CSG-certified Basketball Cards Showcasing NBA Finals Superstars, Then and Now

Certified Sports Guaranty® (CSG®) has certified basketball cards featuring some of the greatest players in NBA history, including from the two teams competing for the 2022 title: the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics. The Warriors’ Stephen Curry and the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum are the favorites to win NBA Finals MVP honors. Their efforts on the court recall past stars from their teams who also won that honor.

Golden State Warriors

Before the Stephen Curry era, the last time the Golden State Warriors won the championship was in 1975, when Rick Barry won the NBA Finals MVP honors. Barry averaged 35 points a game as the Warriors swept the Washington Bullets. Through the first five games of the 2022 Finals, Curry is averaging 30 points a game.

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Curry already has three championship rings and two overall NBA MVP honors, but he has yet to be named an NBA Finals MVP. Will he follow in Barry’s footsteps?

Pictured above are cards from each star: a 2010-11 Panini Hall of Fame Famed Signatures #RB Rick Barry graded CSG Gem Mint 10, with a 10 for the Autograph; and a 2020-21 Donruss Net Marvels #17 Stephen Curry graded CSG Gem Mint 10.

Boston Celtics

In his fifth season, Jayson Tatum powered the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals after a commanding performance in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals that earned him the MVP award for that series (called the Larry Bird Trophy). Indeed, Celtics fans are hoping that Tatum will bring the same kind of success that Bird did when he led the team to NBA titles in 1981, 1984 and 1986.

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Bird won the NBA Finals MVP Award in 1984 and 1986 as the Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets, respectively. Bird’s performance in Game 5 of the 1984 Finals was memorable, as he led all players in points (37) and rebounds (17) in a 97-degree Boston Garden that lacked air-conditioning. Celtics fans today are hoping that Tatum will be able to turn up the heat on the Warriors.

Pictured above are cards from each star: a 2020-21 Panini Prizm Sensational Signatures #SS-LBI Larry Bird Silver graded CSG Gem Mint 10, with a 10 for the Autograph; and a 2020-21 Donruss Net Marvels #16 Jayson Tatum graded CSG Gem Mint 10.

Curry, Bird and Tatum are some of the most-popular players in the CSG Registry. Bird and Curry each have 23 player sets, while Tatum has 13. If you’re ready to jump in and explore the player sets or add your own, go to CSGcards.com/Registry.