Back In The Day NBA

Menendez Brothers Cameo Boosts Value Of 1990 Mark Jackson Basketball Card

Shandel Richardson

Unknown date & location, USA: FILE PHOTO; New York Knicks head coach Pat Riley (right) talks to guard Mark Jackson (left) on the sideline during the 1992 season. Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images
Unknown date & location, USA: FILE PHOTO; New York Knicks head coach Pat Riley (right) talks to guard Mark Jackson (left) on the sideline during the 1992 season. Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images / RVR Photos-Imagn Images
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Former New York Knicks point guard Mark Jackson had no control of it but now has one of the most famous basketball cards in history.

His 1990 NBA Hoops was nothing out of the ordinary until fans began taking a closer look. The card features Jackson making an innocent bounce pass but sitting courtside are two infamous brothers.

Lyle and Erik Menendez, who killed their parents in what became a national court case and news story that year.

"I always knew about it, unfortunately, because of the history behind it," Jackson said in an interview with ESPN a few years ago. "[I] heard about it whenever it picked up steam. People recognized what it was all about and who was in the background. I'm well aware of it."

While this was discovered years ago, the card's popularity resurfaced with the release of the Netflix documentary on the brothers this year. After killing their parents, the brothers went on a $700,000 spending spree. It apparently included courtside tickets at a Knicks game.

The card's value has also increased since its discovery. After being valued at pennies before, one card recently sold for $600. According to a TMZ report, some collectors are sending the card to the brothers in prison so it can be autographed.

After a solid NBA career as a player and coach, now Jackson is faced with his name linked with this.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com