1989-90 Fleer Basketball is more about misses than hits. The set itself is clean and includes a nice mix of rookies. However, there’s one of the most glaring omissions in all of 1980s sports cards. Had Fleer remained the only company making NBA cards as had been the case for the previous three years, it would have been excusable. However, 1989-90 marked the start of basketball card expansion thanks to the arrival of 1989-90 Hoops who beat them to the year’s biggest rookie card. Actually, as history has shaken out, Fleer missed the two biggest rookie cards.
1989-90 Fleer Basketball Checklist Details
Expansion was part of the 1989-90 Fleer Basketball checklist. After several years of 132 cards, the base set grew to 168. With the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets having their inaugural seasons in 1988-89, it made sense to go bigger as there were more players in the league.
Notable is the debut of the Rookie Sensations name. Here, it’s used as a subset to highlight some of the top first-year players similar to Donruss’ Rated Rookies. Rookie Sensations would soon become a popular insert set for Fleer.
As for rookies on the 1989-90 Fleer Basketball checklist, there are several notable names but none that made a huge splash among collectors. Key rookie cards include Kevin Johnson, Mitch Richmond, Danny Manning, Rex Chapman, Reggie Lewis, Scott Skiles, and Dan Majerle.
David Robinson is nowhere to be found, though. This is a huge miss for 1989-90 Fleer, particularly since the debuting Hoops was able to include a rookie card of the Hall of Famer.
Veteran superstars Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are among the other highlights in the set.
As with past years, 11 stickers are also in the product and land one per pack.
1989-90 Fleer Basketball Checklist
Click on the links to shop for cards on eBay or to check current market values.
Set size: 168 cards
Cards per pack: 16 (wax), 43 (rack pack)
Packs per box: 36 (wax), 24 (rack pack)
Boxes per case: 12 (wax), 3 (rack pack)
Shop for 1989-90 Fleer Basketball boxes on eBay:
Base Set Checklist
168 cards.
Buy on eBay:
1 John Battle, Atlanta Hawks RC
2 Jon Koncak, Atlanta Hawks RC
3 Cliff Levingston, Atlanta Hawks
4 Moses Malone, Atlanta Hawks
5 Glenn Rivers, Atlanta Hawks
6 Spud Webb, Atlanta Hawks
7 Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta Hawks
8 Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
9 Dennis Johnson, Boston Celtics
10 Reggie Lewis, Boston Celtics RC
11 Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
12 Robert Parish, Boston Celtics
13 Ed Pinckney, Boston Celtics
14 Brian Shaw, Boston Celtics RC
15 Rex Chapman, Charlotte Hornets – Rookie Sensation RC
16 Kurt Rambis, Charlotte Hornets
17 Robert Reid, Charlotte Hornets
18 Kelly Tripucka, Charlotte Hornets
19 Bill Cartwright, Chicago Bulls
20 Horace Grant, Chicago Bulls
21 Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls
22 John Paxson, Chicago Bulls
23 Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls
24 Brad Sellers, Seattle SuperSonics
25 Brad Daugherty, Cleveland Cavaliers
26 Craig Ehlo, Cleveland Cavaliers RC
27 Ron Harper, Cleveland Cavaliers
28 Larry Nance, Cleveland Cavaliers
29 Mark Price, Cleveland Cavaliers
30 Mike Sanders, Cleveland Cavaliers
31 John Williams, Cleveland Cavaliers – Error: Has back of #162 John Williams (Bullets)
31 John Williams, Cleveland Cavaliers – Correct
32 Rolando Blackman, Dallas Mavericks
33 Adrian Dantley, Dallas Mavericks
34 James Donaldson, Dallas Mavericks
35 Derek Harper, Dallas Mavericks
36 Sam Perkins, Dallas Mavericks
37 Herb Williams, Dallas Mavericks
38 Michael Adams, Denver Nuggets
39 Walter Davis, Denver Nuggets
40 Alex English, Denver Nuggets
41 Lafayette Lever, Denver Nuggets
42 Blair Rasmussen, Denver Nuggets
43 Dan Schayes, Denver Nuggets
44 Mark Aguirre, Detroit Pistons
45 Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons
46 James Edwards, Detroit Pistons
47 Vinnie Johnson, Detroit Pistons
48 Bill Laimbeer, Detroit Pistons
49 Dennis Rodman, Detroit Pistons
50 Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons
51 John Salley, Detroit Pistons
52 Manute Bol, Golden State Warriors
53 Winston Garland, Golden State Warriors
54 Rod Higgins, Golden State Warriors
55 Chris Mullin, Golden State Warriors
56 Mitch Richmond, Golden State Warriors RC
57 Terry Teagle, Golden State Warriors
58 Derrick Chievous, Houston Rockets RC
59 Eric Floyd, Houston Rockets
60 Tim McCormick, Houston Rockets
61 Akeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets
62 Otis Thorpe, Houston Rockets
63 Mike Woodson, Houston Rockets
64 Vern Fleming, Indiana Pacers
65 Reggie Miller, Indiana Pacers
66 Chuck Person, Indiana Pacers
67 Detlef Schrempf, Indiana Pacers
68 Rik Smits, Indiana Pacers – Rookie Sensation RC
69 Benoit Benjamin, Los Angeles Clippers
70 Gary Grant, Los Angeles Clippers RC
71 Danny Manning, Los Angeles Clippers RC
72 Ken Norman, Los Angeles Clippers RC
73 Charles Smith, Los Angeles Clippers – Rookie Sensation RC
74 Reggie Williams, Los Angeles Clippers RC
75 Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers
76 A.C. Green, Los Angeles Lakers
77 Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
78 Byron Scott, Los Angeles Lakers
79 Mychal Thompson, Los Angeles Lakers
80 James Worthy, Los Angeles Lakers
81 Kevin Edwards, Miami Heat RC
82 Grant Long, Miami Heat RC
83 Rony Seikaly, Miami Heat RC
84 Rory Sparrow, Miami Heat
85 Greg Anderson, Milwaukee Bucks
86 Jay Humphries, Milwaukee Bucks
87 Larry Krystkowiak, Milwaukee Bucks RC
88 Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee Bucks
89 Paul Pressey, Milwaukee Bucks
90 Alvin Robertson, Milwaukee Bucks
91 Jack Sikma, Milwaukee Bucks
92 Steve Johnson, Minnesota Timberwolves
93 Rick Mahorn, Minnesota Timberwolves
94 David Rivers, Minnesota Timberwolves RC
95 Joe Barry Carroll, New Jersey Nets
96 Lester Conner, New Jersey Nets RC
97 Roy Hinson, New Jersey Nets
98 Mike McGee, New Jersey Nets
99 Chris Morris, New Jersey Nets – Rookie Sensation RC
100 Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks
101 Mark Jackson, New York Knicks
102 Johnny Newman, New York Knicks RC
103 Charles Oakley, New York Knicks
104 Rod Strickland, New York Knicks RC
105 Trent Tucker, New York Knicks
106 Kiki Vandeweghe, New York Knicks
107 Gerald Wilkins, New York Knicks – “U. of Tennessee” on back
107 Gerald Wilkins, New York Knicks – “U. of Tenn.” on back
108 Terry Catledge, Orlando Magic
109 Dave Corzine, Orlando Magic
110 Scott Skiles, Orlando Magic RC
111 Reggie Theus, Orlando Magic
112 Ron Anderson, Philadelphia 76ers RC
113 Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76ers
114 Scott Brooks, Philadelphia 76ers RC
115 Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia 76ers
116 Mike Gminski, Philadelphia 76ers
117 Hersey Hawkins, Philadelphia 76ers – Rookie Sensation RC
118 Chris Welp, Philadelphia 76ers RC
119 Tom Chambers, Phoenix Suns
120 Armon Gilliam, Phoenix Suns
121 Jeff Hornacek, Phoenix Suns RC
122 Eddie Johnson, Phoenix Suns
123 Kevin Johnson, Phoenix Suns RC
124 Dan Majerle, Phoenix Suns RC
125 Mark West, Phoenix Suns
126 Richard Anderson, Portland Trail Blazers RC
127 Mark Bryant, Portland Trail Blazers RC
128 Clyde Drexler, Portland Trail Blazers
129 Kevin Duckworth, Portland Trail Blazers
130 Jerome Kersey, Portland Trail Blazers
131 Terry Porter, Portland Trail Blazers
132 Buck Williams, Portland Trail Blazers
133 Danny Ainge, Sacramento Kings
134 Ricky Berry, Sacramento Kings RC
135 Rodney McCray, Sacramento Kings
136 Jim Petersen, Sacramento Kings
137 Harold Pressley, Sacramento Kings RC
138 Kenny Smith, Sacramento Kings
139 Wayman Tisdale, Sacramento Kings
140 Willie Anderson, San Antonio Spurs – Rookie Sensation RC
141 Frank Brickowski, San Antonio Spurs
142 Terry Cummings, San Antonio Spurs
143 Johnny Dawkins, San Antonio Spurs
144 Vern Maxwell, San Antonio Spurs RC
145 Michael Cage, Seattle SuperSonics
146 Dale Ellis, Seattle SuperSonics
147 Alton Lister, Seattle SuperSonics
148 Xavier McDaniel, Seattle SuperSonics
149 Derrick McKey, Seattle SuperSonics
150 Nate McMillan, Seattle SuperSonics
151 Thurl Bailey, Utah Jazz
152 Mark Eaton, Utah Jazz
153 Darrell Griffith, Utah Jazz
154 Eric Leckner, Utah Jazz
155 Karl Malone, Utah Jazz
156 John Stockton, Utah Jazz
157 Mark Alarie, Washington Bullets RC
158 Ledell Eackles, Washington Bullets RC
159 Bernard King, Washington Bullets
160 Jeff Malone, Washington Bullets
161 Darrell Walker, Washington Bullets
162 John Williams, Washington Bullets – Error: Has back of #31 John Williams (Cavaliers)
162 John Williams, Washington Bullets – Correct
163 Karl Malone / Mark Eaton / John Stockton, Utah Jazz – 1989 All-Star Game
164 Akeem Olajuwon / Clyde Drexler, Houston Rockets / Portland Trail Blazers – 1989 All-Star Game
165 Dominique Wilkins / Moses Malone, Atlanta Hawks – 1989 All-Star Game
166 Brad Daugherty / Mark Price / Larry Nance, Cleveland Cavaliers – 1989 All-Star Game
167 Patrick Ewing / Mark Jackson, New York Knicks – 1989 All-Star Game
168 Checklist
Stickers Checklist
11 cards.
1 per pack.
1 Karl Malone, Utah Jazz
2 Akeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets
3 Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls
4 Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76ers
5 Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
6 Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons
7 Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks
8 Dale Ellis, Seattle SuperSonics
9 Chris Mullin, Golden State Warriors
10 Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
11 Tom Chambers, Phoenix Suns
