeman 

253 Bill Melchionni 

254 Willie Wise 

255 Julius Erving 

256 Zelmo Beaty 

257 Ralph Simpson 

258 Charlie Scott 

259 ABA Scoring Average Leaders

260 ABA 2 Point FG Pct Leaders

261 ABA 3 Point FG Pct Leaders

262 ABA Free Throw Pct Leaders

263 ABA Rebounds Leaders

264 ABA Assist Leaders

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