2009-10 Panini Playoff National Treasures Century Gold Rookie Patch Autograph #206 Stephen Curry 16/25 - BGS 9/Autograph 10 | Rookie Card | On-Card Autograph

The best guard of his generation, face of an all-time dynasty, and demonstrably the single greatest shooter in the history of the sport, Steph Curry has fundamentally changed basketball.

Since arriving in the Bay Area in 2009, Steph’s one-of-one shooting touch, elite playmaking, and steady leadership has delivered the Golden State Warriors four titles and a reasonable claim for the NBA’s greatest dynasty. With the “Dubs,” Curry has earned two league MVPs, including the league’s first unanimous MVP vote, 10 selections to the NBA All-Star Game and All-NBA teams, and in 2022 a rather elusive Finals MVP award. Today, Steph carries many of the most important 3-point related records in NBA history including the mark for made threes in a career with a lead of more than 750 makes to date over Hall of Famer Ray Allen.

This card, featuring an immediately striking three-color patch above Curry’s familiar pen stroke autograph, commemorates Steph’s rookie 2009-10 season. Finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting and named a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team, Curry dazzled with 17.5 points, 5.9 assists, and 1.9 steals per game on an unreal 43.7% shooting effort from beyond the arc, the third best figure of all time for a rookie.

Since bursting onto the scene with masterpieces such as this, Panini’s National Treasures has been among the top high-end products in the hobby and annually produced some of the best cards on the market. Highly anticipated each year for its release of some of the most highly sought after RPAs on the market, there are few that are more important across all sports than those of the all-time 3-point leader. This example features a bold and distinctive patch from the Warriors striking pre-title uniform design and is authenticated by Panini to have been worn by Steph. Limited in production to just 25 examples, the serial number “16/25” is stamped on the back to denote its place in the print run.

This card has been authenticated and deemed to be in Mint condition, receiving a grade of 9 from Beckett Grading Services (BGS). The autograph was graded and received a 10 from BGS.

The BGS certificate number for this card is: 0007773281.

Going Deeper - Stephen Curry

The “Baby-Faced Assassin”

Growing up in a basketball household not far from the Tobacco road, you could say Stephen Curry always had a predisposition towards the sport. His father Dell, a 16-year vet and a Sixth Man of the Year award recipient, had made a name for himself in the basketball world, but Steph managed to quickly carve out his own path.

After failing to receive a scholarship offer from his father’s alma mater Virginia Tech, Steph stayed local and chose to go to the tiny 2,000-undergrad Davidson College where he would become not only an all-time mid-major performer but one of the best college basketball players of his generation. He dominated the Southern Conference leading Davidson to three regular season titles and two tournament berths while twice being named SOCON player of the year. 

Most notably, Curry’s NCAA tournament run in 2008 is remembered as one of the most incredible Cinderella stories in the history of March Madness. Steph carried his scrappy Wildcats team by pouring in 32 points per game on 44% shooting from deep and topping major traditional powers such as Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Wisconsin. Despite falling to the eventual championship Kansas Jayhawks in the Elite Eight, Curry had put himself and his school on the map.

A year later, the Golden State Warriors turned heads when they selected Steph with the 7th overall pick in the draft, and he quickly rewarded their faith. An immediate impact player as a scorer and distributor, he averaged 17.5 points, 5.9 assists, and 4.5 rebounds while finishing second in the Rookie of the Year award voting. Yet, in spite of Curry’s skillset and shining potential, the Warriors failed to make the playoffs in each of his first three seasons. 

In 2011, fortunes began to change when the Warriors drafted another guard with a sweet shooting touch out of a non-traditional basketball school, Klay Thompson. The two were a match made in heaven pretty much out the gates and soon emerged as the most dangerous shooting backcourt in the game, appropriately dubbed the ‘Splash Brothers.’ Although the Warriors missed the playoffs in 2012, they had a duo that would form the cornerstone of one of the best teams in NBA history.

After two consecutive playoff appearances in 2012-13 and 2013-14, Curry and the Warriors finally broke through in the 2015 NBA Playoffs. The Warriors’ balanced offensive attack of Curry, Thompson, 2012 second rounder Draymond Green, and All-Star veteran Andre Iguodala enabled them to rise to the top of the Western Conference and defeat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the franchise’s first championship since 1975. In the process, Curry was named to his first All-NBA First Team and voted league MVP.

As it turned out, the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ was just getting started.

Curry helped the Warriors become one of the NBA’s great dynasties by winning three more championships in 2017, 2018, and 2022. His career accomplishments to date include ten All-NBA selections, two MVPs, four NBA championships, one Finals MVP, and two scoring titles. 

This summer Curry added an Olympic gold medal to his resume by powering Team USA to victory in the 2024 Paris Olympic games. His heroics in the gold medal game against France ultimately made the difference as he scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and 9 of USA’s final 11.

In 2021, Curry passed Ray Allen to become the all-time leader in three-pointers in NBA history. He is widely considered the greatest shooter and one of the best players of all time.