CGC Cards Featured Card of the Month: 2018-19 Donruss Optic #177 Luka Dončić Rated Rookie

2018-19 Donruss Optic #177 Luka Dončić Rated Rookie Click images to enlarge.

Sport: Basketball

Set: 2018-19 Donruss Optic

Card: #177 Luka Dončić

What makes it special? In 2018, the Atlanta Hawks selected Luka Dončić with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft. However, he was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks, as the franchise considered the 6'7" guard to be a generational talent. It didn't take long for the Mavs to be proven right in their assumptions about the player.

Within the first week of his NBA career, Dončić became the youngest 20-point scorer in Mavs history. The following week, he scored his first of many 30-plus point games. A couple of months later, the guard earned his first triple-double, making him the third-youngest player in NBA history to earn the distinction. One week later, he did it again — except this time, Dončić became the first teenager in league history with a 30-point triple-double and multiple triple-doubles as a rookie. The Slovenian continued to break rookie records held by NBA greats for years, and deservedly finished the season as a unanimous All-Rookie First Team selection and received the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

Dončić went on to earn his first All-Star selection in his sophomore season, while also leading the Mavs back to the playoffs. In his third year, he helped Dallas win the division title before taking it a step further the next year, as the team reached the Western Conference Finals. In his fifth season, the guard put up career-highs in scoring, averaging an astounding 33.4 points per game. Yet, the Mavs missed out on the playoffs. Now, as Dončić heads into his sixth NBA season at only 24 years old, he's looking to build off of his stellar personal performances to push Dallas back into the playoffs after missing out in the 2022-23 season.

Did you know? In 2015, Dončić made his pro basketball debut for Real Madrid at only 16 years old, which is the youngest debut in club history. A year later, he made his senior debut for Slovenia, representing his country at only 17 years of age. By 2018, the teenager led Real Madrid to the 2018 EuroLeague title, picking up the EuroLeague MVP and the Final Four MVP. In addition, Dončić earned the ACB Most Valuable Player award and won consecutive EuroLeague Rising Star and ACB Best Young Player awards. His historic European performances at such a young age put him on the radar of NBA scouts from across the league and, in 2018, Dončić entered the NBA Draft.

Total graded by CGC Cards: There are 140 graded examples of the standard version of this card in the CGC Cards Population Report, as of early October 2023. CGC has also graded seven different parallels of the same card, including Shock (61), Holo (11), Hyper Pink (7), Blue Velocity (7), Choice (3), Purple Rated Rookie (2) and Fast Break Rated Rookie (1).

2018-19 Donruss Optic #177 Luka Dončić - Shock Click images to enlarge.

CGC Cards median grade: CGC 9

CGC Cards highest graded: There are 36 standard examples graded CGC Gem Mint 10 of the Donruss Optic #177, as well as parallels graded CGC Gem Mint 10 that include the Shock (6), Holo (1) and Hyper Pink (1).

Sales highlights: An example of a 2018-19 Donruss Optic #177 graded CGC 9 realized $48 through PWCC in July 2022. Additional sales of the card through PWCC include a pair of Shock parallels, with one graded CGC Gem Mint 10 that sold in May 2022 for $690 and another graded CGC 9 that sold in February 2023 for $169.

CGC Cards Sports Registry: The card is part of this company set: 2018-19 Donruss Optic, which has 16 competitors. It is also part of Dončić Players Set and the Dončić Rookie Players Set. Due to Dončić's popularity with collectors, his Player Set has 69 competitors, and his Rookie Player Set has 24 competitors. BKWatkins has assembled a Player Set called Luka that has amassed 39,629 points and includes a standard version of this card graded CGC Gem Mint 10, which earned his Dončić collection the Best in Set Type distinction.

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