The 1984-85 Star set runs to two hundred and eighty-eight cards, and the very last of them belongs to Jordan. Where the #101 opens his rookie season, the blue-bordered #288 closes it — the card Star made to mark him as Rookie of the Year, the honor that turned a promising debut into the start of something the league had not seen.
It is easy to overlook, tucked at the tail of a long checklist, and that is part of its appeal. This is a third piece of the rookie-year story — the same first set, the same scarce polybag distribution — and collectors who want the whole arc tend to want the bookend as much as the opener.
The last card in the set, and the one that named him Rookie of the Year.
As with every Star Jordan, the colored border and soft centering make a high grade difficult, so clean copies reward the patient. For the run-builder, #101, #195, and #288 are the three-card spine of the rookie year — the debut, the gold medal, and the award.
