Nate Thurmond
Golden State Warriors Hall of Fame center and one of the greatest defenders and rebounders the NBA has ever seen. A guide to collecting Nate Thurmond's cards, his 1969-70 Topps rookie, and the vintage Warriors issues legends collectors chase.
- Position
- Center
- Team
- Golden State Warriors
- NBA Debut
- 1963
- Rookie Card
- 1969
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Live listings — singles, rookies, and graded slabs, updated by the second on eBay.
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Nate Thurmond is a Golden State Warriors franchise legend — a Hall of Fame center, seven-time All-Star, and one of the greatest defenders and rebounders the game has ever produced. Drafted third overall in 1963 out of Bowling Green, Thurmond anchored the San Francisco and Golden State Warriors for eleven seasons, routinely matched up against Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the pivot. He later became the first player in NBA history to officially record a quadruple-double, entered the Hall of Fame in 1985, and had his #42 retired by the Warriors (career record).
What to collect
Thurmond debuted in 1963, but because Topps produced no NBA cards between 1957-58 and 1969-70, his first widely collected card is his 1969-70 Topps rookie — from the landmark set that marked Topps’s return to NBA basketball after more than a decade away. That decade-long gap means genuinely vintage Thurmond cards are scarce for a player of his stature, and condition and grade matter enormously: a high-grade, well-centered example is worth dramatically more than a raw, off-center one. Beyond the rookie, Thurmond appears across the early-1970s Topps sets, giving vintage collectors an affordable second avenue past the flagship rookie.
Buying tips
- Buy graded (PSA, SGC, BGS) for the 1969-70 Topps rookie — authenticity and condition sensitivity are very high for a vintage card this collectible.
- Centering, corners, and surface separate common copies from valuable ones; early-’70s Topps basketball is notoriously tough to find well-centered.
- Confirm the exact card, set, and number in the listing photos — never buy on a title alone for a vintage issue.
- The eBay rails above show live Thurmond listings — rookies, graded slabs, and card lots.
Where Thurmond fits in a Warriors collection
Thurmond sits alongside Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain, and Chris Mullin in the top tier of vintage Warriors names — the Hall of Famers whose cards anchor a franchise-legends collection. Pair them with modern-dynasty pillars like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to span every era of Warriors basketball. For the bigger picture, see our guide to collecting Golden State Warriors cards, the best Warriors cards to collect, and the Warriors Legends list.