I’m not gonna lie: This week’s drawing was stressful for me. I put a LOT of pressure on myself, knowing how iconic the card is in the hobby and not wanting to screw it up. Thankfully, I feel pretty good about it, and as an added bonus, this is probably the closest I’ll ever get to having a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle.

In this issue you'll find:

• A Q&A with Mike from Baseball Collector

• A profile of former NBA player Phil Ford

• News in the hobby

• Recent Vintage Card Voyage videos

Let’s get into it.

Ford was born in 1956 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and starred as a forward at Rocky Mount High School, where he was recruited by more than 300 schools. His final decision would keep him in the state, as Ford would choose the University of North Carolina and legendary coach Dean Smith over North Carolina State.

Starting as a freshman in his first collegiate game, he would go on to average 16.4 points and 5.2 assists that season, UNC freshman records that wouldn’t be broken for more than two decades. He then helped lead the team to the ACC Tournament championship, where Carolina beat none other than North Carolina State, with Ford becoming the first freshman in ACC history to be named tournament MVP, averaging 26 points a game. Ford’s point-per-game average would go up each college season, from 18.6 his sophomore season, to 18.7 his junior year, finishing with 20.8 as a senior, leading the Tar Heels to three consecutive first-place finishes in the ACC. He was named a first-team All-American both his junior and senior seasons, receiving multiple Player of the Year awards as a senior, and was ACC Athlete of the Year both his junior and senior years. His junior season, the Tar Heels made it to the NCAA Championship game, but ended up losing to Marquette 67-59. Ford only scoring six points in the game, after having hyperextended his shooting elbow a few games earlier.

Additionally, following his sophomore season, Ford would be the starting point guard for the U.S. Olympic team, one coached by his college coach Smith, and the team would rebound from their controversial loss to the U.S.S.R. in the 1972 Olympics and once again capture the gold medal.

There would be some drama with Ford prior to the start of his professional career. He would be drafted second in the 1978 NBA Draft, after Mychal Thompson from the University of Minnesota, who became the first person born outside the U.S. to be picked first (he was born in the Bahamas). Ford, meanwhile, was drafted by the Kansas City (now Sacramento) Kings, a team he had already said he had no interest in playing for. Hours after being drafted, at a news conference, Ford referenced the possibility of playing professionally in Italy or being a graduate assistant at UNC. The Kings, meanwhile, didn’t flinch, wanting to pair Ford in the backcourt with guard Otis Birdsong, who they had drafted the previous year. Nearly four months later, Ford would sign with the Kings, accepting a five-year deal for $1 million.

(An interesting side note about the 1978 NBA Draft is that, four picks after Ford, the Boston Celtics took a guy named Larry Bird, who, while eligible for the draft, had already said he would return to Indiana State for his senior season. The Celtics took a chance, knowing they could lose the exclusive rights to him if he didn’t sign and instead entered the 1979 NBA Draft, but their calculated risk paid off, even after being told by his agent that their initial salary wouldn’t cut it.)

The Kings’ pick paid off initially, as Ford would average 15.9 points and 8.6 assists per game, being named Rookie of the Year and second-team All-NBA. Like in college, his point totals would rise each of his next two seasons, averaging 16.2 and 17.5 points per game in the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons, respectively, while averaging 7.4 and 8.8 assists. The Kings would also find some success, finishing first in the Midwest Division his rookie season, followed by two second-place finishes. Midway through that 1980-81 season, Ford would suffer an eye injury (being accidentally poked in the eye by Golden State’s Lloyd Free), one that required surgery, ending his season. Even though the Kings finished the regular season at 40-42 that year and were playing without Ford, they managed to get to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the Houston Rockets four games to one.

While he recovered from the eye injury and returned to the starting lineup the following season, he wasn’t the same player, only averaging 9.9 points and 6.3 assists per game in his final season with the Kings. They would trade him to the New Jersey Nets, where he would play a whole seven games only to be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he played the remainder of the 1982-83 season. The Bucks would release him, so he signed with the Houston Rockets, playing his remaining two seasons, as a starter a good portion of the first season and coming off the bench the second year. He would finish averaging 11.6 points and 6.4 assists per game over a 482-game NBA career, retiring after the 1984-85 season.

A few years later, Ford would return to the game of basketball, spending more than a decade as an assistant coach with his alma mater, followed by stints with three different NBA teams (Detroit, New York, and Charlotte), also as an assistant, ending his coaching tenure in 2011.

News Briefs

A Notable Attic Find That Included Multiple Babe Ruth Cards Does Well at Auction

A Memory Lane Auction Clears More Than $5 Million, Including a High Grade 1954 Stahl-Meyer Mickey Mantle

Jac Caglianone: On Both of My Fantasy Teams, Not on a Baseball Card in 2025

Mike Trout’s Love of the Philadelphia Eagles Is Now on a Baseball Card

Pete Crow-Armstrong Will Spend an Off-Day With Some Teammates at the National

Vintage Card Voyage: Recent Videos

Thanks for reading. I plan to take a few weeks off for some family commitments and aim to be back in July. Subscribe for future issues, and please also check out and subscribe to Vintage Card Voyage.