Tyrese Haliburton had to think quickly.
The Sacramento Kings were set to meet in five minutes, but Haliburton had heard there was a surprise drop about to hit. He signed on to see where he landed in the virtual queue -- in the 3,000s. With more than 100,000 accounts in line behind him, Haliburton knew that if he could just hang on to the spot, he could score the latest Top Shot pack.
But about the team meeting.
"I called over one of the film guys and pulled out my Visa," Haliburton said. "And I asked him if he could finish the job for me while I went to film. We don't get any handouts; we're in line just like everyone else."
The Top Shot frenzy that has enveloped some sports fans, collectors and speculators over the past few months has also hit NBA players in an unusual way.
Although they often trade uniforms and shoes with each other as mementos, players didn't often delve into the memorabilia surrounding their profession. But more and more players are finding themselves transported back to childhood.
Players are sharing the pursuit of these Top Shot Moment releases (as the digital collectibles are called), comparing collections and targeting other players' highlights, giving them all a chance at a new collective experience in a time when COVID-19 restrictions have limited bonding activities.
"Packs are hard to come by. We've got email notifications and text notifications, and we're always telling each other when we hear about drops," said Orlando Magic wing Terrence Ross, who is an avid collector along with teammates Cole Anthony and Michael Carter-Williams.
"When one of us gets a pack, we save and open it together and chop it up. Sometimes we livestream it so fans can see it with us. It really brings everyone together."
The Kings have organized a group text chain for all the players and staff just for Top Shot discussion, going as far as to recruit coach Luke Walton into it.
"Coach Luke bought one of my moments," Haliburton said. "I'm excited for him. I think it's great team bonding."
Recently on a Utah Jazz team flight, forward Joe Ingles pulled up the secondary market prices for these Moments. He proceeded to go down the aisle comparing the collectible values for his teammates.
"He's like, 'Look, my 3-pointer is worth $2,500, but your dunk is only worth $5,'" Jazz guard Mike Conley said. "In my career, I've never been on a team where we talked about sports cards. But a lot of us have been NBA fans our whole lives and have binders of cards back at our houses. And it's sparked those conversations, what cards we collected and things we had as kids."
Top Shot ran a promotion where collectors who gathered a certain number were rewarded with a special edition Conley Moment for free; it was termed "The Conley Challenge."
"[Rudy] Gobert got it before I did," Conley said. "And he let me know about it."
The Top Shot values, which have spiked and then receded as the hobby has surged into the mainstream, are now routine locker room fodder.
"My moment is worth more than Jaylen Brown -- and he's a legit All-Star," Haliburton said. "People like to collect the rookies, so mine are worth even more than [De'Aaron] Fox. But Fox has a $160 million contract, so he's OK."
Players have noticed that if one of them has a particularly big game or goes on a hot streak, their Moments values rise -- and the inverse if there's a slump. Of course, this has always been the case with player memorabilia, but never has it been as readily available to see the up-to-the minute info in the marketplace.
"It's almost like NBA Wall Street," Ross said. "You go up, and you go down. Except for LeBron, he always goes up."
But beyond the fad and intrigue in owning NFTs (nonfungible tokens), the Top Shot phenomenon has spilled over into the NBA's daily culture. During games, when a player makes a great play -- whether it's a dunk or a blocked shot or even a slick pass -- the chatter from the bench involves how the highlight might turn into an NFT.
"We have a lot of dialogue about it on a daily basis, and we mess around about it all the time," Halliburton said. "Like somebody makes a big play in a game and like, we'll just come over and be like, 'Yo, Top Shot that.'"
Said Conley: "We'll be watching film of another team and someone will do something, and it will be like, 'Oh, that's a Top Shot.'"
Whether this phenomenon -- a well-timed combination of blockchain interest, cryptoassets and sports memorabilia driven by a boredom economy that blossomed during the pandemic -- will last is still uncertain. A handful of high-profile names such as Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala have invested in Dapper Labs -- Top Shot's parent company, which has secured over $300 million in private funding -- believing it will.
But for now at least, Top Shot has been a uniting force in a largely isolated season for so many players.
"Two things every NBA player loves is money and basketball," Haliburton said. "So it all comes together in one, you know?"