Isaiah Rider and Bad Trades

 


    As a Kid I loved Isaiah Rider! From the moment in his rookie year when he revolutionized the Dunk Contest in 1994 with the East Bay Funk Dunk. Nine Year Old me sat mouth agape along with the rest of the basketball world as Rider was the first person to bring the "street dunk" to the NBA. Yes we had Free Throw Line Dunks, 360's, Reverses, Tomahawks and Windmills.  However, Rider was the first person to go between the legs in mid air before throwing it down with authority, While this dunk is now commonplace in dunk contests around the globe at the time it really opened the eyes of the world to the creativity dunking could allow.

    The nine year old me that night sat transfixed convinced I was witnessing the arrival of the next Michael Jordan ( I will pause while you laugh.). That night I was "all in" on Isaiah "JR" Rider before I even knew what "all in" meant. That Monday on the playground I realized I was one of the few allowed to stay up and watch the dunk contest, and no one in the 4th Grade at Temple Christian School had saw "history". So I had the edge on the new greatest of all time.

    I immediately went to work trading for as many different Isaiah Rider cards as I could. Giving up Chris Webber, Jason Kidd, Grant Hill, Shaq, and Penny cards in the process. I was going to be rich!
I remember specifically that year my grandparents bought me Topps Finest and I traded away The Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, and Jamaal Mashburn (who should be an Hall of Famer) rookies for Various Rider Inserts. I knew I had struck gold!  If you know NBA History, you know how this story ends. Rider never reached his true potential due to a myriad of issues and ended up being a journeyman. Although he has a respectable career one could argue the 1993 Dunk Contest was the highlight.

    As for me this was the first of may regrettable trade within the hobby. Multiplied with the fact that to this day the 1994 Topps finest is considered iconic set that still carries a premium for cards made in that era. I have since made a few other regrettable trades such as trading a Chris Bosh Patch Auto for a couple of Jeremy Lin autos ( Hey I am a Knicks fan), and many more I am too embarrassed to admit. 
So I turn the question to you! What's your bad trade?

As for the my personal Hobby and adventures, I wrote about this today because I recently acquired the Rider Card on the article, and it brought back memories. Until next time I wish you All the best, and when it comes to trading I wish the unlike Isaiah Rider you don't "Funk" it up.


The Big Orristotle
    

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