25 in 25 - The Most Iconic Sports Cards of the 2000's

For purposes of this book a survey was created by leaders in the sports card community for every sport collected.

Then, over 40 experts and 450 members of the community chose and ranked the 25 cards they believed were the most iconic.

The surveys were averaged amongst the expert and community pools and the findings are contained herein.

Images of all 135 cards on the survey are featured within the book. For each of the top 25 cards, a full spread feature is included, which contains a comprehensive history by Adam Gray, fun facts by Gem Rate, and giant high quality images of each.

We hope you enjoy the countdown to the most iconic card of the 2000's.

Adam began collecting cards in the late 80's and unlike most of the – perhaps more balanced – kids, he never stopped. His first job was at a card shop where he was only supposed to work part time for a season but ended up lasting 7 years. During that time Adam became the store manager and, on the side, bought and sold cards to pay for his first car, college undergraduate and master's degrees, and a few years later his house.
After becoming a CPA and a 14-year career in accounting for Hedge Funds, Venture Capital, and Private Equity funds, Adam came back to the world of sports cards full time and over the past three years has made content full time for businesses in the space. He is a trusted expert on the history of sports cards and has consulted for dozens of individuals and hobby businesses. He's the founder of the first basketball card podcast (Called The Basketball Card Podcast) and founder of Basketball Card Fanatic (BCF) magazine – which printed a monthly magazine from 2000 to 2025.

Prior to this project Adam has led several similar crowdsourcing projects including "iconic lists" for both BCF and the Iconic 100, which Adam administered for PWCC in 2022.

Adam lives in Utah with his wife, 4 kids, and 2 dogs.