Why Are the Menendez Brothers on a Basketball Trading Card? See the Courtside Photo Taken Months Before Their Arrest

Lyle and Erik Menendez sat courtside at a Knicks game before being arrested for the murder of their parents

Lyle and Erik Menendez went on a $700,000 spending spree after murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in August 1989.

They purchased Rolex watches, clothing, new cars — and courtside tickets to watch the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. By pure coincidence, a photo featuring the Menendez brothers was used for Mark Jackson's 1990-91 NBA Hoops basketball trading card.

In August 2018, crime writer Stephen Zerance was among the first to discover Lyle and Erik in the bottom left corner of Jackson's trading card. The image depicts the brothers sitting on the sidelines as Jackson passes the ball to a teammate. The exact date of the game isn't noted on the card, but the photo must have been taken between November 1989 (when the 1989-90 NBA regular season began) and March 8, 1990, the day Lyle was arrested. Erik turned himself in three days later after returning from a trip to Israel.

Related: The True Story of Netflix’s Monsters: Why Did the Menendez Brothers Kill Their Parents?

“I’m sure this will continue happening,” Zerance told SLAM in 2019 after learning of the bizarre immortalized moment. “There have to be so many things hiding in plain sight.”

Here's everything to know about the collectible, including how much the trading card is selling for today and what Mark Jackson has said about the Menendez brothers.

The Menendez brothers appeared on a trading card after sitting courtside at a Knicks game

Lyle and Erik are forever immortalized on Jackson's 1990-91 NBA Hoops basketball trading card. The Menendez brothers can be seen in the background of Jackson's photo sitting courtside at Madison Square Garden as the New York Knicks point guard passes the ball.

Related: How Did the Menendez Brothers Get Caught? Why Erik's Private Therapy Confession Led to Their Arrest and Conviction

Lyle is wearing a blue button-down shirt, while Erik appears to be wearing a Knicks hat.

The Menendez brothers were discovered on the Mark Jackson basketball card in 2018

In 2018, Zerance, a true-crime buff, was the first person to identify Lyle and Erik on Jackson's trading card.

"My friend and I, who is also a true-crime head, knew that the brothers went on a lavish spending spree after they got an insurance payout from their parent’s death,” he told SLAM in January 2019. “They bought a lot of things: tennis lessons, Rolexes, clothes, businesses, restaurants, cars. Then we noticed they bought courtside tickets to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.”

Zerance continued: "When Getty Images didn’t have anything, it was like a light bulb. There are so many junk cards on eBay."

Related: Where Are the Menendez Brothers Now? A Look at Erik and Lyle's Lives in Prison — and the New Evidence That Could Get Them Out

He eventually stumbled across Jackson's card and purchased several for roughly 10 cents each. Zerance then posted about the collectible on X (formerly Twitter).

"Mood: my Mark Jackson basketball card with cameos from the Menendez brothers in the background," he wrote alongside a photo of the collectible.

But it wasn't until John Rosenberger posted on X about the card in December 2018 that it became national news.

"Reddit is mostly bad but the other day I learned on that website that the Menendez Brothers are in the background of this basketball card and that logistically this would be between when they killed their parents and when they were arrested and I cannot stop thinking about it," he wrote.

As of September 2024, Rosenberger's post has been shared more than 9,000 times.

The Mark Jackson basketball trading card featuring the Menendez brothers has skyrocketed in value

Jackson's 1990-91 NBA Hoops basketball trading card featuring the Menendez brothers is no longer being sold for pennies. Thanks to the siblings' cameo, sellers are looking to get top dollar for the over-30-year-old collectible. One eBay seller is currently seeking $1,500 for their card, while others are auctioning their inventory for anywhere from $8 to $500 depending on the condition, per Card Ladder.

Related: Who Were the Menendez Brothers’ Parents? Inside the Lives of José and Kitty Menendez Before Their 1989 Murders

There was a time when procuring a 1990 Jackson trading card was challenging. According to The Washington Post, in late 2018 and early 2019, eBay was taking down listings of the card because of their policy against selling items “affiliated with murders or serial killers."

Mark Jackson is “well aware” that the Menendez Brothers are on his trading card

Jackson, who played seven seasons for the Knicks, spoke to ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin in 2021 about his trading card featuring the infamous Menendez brothers.

Related: See the Cast of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story Side-by-Side with the Real People They Play

"I always knew about it, unfortunately, because of the history behind it," he shared. "[I] heard about it whenever it picked up steam. People recognized what it was all about and who was in the background. I'm well aware of it."

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