NBA Top Shot Beginner’s Guide

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NBA Top Shot Beginner’s Guide

If you’re in the NBA DFS circle or any type of collecting, odds are you can’t walk five feet without hearing “NBA Top Shot”. It’s probably gotten to the point of irritation for some (sorry Brian, me, and Ghost love you for dealing with it in chat) but just what is going on here? It’s still a little hard to quantify but we can take a swing at nailing down exactly what’s happening in the NBA Top Shot Beginner’s Guide to maybe make some money! 

*NOTE* I want to be very, very clear before we get into this. I’m not pretending to be some seasoned veteran of Top Shot. I’ve been a member for around a month and have been lucky so far. Anything that follows is not to be considered financial advice. This is still a risky proposition and should be treated as such. Just like our DFS advice, manage your bankroll wisely and don’t spend anything you can’t afford to lose. 

What is Top Shot?

The most literal way to explain comes directly from the site, nbatopshot.com –

High-flying dunks. No look dimes. Game saving blocks. The level of drama and skill in NBA basketball is simply unmatched in the sports world. Now you can own a piece of that action. 

The NBA, NBPA, and Dapper Labs have teamed up to create NBA Top Shot, a revolutionary new game in which jaw-dropping plays and unforgettable highlights become collectibles that you can own forever.

It’s not entirely different than physical card collecting, except everything is now digital. The most common reaction (and one that I had myself) is “Why am I paying this kind of money for highlights?” and that’s a fair question. The moments are blockchain-based so each individual Moment has an ownership aspect to it, just like a physical card. 

The Moments vary in all sorts of ways. There are tiers of Common, Limited Edition, Rare, Cosmic, Legendary, etc… and there are certain limits on how many are minted. Every Moment gets a unique serial number and generally the lower it is the more value it carries. Serials matching jersey numbers of that player are more highly sought after as well. 

As you can see in his Zion Moment, the serial numbers only go up to 7,500. It’s marked LE for Limited Edition, has the serial number next to the Mint count, and what type of play it is (Layup). When you click on it, the highlight plays and has all other pertinent information from that particular game where the highlight came from. 

The website is still in beta, so you need to be prepared for some small bumps along the road. I will say, the user experience has had some frustrations but improved vastly in my short time as a member. The bumps are worth the fun though as the ecosystem continues to grow and expand. 

How do I buy Moments?

The most preferable way is through “packs” which are dropped periodically. Right now, packs range from Base Set which contains three moments for $9 all the way up to $230-$1,000. Just like real cards, the expense goes up with the rarity and type of cards being purchased. It must be said that the Base Set packs are not readily available right now. Since the site is in Beta, drops are sporadic in nature and you need to allow all notifications to get an idea of when they drop. 

For every pack that is not a Base Set, you can sign up for notifications and get a minimum eight-hour notice to prepare. Right now, Top Shot uses the queue system and draws random numbers when a pack drops. With the exponential demand, they’ve deemed it fairest to do things that way. So you may be asking yourself, how do I buy Moments if the packs are sold out? 

The Marketplace 

Top Shot runs a Market to buy and sell Moments 24/7 (unless it’s in maintenance mode and you’re notified). You can connect with any collector and sell the Moment for any price you can get. The Marketplace has gone bonkers the past few days because the Base Set 1 and 2 have been retired. That means that the count on the Moments has been set and no more will ever be made. The more users that come in, the higher the demand has got so far. There’s still a ton of good deals and it’s the easiest way to sell Moments to make money. It’s also the only way that’s backed up by Top Shot and Dapper Labs (the company running things) so buyer beware in any other setting. 

Is This Real? 

There are some HUGE questions that some folks are hung up on, at least that I’ve seen or personally interacted with. 

I heard you can’t withdraw money. Are you getting scammed? 

This has been a very common complaint. What I’ve seen has been directly from the site and the managers and it’s that they flat weren’t prepared to get this big this quick. There are layers of fraud and money-laundering protections since everything is done digitally. Dapper needs to clear accounts to withdraw, which is taking over a month in some cases. 

While some see that as a major issue, my take is the NBA itself signed off on it. That means the NBA is making money on it since it’s licensing their players. On top of that, NBA players are getting involved. Their reputation would have so much to lose if this was a scam, so I don’t buy that. The wise move here is to not put in money that you can’t afford to be without for a couple of months. If you’re looking at it as an investment, plan to be without that investment money for the foreseeable future. 

Why is there value in these highlights? 

That’s the biggest question. In truth, I don’t have the perfect answer. There’s a lot of value that is derived from how many there are, who’s in the highlight, and how great the highlight is. In that respect, it’s not any different than physical card collecting. People say they can see any highlight on YouTube and they’re right. By that same token, I can look up any card I want. Unless I owned it, it’s irrelevant. When you buy a Moment, you buy that piece of the blockchain and there’s only one of that unique serial number. 

What’s the end game? 

Brian has brought up a good point on Twitter and in Discord. If you’re not just here to make a quick buck, what is the end game? Are there folks out there who are actually collecting? It’s a valid question. If there are not actual collectors, there’s only so far this can go. I honestly don’t have an answer on that. Most everyone I know and I have approached it as a mercenary. I have no real desire to collect, but I see the money being thrown around. If there’s long-term viability, I want in NOW and not six months from now. If there’s not, I’m willing to set a limit on what I would take in return before everything crashes and burns. 

NBA Top Shot Beginner’s Guide – The Verdict 

In my view, I think this product is here to stay. I believe once the NBA throws the weight of their PR machine behind it, the sky is the limit. Sure, it’s fun to just buy highlights and yell, “TO THE MOON” but there is real money to be made here. Be savvy and smart with investing and you can turn a profit. If you’re looking to get into the collecting aspect, it’s better to get in now than later because for the Moments already out there, the prices may not look back. The best approach is fun money to see if this is for you or not, but I’m strapped into the rocket and looking up! 

Thank you for reading my NBA Top Shot Beginner’s Guide and make sure you follow me on Twitter at @bucn4life! Be sure to sign up for an ALL ACCESS GOLD ACCOUNT account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate!