Which NBA Finals tickets are the most graded at PSA?

Seven of the ten bars are Bulls games from 1992 to 1998. The bar on top is not. The ranking counts every ticket PSA files under an NBA Finals set, read at the 8 July 2026 census of the population report, and groups them by the date of the game, so a night's full ticket, stub, pass and box-office print all count together. Phantom tickets for games that were never played are left out, and so is a watch-party ticket filed under the 1998 clincher. That gives 253 Finals games and 4,276 graded tickets, of which the ten above hold 1,521. PSA counts signed copies in a separate autograph report, so none of these figures includes them. The market-wide version of this count is in how many PSA graded tickets exist.

19 June 2016 is the most graded night in NBA Finals history

Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, Cavaliers 93, Warriors 89 at Oracle Arena, has 416 graded tickets: 409 of the arena full ticket, 5 of the box-office print and 2 passes to the trophy presentation. That is more than double the Shrug game in second place, and more than 1992 Game 6 and 1998 Game 5 put together. The reason is in the ticket itself. It is a heavy-stock, full-colour Finals print, bought by people who kept it, and it grades like a modern card: 111 GEM MT 10, 149 MINT 9 and 79 NM-MT 8, so 339 of the 416, or 81%, sit at NM-MT 8 or better. Only 15 are Authentic. The seven Jordan games in the ten hold zero GEM MT 10 between them across 865 tickets. LeBron's wider census footprint, and why this ticket grades so differently from his 2003 debut, is in LeBron James spans two grading eras.

One of the 111 GEM MT 10 copies. Cert 63060628 sold at Goldin on 31 March 2024 for $1,342 on 31 bids. LeBron finished the game with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, the Cavaliers became the first team to win a Finals from 3-1 down, and Cleveland had its first major title since 1964. PSA's own report for the arena ticket is here, and the night sits in our funnel at 19 June 2016.

3 June 1992 is the most graded Jordan game, and 94 of its 197 are Authentic

Game 1 of the 1992 Finals, Bulls 122, Trail Blazers 89 at Chicago Stadium, is the night Jordan hit six threes and 35 points in the first half and shrugged at the broadcast table. It is the most graded Jordan ticket of any kind in the Finals, at 197 copies: 194 stubs across the arena, box-office and Ticketmaster prints, and 3 full tickets. Its grade ladder is the opposite of LeBron's. 94 of the 197 are Authentic, the highest grade PSA has issued is a single NM-MT 8, and there is no MINT 9 and no GEM MT 10. These are torn stubs that went through a turnstile in 1992 and into a drawer. Fame filled the population; condition did not follow. Where that leaves the Shrug against Jordan's other moments is in Michael Jordan ticket prices. The night's own page in the funnel is 3 June 1992.

1992 and 1998 carry four of the ten

Two seasons do most of the work. 1992 contributes the Shrug (197) and Game 6, the second title (112). 1998 contributes Game 6 in Salt Lake City, the Last Shot, Bulls 87, Jazz 86 (156), and Game 5, Jazz 83, Bulls 81, Jordan's last home game as a Bull (102). Those four nights hold 567 graded tickets. Counted by season, 1992 has 397 graded Finals tickets across its six games and 1998 has 395, the two highest totals of any year except 2016 (577). The other three Jordan entries are 1996 Game 6 (134), 1997 Game 6 (96) and 1997 Game 1, the buzzer beater (68). Neither the 1991 Finals nor the 1993 Finals puts a game in the ten; the best from each is 58 and 62. Across all 35 games of Jordan's six Finals runs, PSA has graded 1,784 tickets, 42% of every Finals ticket in the catalogue, with 532 Authentic, 11 MINT 9 and not one GEM MT 10. The Last Shot's 156 breaks down as 139 stubs, 10 full tickets and 7 passes, and its finest copy is one MINT 9; its funnel page is 14 June 1998. This post ranks the seven by population only; what each of them sells for is in which Michael Jordan Finals ticket is worth the most.

Three nights from 2010 to 2016 break the Bulls' hold

Stephen Curry's Finals debut on 4 June 2015, Warriors 108, Cavaliers 100 in overtime, is fourth at 151 (150 full tickets and one stub), and 55 of them are GEM MT 10. Kobe Bryant's Game 7 on 17 June 2010, Lakers 83, Celtics 79, is ninth at 89, all full tickets, 6 of them GEM MT 10. With LeBron's 416, the three modern nights hold 172 GEM MT 10 between them against zero for the seven Jordan games, which is the whole grading story of the decade split: the 1990s hold 1,911 graded Finals tickets across 49 games with one GEM MT 10, the 2010s hold 1,312 across 46 games with 269. The signed copies of Curry's Finals debut, and what they have sold for, are in Eight Stephen Curry debut tickets exist. The ticket to Kobe's own first game is a different population entirely, covered in what a Kobe Bryant debut ticket sells for.