1996 Seattle SuperSonics — Gary Payton #20
A team that doesn't exist anymore, in a jersey nobody stopped wanting.
- Team
- Seattle SuperSonics
- Player
- Gary Payton, #20
- Season
- 1995–96
- Era
- 64-win season, NBA Finals run against the 72–10 Bulls
- Value tier
- Strong and rising — scarcity-driven
"The Glove" won Defensive Player of the Year and led a 64-win Sonics team all the way to the 1996 Finals, the only team that season to push the record-setting Bulls to six games. The green, gold and brass colourway is instantly recognisable as one of the boldest kits of the era.
Why it holds value: the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008 and the SuperSonics name hasn't been on a court since — no new supply of "current team" merchandise gets made, so every existing jersey is drawing from a fixed and shrinking pool. Nostalgia for a team fans can't replace it with tends to push prices up, not down.
Condition notes: the brass/gold trim on original Champion tags is prone to fading, so pieces with the colourway still vivid are noticeably more sought after than washed-out examples.