1976-77 Topps Basketball Cards
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Product Details
After five years of standard-sized card sets, Topps once again used a large-card format for its 1976-77 Topps Basketball set.
However, instead of using the same size as the tallboys of 1969-70 and 1970-71, these cards are even larger. At 3-1/8" by 5-1/4", the cards are larger than any regular Topps card in any sport. The larger size was appealing to collectors and popular with autograph seekers, as well.
1976-77 Topps Basketball Set Details
The 1976-77 Topps Basketball featured player photos that were seemingly larger than life, with very little distraction. A team name was spelled out vertically to the left, along with graphic circles that gave the illusion of a basketball dropping into a hoop. The player's name and position were featured on the white border below the photo.
Flipping the card over, the giant-sized backs are broken down into blocks. The top one contained a card number, name, team, position and vital statistics. In a first for Topps, the player's college statistics are included in the second box. A short write-up follows that, and then the professional year-by-year stats. Finally, a box at the bottom explains a basketball term with a cartoon.
Since the ABA had dissolved before the season, there were fewer teams. As a result, Topps printed up less cards in its complete basketball set. There were 144 cards in all, and the set was evenly distributed over two printing sheets. The checklist card is hard to find in top condition, while card #1 of Julius Erving is hard to find centered.
After increasing the number of subsets over the past several years, there was only one in this set: the All-Stars (cards #126-135). Some of the All-Stars had regular base cards, while others didn't. An All-Star banner is added to the top border of the cards in the subset, with the team info removed from the left side.
Top rookies include David Thompson, Lloyd Free (who later changed his name to World B. Free), Alvin Adams and Gus Williams.
Key 1976-77 Topps Basketball Cards:
Set Checklist
1976-77 Topps Basketball Checklist
Base Set Checklist
2 Dick Snyder - Cleveland Cavaliers
3 Paul Silas - Boston Celtics
4 Keith Erickson - Phoenix Suns
5 Wes Unseld - Washington Bullets
6 Butch Beard - New York Knicks
7 Lloyd Neal - Portland Trail Blazers
8 Tom Henderson - Atlanta Hawks
9 Jim McMillian - Buffalo Braves
10 Bob Lanier - Detroit Pistons
11 Junior Bridgeman - Milwaukee Bucks RC
12 Corky Calhoun - Los Angeles Lakers
13 Billy Keller - Indiana Pacers
14 Mickey Johnson - Chicago Bulls RC
15 Fred Brown - Seattle SuperSonics
16 Keith Wilkes - Golden State Warriors
17 Louie Nelson - New Orleans Jazz
18 Ed Ratleff - Houston Rockets
19 Billy Paultz - San Antonio Spurs
20 Nate Archibald - Kansas City Kings
21 Steve Mix - Philadelphia 76ers
22 Ralph Simpson - Denver Nuggets
23 Campy Russell - Cleveland Cavaliers
24 Charlie Scott - Boston Celtics
25 Artis Gilmore - Chicago Bulls
26 Dick Van Arsdale - Phoenix Suns
27 Phil Chenier - Washington Bullets
28 Spencer Haywood - New York Knicks
29 Chris Ford - Detroit Pistons
30 Dave Cowens - Boston Celtics
31 Sidney Wicks - Portland Trail Blazers
32 Jim Price - Milwaukee Bucks
33 Dwight Jones - Houston Rockets
34 Lucius Allen - Los Angeles Lakers
35 Marvin Barnes - Detroit Pistons
36 Henry Bibby - New Orleans Jazz
37 Joe Meriweather - Atlanta Hawks RC
38 Doug Collins - Philadelphia 76ers
39 Garfield Heard - Phoenix Suns
40 Randy Smith - Buffalo Braves
41 Tom Burleson - Seattle SuperSonics
42 Dave Twardzik - Portland Trail Blazers
43 Bill Bradley - New York Knicks
44 Calvin Murphy - Houston Rockets
45 Bob Love - Chicago Bulls
46 Brian Winters - Milwaukee Bucks
47 Glenn McDonald - Boston Celtics
48 Checklist (#1-144)
49 Bird Averitt - Buffalo Braves
50 Rick Barry - Golden State Warriors
51 Ticky Burden - New York Knicks
52 Rich Jones - New York Nets
53 Austin Carr - Cleveland Cavaliers
54 Steve Kuberski - Boston Celtics
55 Paul Westphal - Phoenix Suns
56 Mike Riordan - Washington Bullets
57 Bill Walton - Portland Trail Blazers
58 Eric Money - Detroit Pistons RC
59 John Drew - Atlanta Hawks
60 Pete Maravich - New Orleans Jazz
61 John Shumate - Buffalo Braves RC
62 Mack Calvin - Los Angeles Lakers
63 Bruce Seals - Seattle SuperSonics
64 Walt Frazier - New York Knicks
65 Elmore Smith - Milwaukee Bucks
66 Rudy Tomjanovich - Houston Rockets
67 Sam Lacey - Kansas City Kings
68 George Gervin - San Antonio Spurs
69 Gus Williams - Golden State Warriors RC
70 George McGinnis - Philadelphia 76ers
71 Len Elmore - Indiana Pacers
72 Jack Marin - Chicago Bulls
74 Jim Brewer - Cleveland Cavaliers
75 Alvan Adams - Phoenix Suns RC
76 Dave Bing - Washington Bullets
77 Phil Jackson - New York Knicks
78 Geoff Petrie - Portland Trail Blazers
79 Mike Sojourner - Atlanta Hawks
80 James Silas - San Antonio Spurs
81 Bob Dandridge - Milwaukee Bucks
82 Ernie DiGregorio - Buffalo Braves
83 Cazzie Russell - Los Angeles Lakers
84 Kevin Porter - Detroit Pistons
85 Tom Boerwinkle - Chicago Bulls
86 Darnell Hillman - Indiana Pacers
87 Herm Gilliam - Seattle SuperSonics
88 Nate Williams - New Orleans Jazz
89 Phil Smith - Golden State Warriors
90 John Havlicek - Boston Celtics
91 Kevin Kunnert - Houston Rockets
92 Jimmy Walker - Kansas City Kings
93 Billy Cunningham - Philadelphia 76ers
94 Dan Issel - Denver Nuggets
95 Ron Boone - Kansas City Kings
96 Lou Hudson - Atlanta Hawks
97 Jim Chones - Cleveland Cavaliers
98 Earl Monroe - New York Knicks
99 Tom Van Arsdale - Buffalo Braves
100 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Los Angeles Lakers
101 Moses Malone - Portland Trail Blazers
102 Ricky Sobers - Phoenix Suns RC
103 Swen Nater - Milwaukee Bucks
104 Leonard Robinson - Washington Bullets
105 Don Watts - Seattle SuperSonics
106 Otto Moore - New Orleans Jazz
107 Maurice Lucas - Portland Trail Blazers
108 Norm Van Lier - Chicago Bulls
109 Clifford Ray - Golden State Warriors
110 David Thompson - Denver Nuggets RC
111 Fred Carter - Philadelphia 76ers
112 Caldwell Jones - Philadelphia 76ers
113 John Williamson - New York Nets
114 Bobby Smith - Cleveland Cavaliers
115 Jo Jo White - Boston Celtics
116 Curtis Perry - Phoenix Suns
117 John Gianelli - New York Knicks
118 Curtis Rowe - Detroit Pistons
119 Lionel Hollins - Portland Trail Blazers RC
120 Elvin Hayes - Washington Bullets
121 Ken Charles - Atlanta Hawks
122 Dave Meyers - Milwaukee Bucks RC
123 Jerry Sloan - Chicago Bulls
124 Billy Knight - Indiana Pacers
125 Gail Goodrich - Los Angeles Lakers
126 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Los Angeles Lakers AS
127 Julius Erving - New York Nets AS
128 George McGinnis - Philadelphia 76ers AS
129 Nate Archibald - Kansas City Kings AS
130 Pete Maravich - New Orleans Jazz AS
131 Dave Cowens - Boston Celtics AS
132 Rick Barry - Golden State Warriors AS
133 Elvin Hayes - Washington Bullets AS
134 James Silas - San Antonio Spurs AS
135 Randy Smith - Buffalo Braves AS
136 Leonard Gray - Seattle SuperSonics
137 Charles Johnson - Golden State Warriors
138 Ron Behagen - New Orleans Jazz
139 Mike Newlin - Houston Rockets
140 Bob McAdoo - Buffalo Braves
141 Mike Gale - San Antonio Spurs
142 Scott Wedman - Kansas City Kings
143 Lloyd Free - Philadelphia 76ers RC
144 Bobby Jones - Denver Nuggets
Shop Boxes
Shop for 1976-77 Topps Basketball Boxes
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Phil Chmiel
These “tall” cards have a nice design and feature good photography. David Thompson is the top rookie. These were a little wider than the 69-70 and 70-71 taller sets. These need special plastic sheets for a binder.