Growing up in the 1980s, Olympian and professional beach volleyball star Nick Lucena poured through packs of baseball cards looking for his favorite players. At the time, Ken Griffey Jr.'s 1989 Upper Deck rookie card was the must-have card for any Gen X's collection. That card's demand put the sports card manufacturer's name at the forefront in an era where Topps previously dominated.
Nick Lucena 2020 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions / Upper Deck
Fast forward three decades later, little did Lucena imagine he would be in Upper Deck set alongside Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Wayne Gretzky; however, if you look closely at the 2020 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions set, you will see Lucena mixed in with sport royalty.
Below is our box break of 2020 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions where we not only pulled Lucena's rookie cards, but also a host of stars, including a special autograph and relic card.
Chris Carr, runner-up to Kobe Bryant in the 1997 Slam Dunk Championship, recently discussed in our latest podcast going one-on-one against the future Hall of Famer in the dunk contest. In the 20-minute interview, Carr, who is now the assistant woman's basketball coach at Kansas State University, explains why he thought he had a better performance than Bryant, as well as gives an inside look of why guarding a young Bryant was an easier task than squaring up Michael Jordan.
Chris Carr 1997 Slam Dunk Contest Interview
Carr finished the first round with the highest score, giving him the opportunity to be the last dunker in the finals. Bryant scored a 49 with his first dunk, but left the door open by missing his second attempt. Carr saw his chance for victory.
"I knew I was going to have to come with something really good ... because he [Bryant] had a big game in the rookie game and wasn't the MVP ... so he was out to win something this weekend," Carr said.
Carr finished with a 45 on his final dunk, a potent attempt, but not enough to surpass the 49 that Bryant put up with the East Bay Funk. Looking back over 20 years later, Carr still feels like he got the best of Bryant in the contest.
"I still don't think that he beat me," he said. "I'm going to every year put out a tweet and copy him on it just to try to rile him up a bit."
