Reviewing the 2024-2025 Top Shot Season So Far

Okay, so I meant to do this at the midway mark of the season, but I’m a little behind here. We’re hitting the home stretch on the NBA season as we wind through March and into mid-April. With All-Star Weekend a few weeks behind us, it feels like the right time to pause and look at where we are with this season’s iteration on Top Shot. I’ll share what I’ve liked and some areas that could have been better. If you don’t like my answers, go write your own blog 😊—just kidding. Let’s dive in.

Stevey G.

Mar. 11, 2025

@SteveyGIII

NBA Top Shot: Fast Break

Fast Break & Rewards

The commitment to Fast Break as a cornerstone of the product has been evident and overall, there have been some nice improvements. First, the continuous influx of Dapper rewards is what keeps me coming back day in and day out. Even those $1-type nights are cool—they go a long way on Flowty or in picking up some fun, cheap commons. I like that the higher-end rewards feel worth it and that, once you’re in the mix near the top of a run, the daily motivation to finish off that run will have you watching basketball nightly, tracking stats, and engaging with the Top Shot platform.

I appreciate the consistency and the fact that the base fundamentals haven’t changed for the “TSDs should be used more than commons” crowd. The addition of the Pro Run has been a fun touch, especially now that we have two different stat criteria. You’re basically tracking two different lineups nightly, with multiple shots at winning. I love the bump for TSDs in this mode, along with call-outs to rookie badges and special rare sets. It feels like we’re building something solid rather than constantly overhauling the system.

Collectible Quality and Rookies

Sure, Fast Break is fun, but Top Shot first and foremost needs to be a collectible platform. Season over season, Top Shot’s product quality has been phenomenal. The artwork feels fresh and unique yet consistent set over set. The highlight curation continues to be solid, and the overall product presentation really drives home the collectible vibe. There’s a maturity and cohesiveness in the sets that you can count on.

Speaking of the collectible aspect, I appreciate that Top Shot stuck with the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset when it comes to rookies this year. They ran it back with the common Rookie Debut set, leveling up to Freshman Gems and then to Rookie Revelations. I was a big fan of this strategy last year, and I like that it came back in the same form. It creates competitiveness on the leaderboards, encourages stacking, and really keeps rookies feeling special and scarce. Dropping the rookies without the highlights allowed for early distribution, so you could watch the early games to pick out each rookie’s first-moment highlight. And using rookies as rare challenge rewards (as long as it’s limited to one) pumps up the requirements without limiting you to just three highlights from the very best.

Spurs Rookie Stephon Castle's Moments on NBA Top Shot

Challenge Rewards and Dedicated Pack Drops

Speaking of challenge rewards, I couldn’t be happier to see MSFE back this year. A weekend staple I wish came around more often, I really enjoy tracking the MSFE rewards. It gives the Top Shot Debut the utility love many have been clamoring for—most challenges have been pretty tough (thanks to Jokic and LBJ). MSFE challenges remind me of some of the best times on Top Shot, where watching basketball and collecting went hand in hand. I wish we had an MSFE master challenge reward for that super pump and some real weekend sweats, but I’ll take what I can get.

I’m also glad to see multiple challenges running concurrently for various drops. It keeps you interested week in and week out, which is much better than waiting for a reward every seven days. And a big thank you for bringing back dedicated pack drops. As I mentioned on the Collectin’ ‘n Connectin’ podcast, dedicated drops help tell stories so much better. They showcase a theme and a concept, telling a story with each drop. I love the shoebox concept and the dedication to organizing collection improvements—it could be a game changer.

Metallic Silver Flash Challenge Moments

The Air Balls

There isn’t too much I’d criticize this year, as Top Shot has been fairly consistent. However, the Fast Break reward packs are consistently not getting the job done. The juice doesn’t feel worth the squeeze a lot of the time. You grind out nightly for two weeks, hoping to land in the 11-win pack area, only to end up with 60k commons and/or no rare. Where’s the incentive?
I wouldn’t mind seeing a pivot on some common subsets like Hustle & Show or Crunch Time, perhaps featuring them exclusively in Fast Break reward packs, while mixing in the rest with other packs. Also, Chance Hit packs shouldn’t include so many old locker moments. It’s discouraging as a collector to feel like you wouldn’t even want to collect some of the stuff coming out of your new packs—I don’t want to wear my neighbor’s socks with holes in them!

A personal letdown was the All-Star Weekend reward packs. I may be one of the few on this platform who genuinely enjoys collecting All-Star moments. I always look forward to capturing the best of the best from the world’s top players. Not having Mac McClung was a big letdown given the show he put on, but totally skipping any dunk contest moments in that pack really felt like a miss. And once the pack contents were getting hot, how about firing up someone from the Rising Stars games? The All-Star Game moments were fun, but I’m hoping next year we get a little more All-Star Weekend mix. Oh, and here’s a great idea for a Pro Run night—dedicated All-Star Game moments! 😁

The last tweak I’d love to see come back next year is the NBA Cup set. I was hyped when I heard it was coming this year, but as a mixed-tier set, it wasn’t quite right for me. You could have rolled out a rare-tier set like the Playoff sets if you really wanted to keep the best of the best exclusive. With so few legendaries, I’m not sure I get the purpose. Trim the set size down, stick to a single tier per set, and really tell the story of the NBA Cup. It’s such a great opportunity, and I’d love to see it make a comeback.

A few more quick thoughts: I wasn’t thrilled with the change in TSS before the season, but I’m over it. The mint machine is working overtime, and I think we’ve beaten that horse to death enough. At this point, just collect what you want and expect the supply to be what it is. And for crying out loud, can we please get “recently listed” as a filter back in the marketplace?

Looking Forward

Overall, this season has felt like a build-and-bridge year. There aren’t wild changes going on, but we do see tweaks to an already strong product. The foundation needed strengthening, and that’s what we’re seeing. New user stats keep showing week-over-week growth (though I’m still waiting on someone to buy my $1 commons), which is a good sign. If the business side and marketing can grow further, Top Shot is well-positioned for continued success. I’d love to see more content and more basketball culture from Top Shot, but I get the current focus.

Go collect something you’ve been waiting for this season, enjoy watching it, and gear up for the playoff run. After all, if you’re not having fun on the platform, what are you doing?

Until next time—tell more stories, watch more moments, and we ride at dawn…