The NBA Has Its Own GameStop-Style Craze - Why fans are paying six figures to “buy” highlight clips they could watch for free.

In December 2019, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant found himself one-on-one with Phoenix Suns center Aron Baynes. This was a size mismatch: Morant is 6-foot-3, and Baynes is 6-foot-10—but it was also a speed and vertical leaping mismatch. Morant blew past Baynes, leaped high above him, and put him on a poster for one of the most vicious dunks the NBA has produced in years. The play went viral on Twitter and Instagram within minutes. In the 14 months since, people have watched it millions of times on YouTube, TV highlight shows, and everywhere else media is consumed. Most everyone who’s watched it has done so for free, other than the cost of Wi-Fi, cellphone data, or cable. You can watch below, and become viewer number zillion and one, for no charge.

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On Monday night, a user identifying themselves as “Hardy” spent $100,000 on the very same highlight—not for an exclusive broadcasting license (it’s still right there on YouTube) and not to watch it in VR (it’s still just two dimensions, like every other dunk highlight). No, this person paid $100,000 to own a digital collectible, basically a crypto asset, ( @cotton ) available for trade on NBA Top Shot, a marketplace in which the NBA has partnered with the creator of the virtual cards.

In this space, basketball highlights aren’t highlights. They’re called “Moments”—but they’re really commodities like stocks, silver, or, perhaps most aptly, Bitcoin. The $100,000 fee for Morant’s dunk is arguably not even close to the most jarring expenditure on the website, given some of the more pedestrian plays that have garnered big money. Someone paid $10,000 for a Marcus Smart layup. Someone else paid $5,499 for a Jonas Valančiūnas block. Another paid $3,185 for a nice OG Anunoby handle and two-handed dunk.





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https://slate.com/culture/2021/02/nb...ble-craze.html