Why The Celtics Success of The 80's Didn't Carry Over To The 90's

'93 Reggie Lewis Fleer Ultra (checkout those old school Reebok Pumps)

It would be easy to say that the reason for the demise of the Boston Celtics during the 90's was due to the retirements of greats like Larry "Legend", Dennis Johnson, Kevin Mchale  and the departures of players like Robert Parrish and Danny Ainge, but that would be careless. Sure, any team would be better off with those players, but the greatness of the Celtics franchise is that they have been able to build for success in multiple eras. As one era was ending (the Bird Celtics), the Reggie Lewis and Len Bias Celtics were being constructed by the mastermind of professional hoops himself, Mr. Red Auerbach.

I'm a fan of many of the late 80's and early 90's teams that enjoyed success during that time like the "Bad Boy" Pistons and Jordan led Chicago Bulls, but I often wonder how many Championships those teams would have actually been able to win with an aging Celtics team infused with youthful talents like Lewis and Bias. The Chicago Bulls 90's might not have been. Instead, Lewis passed away in an off-season practice in 1993 due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and Bias (1986 2nd overall pick) passed away from a drug overdose before he even stepped on the parquet floor.

I'm certainly not arguing that the the Celtics would have absolutely won five more championships if Bias and Lewis would have fulfilled their potential, but they certainly would have had a great chance at extending the run of the Celtics of the 80's. Actually, it's amazing to think how different the NBA could have been and would be today, if only for a few different decisions.

An All-Star Post For The NBA's All-Star Weekend: '93 Fleer All-Star Insert Set

1993 Fleer All-Star Michael Jordan

The NBA All-Star Weekend is almost upon us and I'm really excited. because of that excitement, I thought it only fitting to put up as many All-Star themed posts as possible. Some of these will be reposts from the past few months, but I'll mix in a number of new posts, videos and polls. Actually, I wrote a bunch of new posts last weekend that I have scheduled to be published periodically throughout the rest of this week. So stay tuned for all those posts and get ready for a fun weekend of basketball. With Blake Griffin in the Dunk Contest, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen squaring off in the 3-Point Contest and the game itself, it should be great!!!

One of the more popular basketball inserts of the early 90's was the '93 Fleer All-Stars set. This was a 24 card set that featured the Western and Eastern All-Stars from the '92 NBA All-Star Game. Hence, no Shaquille O'neal rookie all-star card unfortunately even though this is a set from his rookie year. However, the set is littered with tons of 90's stars and superstars like Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen and many more. The set featured a horizontal design with images of the players in their All-Star uniforms. There's a blue background that looks great, but is unfortunately susceptible to chipping. This is the biggest problem collectors need to worry about when attempting to put this set together and is very noticeable as you'll see the tail-tail white edges or chunks that indicate edge wear and chipping. Definitely look closely at any images if you are buying these cards on-line through the secondary markets or trading.

The set is not terribly difficult to put together. It only consists of 24 cards and they were inserted into series 1 pack at a modest rate of 1:9. It has a solid book value of $100, but you should be able to put the entire set together for well under that if you can save on shipping costs. Most of the cards sell as singles for around $2.00 to $5.00. The Jordan is the tough one, but can be had for right around $10.00-$40.00. Here's a BGS Graded 9 Jordan currently for sale on eBay as a Buy Now: (click here) and an ungraded Live eBay auction: (click here). Also, here's a complete set in a Buy Now eBay auction with a $60.00 reserve: (click here). I took the easy way out and bought the entire set all at once from a seller on eBay. I haggled the price down to $30.00 plus $5.00 shipping for the entire set. No question, good deals are out there if you are willing to be a patient collector.

Although this '93 Fleer All-Stars set is not my favorite insert set from the 90's, it's high on the list. Many of my favorite hoops stars are in this set and I love the overall design. Hope you enjoyed this All-Star themed post. Stay tuned for more NBA All-Star posts and remember to… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Another 90's Insert Set: '93 Fleer All-Stars

As many of you know, I collect a lot of different players, sports and types of cards, but my main passion is 90's basketball inserts. I simply can't get enough of them. I feel this time period produced some of the most creative and best designed cards in the hobby's history. It also didn't hurt that this was a golden age for the NBA as well. This was also the time when companies couldn't rely on the player auto or jersey relic. Although there were a few on-card autographs being produced during the 90's (click here), they were not as heavily produced as they are today. Whether it was a hologram, die cut, refractor, great photography or simply a well thought out design, 90's inserts had it going on.

One of the more popular basketball inserts of the early 90's was the '93 Fleer All-Stars set. This was a 24 card set that featured the Western and Eastern All-Stars from the '92 NBA All-Star Game. Hence, no Shaquille O'neal rookie all-star card unfortunately even though this is a set from his rookie year. However, the set is littered with tons of 90's stars and superstars like Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen and many more.

The set featured a horizontal design with images of the players in their All-Star uniforms. There's a blue background that looks great, but is unfortunately susceptible to chipping. This is the biggest problem collectors need to worry about when attempting to put this set together and is very noticeable as you'll see the tail-tail white edges or chunks that indicate edge wear and chipping. Definitely look closely at any images if your are buying these cards on-line through the secondary markets or trading.

The set is not terribly difficult to put together. It only consists of 24 cards and the cards were inserted into series 1 pack at a modest rate of 1:9. It has a solid book value of $100, but you should be able to put the entire set together for well under that if you can save on shipping costs. Most of the cards sell as singles for around $2.00 to $5.00. The Jordan is the tough one, but can be had for right around $15.00. Here's a PSA Graded 9 Jordan for sale on eBay as a Buy Now: (click here) and a BGS 9 Live eBay auction: (click here). Also, here's a completed set in a Live eBay auction with a $59.00 reserve: (click here).

I took the easy way out and bought the entire set all at once from a seller on eBay. I haggled the price down to $30.00 plus $5.00 shipping for the entire set. No question, good deals are out there if you are willing to be a patient collector. Although this '93 Fleer All-Stars set is not my favorite insert set from the 90's, it's high on the list. Many of my favorite hoops stars are in this set and I love the overall design. Hope you enjoyed this installment of yet Another 90's Insert Set and of course… "Every Bounce of the Ball"!