The Fleer produced Flair product was a premium one upon its inception. By any measure, it was one of the more upper echelon card sets of the early to mid-1990s. From its high gloss finish, use of foils and photo shoot quality images to it’s twice as thick card stock, Flair had more than its fair share of flair.
The 1995-96 product produced Hardwood Leader, a 27-card insert set that featured each team’s most notable leader as determined by a particular statistical category and/or award won from the previous 1994-95 NBA season. One card was included in each pack of ’95-96 Flair Series 1.
The entire set was also issued as a commemorative, full uncut sheet distributed as a wrapper redemption at the San Antonio All- Star Game Jam Session event that season.
The front of the cards have a full color action photo of the player with the basketball court key, including team colored paint and hardwood as the backdrop. The foil Flair logo is placed at the top of the card and the player’s name and team logo are found in the same foil at the bottom of the card.
The card backs have a color photo with even more hardwood in the background. There is a large rectangular box that holds some key information about the player featured on the back.
The set, listed alphabetically by NBA team city, starts off with Atlanta Hawks point guard Mookie Blaylock. The defense first point guard is seen dribbling the ball intently down court.
Next up is then Boston Celtics star Dominique Wilkins. When we close our eyes we all envision ‘Nique in his Atlanta Hawks uniform but he did spend time in Bean Town. He’s also shown intensely dribbling the rock toward the rim on his card front.
Charlotte Hornets center Alonzo Mourning is the third Hardwood Leader. Zo is seen posting up with the ball in both hands, looking cross court to dish to a teammate. With the background image being that of the key, its a cool effect to see Mourning posting up in the imaginary paint.
Michael Jordan’s found next to the set. MJ is is the quintessential Hardwood Leader and the greatest of all time is pictured in his classic red Bulls uniform.
Cleveland is represented by sharpshooter Mark Price who is also sprinting up the court. Price is followed by Dallas Mavericks star shooting guard Jim Jackson who is one of the better bucket getters of that time frame as evidenced by his shot on his card and stats on the reverse.
Denver Nuggets mountain of a shot blocker Dikembe Mutumbo is next up followed by Detroit Pistons somewhat short lived superstar Grant Hill.
We check in on the West Coast with Golden State Warriors point guard, the king of The Killer Crossover, the legend behind the UTEP 2-Step, Tim Hardaway at card number nine.
Houston Rockets icon Hakeem Olajuwon is featured as the tenth card in Hardwood Leader. He’s in the process of Dream Shaking past a helpless defender on his way to the hoop.
Indiana Pacers all time great Reggie Miller is next on the checklist. The 3-point king is seen in his classic wide eyed intensity sporting his Indiana uniform with his signature wristbands and ball in hand.
Two of the more underwhelming selections are next up with both Los Angeles teams let off by Clippers Loy Vaught followed by the Lakers Cedric Ceballos.
The two Los Angeles players are followed by two Glens, with the first being Miami Heat lights out shooter Glen Rice followed by the Milwaukee Bucks number one overall pick, scoring machine and Big Dog Glenn Robinson.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Christian Laettner is the 16th card as he was one of the T-Wolves high draft picks, a prospects and leader back in the mid-90s.
Laettner is followed by New Jersey Nets super talented power forward Derek Coleman. Coleman could do it all but his time at the top was short lived due to injuries and off the court issues.
New York Knicks tower Patrick Ewing is the 18th card in the offering. Ewing is found in his classic Knicks home white uniform, releasing a shot near the rim.
Orlando Magic big man Shaquille O’Neal is the next Hardwood Leader. Unquestionably the leader of the Magic, Shaq was the league’s leading scorer the year prior, averaging over 29 points per game. He also led the league in rims abused.
Next up is the famous number 3 in Philadelphia but not The Answer you are looking for. The answer for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1995 was Dana Barros. Barros was a first time All Star, averaging over 20 points per game and over 7 assists per game in 1994-95 as the clear leader of the Sixers squad.
Sir Charles of Phoenix was featured next in the set. Battling through his late career back injuries, Chuck still managed 23 PPG, a team high 11 rebounds per game the previous season. He is seen pulling down one of those rebounds on his card in this particular set.
Portland Trailblazers swingman Clifford Robinson is next up. The headband wearing versatile forward could do a little bit of everything for the Blazers.
Sacramento Kings scoring machine shooting guard Mitch Richmond is next. The 1995 NBA All-Star Game MVP was the clear leader for the team in Sactown back in the day.
Another clear leader of the time was San Antonio Spurs Hall of Fame center David Robinson. A perennial MVP candidate and All Star shoo-in, Robinson was one of the premier centers of his era. He is seen exhibiting his touch with his patented left handed jump shot on the front of his card.
Seattle Supersonics legend Gary Payton was known as a defensive stopper but a more than capable contributor on the offensive end of the floor, garnering his Hardwood Leader title as card #25 in this set.
Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone is #26. The superlatives don’t stop when it comes to Malone and his career accomplishments. He is a more than worthy addition to this set.
The final card of the set is hails from Washington, D.C. as the talented Chris Webber is the leader of the then titled Bullets squad. Listed as the main gun in the Bullets arsenal, it’s noted that Webber was the team’s leading scorer, rebounder, ball thief and second leading shot blocker the previous season. If that’s not Hardwood Leader worthy, I don’t know what is.
All of the cards in the set with the exception of the Jordan can be found for $2 to $5 in ungraded form. Even the Jordan can be had for less than $20. PSA 9 versions of the Jordan card sell anywhere between 30 and 40 bucks, on average, with everyone else selling for well less than that price point. Complete, ungraded sets are typically available for $35-$50.
Flair continued to be a premier product in multiple sports and this was a nice and affordable, classy insert set for the time frame.
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