- Sotheby’s has included NBA Top Shot NFTs in its 2025 holiday auction
- Top Shot has revolutionized sports collectibles with blockchain technology
- The auction spotlights iconic NBA moments as digital assets
Sotheby’s 2025 Christmas and Season Highlights auction has showcased NBA Top Shot NFTs, further validating their place in digital sports collectibles. NBA Top Shot, owned by Dapper Labs, has transformed how fans engage with the sport by offering ownership of memorable game moments as NFTs. The sale emphasizes the continued presence of the Top Shot collections in the mainstream.
Top Shot’s Rise Continues
NBA Top Shot, launched by Dapper Labs in 2020, allows fans to buy, sell, and trade officially licensed digital highlights of iconic NBA moments. Moments such as LeBron James’ legendary dunks or Stephen Curry’s record-breaking shots have fetched significant prices, with some selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The collection has endured as one of the most robust NFT operations out there, at a time when many are falling away as interests become focused on core projects.
In its 2025 Christmas and Season Highlights auction, Sotheby’s has included eight NBA Top Shot NFTs, blending traditional high-value auctions of shirts worn by players over the festive period with the cutting-edge appeal of digital assets:
@dapperlabs and @Sothebys are teaming up for a first-of-its-kind auction featuring eight NBA Top Shot Rookie 1-of-1 Moments—and it goes live TODAY!
Check out all the details here: https://t.co/p3CCn9xDez pic.twitter.com/oly5gMiWCq
— NBAxNFT (@NBAxNFT) January 14, 2025
This marks a milestone for Top Shot and the broader NFT market, as a prestigious institution like Sotheby’s continues to embrace blockchain-based collectibles. Sotheby’s has dipped its toes in the NFT pool in the past, but this is the first time that a collaboration has had such mainstream appeal.
Bright or Bleak Future?
The inclusion of Top Shot NFTs in a Sotheby’s auction underscores the growing legitimacy and cultural significance of some NFTs in the art and collectibles world, despite their recent downturn in value and popularity. It reflects the convergence of sports, technology, and investment, signaling a future where digital assets play a central role in fan engagement and sports memorabilia.
However, the threats to the sector cannot be ignored: last year, Dapper Labs failed to dismiss a class action lawsuit against it over its Top Shot collection, with a swathe of buyers believing they were misled over the nature of the NFTs. The lawsuit alleges that the NFTs were securities, but they were sold as collectibles, and a ruling against Dapper Labs could have a profound impact on the project and the sector as a whole.
