A one-of-one Cooper Flagg 2026 Topps Chrome Updates NBA Debut Patch autographed card sold for $8.04 million early Friday morning, according to Fanatics Collect. The sale ranks as the fifth-highest publicly known sports card sale of all time, per online database Card Ladder, surpassing even the record-setting T206 Honus Wagner card sale of $7.25 million.

The Flagg card shattered the previous Debut Patch record across all sports, a mark set when Dick's Sporting Goods paid $1.11 million for Paul Skenes' card in March 2025. It also dwarfed Flagg's own prior record sale of $366,000 for a separate autographed card.

Skenes has since fallen further down the leaderboard after two more cards from the same auction topped his mark. A Dylan Harper Debut Patch card sold for $2.88 million, while Kon Knueppel's version fetched $2.34 million. Flagg, Harper and Knueppel became the 34th, 35th and 36th athletes across all sports to have a trading card sell publicly for at least $1 million.

"Cooper Flagg's RDPA (Rookie Debut Auto Patch) delivered an incredible result and further cemented its place as one of the most important modern basketball cards," said Fanatics Collect vice president of marketplace Kevin Lenane. "Bringing the Flagg, Dylan Harper and Kon Knueppel RDPAs together in the same auction made this a truly special moment and showed how strongly collectors value these one-of-one pieces tied to each player's NBA debut."

Debut Patch cards originate from a small patch worn on a player's jersey sleeve during their first professional game, later removed, authenticated and mounted onto a one-of-a-kind autographed card produced by Topps. The format has become highly coveted among collectors due to its combination of rarity and game-used memorabilia.

The Flagg card was originally pulled by Jason Williams of Clover, South Carolina, who paid $515 for a group of Dallas Mavericks cards during an online break in late 2025.

"Took me about five seconds to realize what I was looking at and then I went straight to the fetal position, crying like a baby," Williams told The Athletic last month. "I don't even know where the emotions came from, but they just took over. It was insane."

Williams later met Flagg at the opening of the rookie's new card shop in Bangor, Maine.