Three of the most significant basketball cards of the current era, including the one-of-a-kind Cooper Flagg Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card, will be auctioned through Fanatics Collect next month, the company announced Friday.

With the Flagg item, Debut Patch cards for San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper and Charlotte Hornets sharpshooter Kon Knueppel will also sell as part of the platform’s September Premier auction, which runs Sept. 10-24.

Each autographed card, which also includes a patch created by Fanatics and worn during the athlete’s first NBA regular-season appearance, is widely considered the best card for each featured athlete.

Flagg’s Debut Patch, which has been the target of dozens of bounties, including offers from the Dallas Mavericks and multi-million-dollar cash offers from individual collectors, is widely expected to challenge the highest known sale for an ultra-modern (2017-present) basketball card. The current high is the $5.1 million paid in a private deal for the one-of-one 2023-24 Prizm Black parallel Victor Wembanyama rookie card in May.

Until now, the secondary market for Debut Patch cards has largely been dominated by baseball players, as the program was first launched with MLB, though it now also includes the NFL, World Cup, Bundesliga, Formula 1, MLS, UFC and WWE.

The first Debut Patches for basketball, which arrived for the 2025 NBA Draft class, are expected to drive some of the program’s highest sales because of the sport’s popularity in the high-end market.

Of the top 20 all-time modern card sales logged by card price tracker Card Ladder, 12 are basketball cards. The highest public sale for a debut patch from any sport to date is the $1.1 million paid for the Paul Skenes card by Dick’s Sporting Goods in March 2025, which could be topped by each of the cards of Flagg, Harper and Knueppel in a single night.

“I think basketball is more part of pop culture,” Fanatics Collect vice president Kevin Lenane told The Athletic. “You see more kids with basketball jerseys. There’s more interest in LeBron (James) and (Michael) Jordan. The intertwining (of pop culture) with basketball in particular seems to be the strongest.”

The consignment of the Flagg Debut Patch to Fanatics Collect ends the hunt not just to pull the card, but to win the rights to sell it.

The Mavericks were among the first to offer a bounty before the card was even pulled. The team included a pair of premium, lower-level season tickets for 32 years (Flagg’s jersey number), an autographed, game-worn rookie Flagg jersey and several other team-related experiences. Several individual collectors and trading card-related businesses offered multi-million cash bounties.

The Mavericks bounty is the second from a major sports team to be turned down by a Debut Patch owner. The Pittsburgh Pirates made an offer for the Skenes debut patch last year that included season tickets and team experiences, but the card’s 11-year-old owner turned it down. The child and his family, California natives, chose to consign the card with Fanatics Collect instead of taking the Pirates’ package.

The Flagg Debut Patch card was pulled on Aug. 10, just four days after the release of the set it’s a part of, 2025-26 Topps Chrome Updates Basketball, during a box break run by a small Rhode Island hobby shop. The card’s new owner, Jason Williams of South Carolina, chose to consign it with Fanatics over the other offers.

Williams was not available to speak to The Athletic about his decision to consign the card with Fanatics Collect, but in an Instagram post he said, “This is more than just a dollar sign. This means a lot more to me & my family than anyone could imagine. Truly thankful and blessed!”

Jason Williams (center, in the Indiana Fever shirt) with his family and the Cooper Flagg Debut Patch redemption card. (Photo courtesy of Parker J. Asel)

“Someone would need to be from Dallas or from Pittsburgh to understand the value of (the team) offers, or to at least appreciate them,” Lenane said. “… If a Mavs fan hits the Flagg, I think then you have a real conversation. But outside of that, I think it’s tough for a guy from South Carolina to be into the Mavericks or a kid from L.A. to be into the Pirates.”

Beyond bounties from the Mavericks or other collectors, Fanatics Collect beat out offers from other auction houses, including Goldin Auctions. Goldin founder and CEO Ken Goldin offered a $1.5 million cash advance if the card was consigned to his auction house.

Trading card marketplace Alt attempted to lure the Flagg card to its platform by opening a “Debut Bounty Auction,” where it accepted binding bids for the card before it was consigned anywhere.

According to Alt, bids would carry over if the card was consigned to the platform or voided in any other scenario. Bidding had reached $3.8 million for the Flagg Debut Patch before Alt closed the auction on Wednesday.

As of Thursday evening, the bounty auction for the Harper Debut Patch card was at $800,000 before buyer’s premium (the fee an auction house charges based on the item’s sale price).

“It did exactly what we built it to do,” Alt CEO Leore Avidar said about the bounty auction concept in a statement to The Athletic. “We had nine verified bidders in the first two hours, and the bounty bids reached $3.84 million, every dollar of it binding. This card had never traded, and now the whole hobby knows what it’s worth. Wherever it sells next, it sells at a number our bounty auction discovered first.

“The card not coming to (Alt) was always a possible outcome, and we designed for that. The bids expire, nobody owes anything and the demand doesn’t go anywhere. We couldn’t be more excited about where this goes … the next time a grail gets pulled, the market bidding is going to open on Alt.”

Lenane believes Fanatics Collect earned the right to sell the card by showing up in person when it was first discovered.

“We physically went to the shop, that’s how we won the card,” Lenane said. “I took a boat from Long Island to Connecticut and took an Uber across from Connecticut to Rhode Island at 6 a.m. to get to the shop nine hours after the card was hit. I talked to the collector through the shop’s landline because he wouldn’t give out his phone number.

“Everyone else was running through Instagram messages and posting bounties and stuff, and we had two people in that shop. Another guy took a red-eye (flight) from L.A. and got there two hours after me. That’s why we got it.”

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PHILADELPHIA  — The next time the Philadelphia Eagles play in their home stadium, the game will count. That’s the best news that came out of the Eagles’ 30-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals Friday night in the third preseason game.

Preseason performance does not necessarily indicate a team’s regular season prospects, so nobody should adjust their win-loss prediction based on the on-field product that punctuated an 0-3 preseason. But Friday’s finale could help finalize the 53-man roster and offered valuable experience for rookies, and the Eagles were left with more questions than answers after Sunday’s performance.

Here are four takeaways from the Eagles’ loss:

Sour debut for Makai Lemon

The Eagles wanted Makai Lemon to play in a game before the regular season. It was clear he needed it.

Lemon, the first-round pick and a key part of the offense this season, was the only starter to play in the preseason finale. He missed the first two games with a hamstring injury and was absent from full-team drills for three weeks of training camp. That prompted the Eagles to play Lemon against the Bengals, similar to their approach in 2024 with Cooper DeJean in the final preseason game.

It was not a favorable first impression from Lemon. The Eagles tried feeding him the ball, targeting him five times on four drives. He finished with three catches for 3 yards. The ball went through Lemon’s hands on one pass attempt and was intercepted, thwarting a potential scoring drive. It was a high pass from Tanner McKee, but it hit his hands. Lemon collided with veteran Elijah Moore early in his route on one of his catches. The Eagles gave him a chance to return a punt in the third quarter, and Lemon bobbled the dribbler.

One preseason game does not offer enough of a sample to form a modicum of an evaluation, but it was the only chance this summer to see Lemon in game action. Lemon was expected to be a ready-made receiver, arriving in the NFL as the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner. He’ll have a chance to show that in two weeks, because Lemon is expected to be a top-three receiver with DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks.

Looking for some reason for optimism? DeJean’s debut in that final preseason game in 2024 revealed growing pains. By the end of the season, he returned an interception for a touchdown in the Super Bowl. It took DeJean a month to become a major contributor to the Eagles defense that year. The Eagles could use Lemon to contribute from Week 1. — Zach Berman

No clear victor for QB2 battle at the end of the preseason

The Eagles split reps between Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee throughout training camp practices and preseason games to determine the victor of a backup quarterback battle. Neither quarterback played well enough to be considered a clear winner. McKee started Friday night against the Bengals; he underwhelmed by completing 12 of 22 passes for 55 yards and an interception. He was also sacked twice. His passes seemed to have too much juice in the backfield, too little on deeper throws along the sideline, and he overthrew Britain Covey on a deep pass attempt toward the end zone. Dalton led an 11-play, 76-yard touchdown drive against the third-team defense, but McKee had similar success against the bottom end of the depth chart last week.

The Eagles are likely displeased with what the QB2 competition produced. It is also unclear what the Eagles will choose to do. Coach Nick Sirianni said McKee needed extra reps to get more comfortable in a very new system. Last year, McKee completed 20 of 25 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns in the preseason opener against the Bengals, and the coaching staff was pleased enough to sit him for the remaining two exhibitions. If the Eagles bet on the 26-year-old McKee’s potential over Dalton’s 16 years of experience, they will enter the 2026 season in the precarious position of knowing Jalen Hurts’ backup is not yet comfortable with this scheme. – Brooks Kubena

OC Sean Mannion calls second straight game from booth

Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion called plays from the booth for the second straight preseason game against the Bengals. He called plays from the sideline in the preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens. Asked this week, Mannion did not disclose where he would call plays. That he was in the booth again Friday night does not in itself mean it will be his choice for the regular season. But it does indicate a potential preference. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has called plays throughout his tenure in Philadelphia. Some coordinators prefer to be on the sideline so they can have face-to-face communication with players between possessions. The Eagles moved the ball better when Mannion was in the booth, but that could be attributed to the playbook being more accessible in those games. – Kubena

Final evaluations for Uar Bernard, Joshua Weru

This was the third football game ever for Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru. Neither player distinguished himself in the preseason finale — both were credited with one tackle — but they progressed throughout the summer. They now leave Howie Roseman facing difficult decisions.

Bernard, a seventh-round pick from Nigeria, and Weru, an undrafted rookie from Kenya, were acquired as projects with their long-term development in mind. As expected, they’re not ready to contribute this year — Vic Fangio called them “light years away” and dubbed them the “exchange students” — but using the International Player Pathway program slot on the practice squad requires exposing them to waivers. That means 31 other teams would have a chance to claim either of them and embark on the experiment the Eagles started in the spring.

“We all want to win now,” Fangio said this week, “but it’s Howie’s job to always be building the team for future years, too.”

Aston Villa have reached an agreement in principle to sign forward Ibrahim Mbaye from European champions Paris Saint-Germain.

The two clubs have agreed a fee worth €55million for Mbaye, with the deal in the process of being finalised and paperwork in progress. The relationship between Villa chairman Nassef Sawiris and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi was seen as key to closing the deal. Villa are hopeful of Mbaye travelling on Saturday to complete a medical ahead of the proposed move.

The 18-year-old joined PSG in the summer of 2018 from FC Versailles 78. He progressed through PSG’s youth academy and made his senior debut for the side in August 2024 at the age of 16.

Mbaye has made 42 first-team appearances for PSG, scoring four goals and four assists. Last season, the teenager scored three goals and provided two assists in 31 games in all competitions. Liverpool had also shown interest in him this summer.

It has been a busy window for Villa, who have already made eight signings, with Nicolas Jackson set to become their ninth new arrival. Changes have been made in attack, with Morgan Rogers joining Chelsea in a club-record £117m deal, while Ollie Watkins is set to join Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal.

Alejandro Garnacho joined Villa on a season-long loan from Chelsea, while Villa were in discussions over a loan deal for AC Milan’s Rafael Leao, though the Serie A club accepted a €45m package for the winger from Turkish side Galatasaray. Villa never made an offer to Milan for Leao.

Villa did, though, bid for Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, however that fell short of Palace’s valuation of the France international, and made an approach for Bayer Leverkusen’s Christian Kofane.

Mbaye started ten Ligue 1 games, one Champions League match and holds the record for being the youngest player to ever start a fixture for the Frenchclub.

He has also established himself in Senegal’s national team. A former France youth international, Mbaye switched his international allegiance and made his first appearance for the African nation in November 2025.

Mbaye has now made 15 appearances for Senegal and appeared in six of their seven 2025 Africa Cup of Nations games, helping his nation win the tournament. He also started three of Senegal’s four 2026 World Cup games, scoring in their tournament-opening defeat to France on June 16.

Villa land long-standing target

Analysis from Aston Villa correspondent Jacob Tanswell

Mbaye was among Villa’s leading candidates earlier this summer before signing Alejandro Garnacho.

Villa wanted a versatile forward who could run beyond opposition defences, mainly from the right side. Mbaye fitted the criteria, although his price and other factors, including interest from elsewhere, meant a deal could not be done then.

As The Athletic first reported in January, they had tracked Mbaye for some time, with his potential and natural talent appealing to manager Unai Emery. Villa wanted to sign another forward after Nicolas Jackson’s arrival, with Mbaye a key long-standing target, alongside Rafael Leao.

Mbaye fits Villa’s balance, having needed a natural right-sided player after Jadon Sancho departed and Leon Bailey is not in plans.