1985 Star Gatorade Slam Dunk

October 20, 2026

#7 Michael Jordan

#2 Larry Nance

For sale from this set

1985 Star Gatorade #7 Michael Jordan PSA 7 — #7 Michael Jordan PSA 7
$24,995.00 · Buy now

1985 Star Gatorade Slam Dunk #2 Charles Barkley NM-MT or Better — Slam Dunk #2 Charles Barkley NM-MT or Better
$1,495.00 · Buy now

1985 Star Gatorade #8 Wilkins BGS 9 — #8 Wilkins BGS 9
$599.00 · Buy now

1985 Star Gatorade #9 Orlando Woolridge Raw NM to NM-MT — #9 Orlando Woolridge Raw NM to NM-MT
$43.95 · Buy now

The 1985 Star Gatorade Slam Dunk set pictures the eight players in the 1985 Slam Dunk Contest, plus a checklist. The contest was held February 9 in Indianapolis. A tenth card, an unnumbered Charles Barkley, was pulled after he dropped out of the contest and is a short print. Michael Jordan, beaten in the final by Dominique Wilkins, is #7.

The set at a glance

Cards	10
Numbering	1-9, plus unnumbered Barkley
Short prints (SP)	1 (NNO Charles Barkley)
Michael Jordan cards	1 (#7)
Released	1985, for All-Star Weekend
Packaging	Sealed bag of #1-9, checklist on top
Sets printed (est.)	4,000-5,000, fewer Barkleys (Basketball Gold)
Design	Lime green borders, Gatorade branding

The key cards

Michael Jordan: #7 is one of Jordan's first-year subset cards, alongside his Lite and Crunch 'N Munch #4. Basketball Gold notes it is not a rookie card.
Charles Barkley: the unnumbered SP is one of his first-year subset cards, per Basketball Gold. See the Barkley section below.
Dominique Wilkins and Clyde Drexler: #8 Wilkins, the 1985 contest winner, and #4 Drexler are second-year subset cards, per Basketball Gold.
Others: #2 Larry Nance, #3 Terence Stansbury, #5 Julius Erving, #6 Darrell Griffith and #9 Orlando Woolridge.

How the set was issued

Basketball Gold says the set was made to show the All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk contestants. The contest ran February 9, 1985 at Market Square Arena, the night before the All-Star Game.

starbasketballcards.com says the sets were handed out to fans at the All-Star Weekend banquet in Indianapolis. Dealers could order them too: Steve Taft recalls buying batches of 1985 Gatorade sets. The standard sealed bag holds the nine numbered cards, with the checklist on top.

Basketball Gold estimates 4,000 to 5,000 sets of the nine numbered cards, with fewer Barkleys. starbasketballcards.com puts the run at 4,000.

The Barkley short print

Why it is scarce: Star pulled the Barkley card after he withdrew from the dunk contest. starbasketballcards.com says Terence Stansbury took his place.
Bagged or not: sources differ. Basketball Gold says some Barkleys made it into a limited number of bags; starbasketballcards.com says the card was not originally issued in the bags.
The auction: collectors long assumed the pulled Barkleys were destroyed. Basketball Gold says it appears they went to Schonco at Robert Levin's 1990 Star auction, making them less scarce than once believed.
No number: the card has no number, so checklists list it as NNO.

Spotting a fake #7 Jordan

Counterfeit Gatorade Jordans circulate. These tells come from starbasketballcards.com:

Front lettering: on fakes the "Michael Jordan" and "Bulls" type is too small and the wrong font.
The "N" line: genuine cards have a small line in the "N" of "Jordan." The site has not seen it on any fake.
Backs: fake backs have fuzzy text under a loupe. One known fake has green text that is too dark and bold.
Normal quirks: on genuine backs the text box can sit off-center; that varies card to card.
Reprint slabs: at least one fake has been slabbed by GMA and labeled a reprint.

Basketball Gold says no original 1983-86 Star card is known to have been reprinted from the original plates. Fakes sold as "reprints" are counterfeits. This is not a Type II set.

A white-bordered Gatorade set was also made in 1997 for the Shop at Home channel. starbasketballcards.com lists it among the unlicensed Shop at Home sets. Real cards have lime green borders.

What collectors should know

Design: lime green borders for the sponsor, with a short player biography on the back instead of stats.
The "teal" Jordan: a population-one "teal" Gatorade Jordan is a printing color difference from one grading submission. Basketball Gold says it is not a legitimate variation.
The umbrella mark: Basketball Gold notes some, but not all, #7 Jordans show what looks like an upside-down umbrella through the "A" in "Michael."
Sealed bags: An original sealed bag proves the cards are original, not that they are mint. Resealed bags exist, and GAI bag grades rate the plastic and seals, not the cards.
Grading: BGS has graded Star since December 2008. PSA added the set in March 2023, listed as "1985 Star Gatorade." CGC began grading 1980s Star in May 2025. We have not confirmed it takes this set.