I still remember the first time I opened a 2015-16 Select basketball pack—that crisp sound of tearing foil, the fresh ink smell, and the thrill of discovering what treasures lay inside. As someone who's been collecting basketball cards for over fifteen years, I can confidently say this particular release holds a special place in my heart and collection. The 2015-16 season was fascinating for multiple reasons, not just for the cards themselves but for the emerging talent that would shape the NBA for years to come. When building your collection from this set, you're not just accumulating pieces of cardboard—you're capturing moments from a transitional period in basketball history where new stars began to shine while established legends continued to dominate.
The base set features 200 cards, with the first 100 focusing on veterans and the second 100 highlighting the exciting rookie class. What makes Select special is their tiered approach—you've got Concourse, Premier Level, and Courtside parallels, each with different scarcity and appeal. I always recommend collectors start with the base Concourse set before moving up to the more exclusive parallels. The Premier Level cards, limited to 249 copies each, feature a beautiful shimmer effect that catches the light perfectly, while the Courtside parallels, numbered to just 49, represent the true gems of this release with their distinctive gold accents. From personal experience, the thrill of pulling a Courtside parallel from a random pack is unmatched—it's happened to me exactly twice in hundreds of openings, which tells you something about their rarity.
Speaking of rookies, this class was particularly interesting because it included Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, and Kristaps Porziņģis—players who would quickly become franchise cornerstones. Their rookie cards in this set have appreciated remarkably, especially in higher grades. I tracked one Towns Premier Level PSA 10 that sold for $380 back in 2017—that same card recently went for over $900. The beauty of collecting these rookies is that you're not just getting their standard poses—Select included dynamic action shots that really capture their early playing styles. Booker's card shows him in that smooth shooting motion we'd come to know so well, while Porziņģis' card perfectly frames his incredible wingspan during a block attempt.
What many collectors overlook are the insert sets, which I believe offer tremendous value and visual appeal. The Courtside Signatures autograph cards are particularly sought after, with some of the bigger names limited to just 25 copies. I was lucky enough to pull a D'Angelo Russell Courtside Signature from a box I purchased at my local card shop, and it remains one of my favorite pulls to this day. The sticker autographs can be slightly disappointing compared to on-card signatures, but the overall design and premium feel more than make up for it. Then you've got the Prizm parallels—completely different from Panini's Prizm product—which feature a rainbow-like refraction that changes depending on your viewing angle. These are incredibly tough to find, with odds of approximately 1:120 packs for the regular Prizms and 1:480 for the gold Prizms numbered to 10.
The quote from that 5-foot-9 playmaker about adjusting his game when shots aren't falling perfectly captures the mindset collectors need when hunting for these cards. "If my shots weren't falling, I look for my teammates and I just play on how their defense is playing me." Similarly, if you're not finding the big hits in your box breaks, you need to adjust your strategy—maybe focus on trading for specific needs or targeting singles on the secondary market. I've learned that stubbornly sticking to one approach rarely works in this hobby. When I couldn't pull a Karl-Anthony Towns Courtside parallel after multiple cases, I started trading duplicate autographs and eventually secured one through a three-way trade that took weeks to negotiate. That flexibility and persistence mirrors what that guard described—adapting to circumstances rather than forcing what isn't working.
Condition is everything with modern cards, especially since the 2015-16 Select set features so many dark backgrounds that show every minor imperfection. I always recommend submitting key cards for grading, particularly the rookies and low-numbered parallels. From my experience, roughly 60-70% of Select cards from this era come back with PSA 9 or better grades if they're pack-fresh, but centering can be tricky with the foil elements. The registration on the parallel versions sometimes causes off-center cards, which can be frustrating when you're chasing high grades. I've had cards that looked perfect to my eye come back as 8s because of minute centering issues I missed initially.
Building a complete 2015-16 Select collection requires both patience and strategy. The concourse level parallels are relatively accessible, with the silver prizms appearing in about 1 out of every 4 packs. But the real challenge begins with the premier level and courtside variations. I've been working on my premier level set for three years and still need 7 cards to complete it. The economic aspect can't be ignored either—a full case of 2015-16 Select hobby boxes would have cost you around $1,200 back when it released, but that same case would set you back over $4,000 today if you can even find one sealed. That's why I often advise new collectors to focus on singles rather than chasing boxes, unless they really enjoy the thrill of the unknown.
Looking back at this set seven years later, what strikes me is how well it has held up both in terms of design and player selection. The color-coded backgrounds for each team, the clean typography, and the thoughtful photography all contribute to making this one of the most visually appealing releases of that season. While some collectors might prefer the flashier National Treasures or the more mainstream Prizm releases, I've always found Select strikes the perfect balance between accessibility and exclusivity. The 2015-16 Select basketball set represents not just cards to collect, but moments to preserve—from Towns' dominant rookie season to Curry's unanimous MVP campaign. Building your collection from this release is like assembling pieces of basketball history, each card telling part of that season's unique story. And isn't that what collecting is really all about?