1997-98 Skybox Premium - Kobe Bryant #23

Kobe Bryant's 1997-98 SkyBox Premium #23 is a second-year card from one of the hobby's most beloved '90s basketball releases — produced by Fleer/SkyBox at a time when the brand was setting the standard for bold design and chase-worthy parallels. This is the base version, printed in the same season that a 19-year-old Kobe became the youngest All-Star starter in NBA history, cementing himself as the league's next superstar before the three-peat dynasty even began.

The 1997-98 SkyBox Premium set is collector royalty from the mid-'90s boom era, most famous for its Star Rubies parallel — serial-numbered to just 50 copies — a landmark print run that helped push serial-numbered parallels into the mainstream hobby conversation. The base card carries that same iconic SkyBox design DNA: clean action photography set against a striking foil-accented layout that holds up beautifully nearly three decades later.

• Player: Kobe Bryant — 5× NBA Champion, Hall of Famer, one of the most collected basketball players in the hobby's history
• Set: 1997-98 SkyBox Premium — a defining release of the hobby's golden era, manufactured by Fleer Inc.
• Card number: #23 | Team: Los Angeles Lakers
• Year: Kobe's second NBA season — the year he made his first All-Star starting appearance
• Raw market: Ungraded copies moving in the $8–$15 range; PSA 9 examples pushing into the $100–$120 range

For the Kobe collector building a deep PC or a set collector chasing every card from his early Lakers years, this is a clean, affordable piece of Mamba history from a set that the hobby still talks about. Bryant's cards have only grown in cultural weight, and a '97-98 SkyBox base in sharp condition is exactly the kind of cornerstone pick-up that never gets easier to find as time passes.

Available at Collector Station, Easley, SC. Local pickup available. All sales final. Shipping damage must be reported within 48 hours of delivery with photos.