This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A rookie trading card for New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin sold on EBay Inc. for $21,580 two weeks after changing hands for $1,000.
Yair Rozmaryn, a Knicks' season-ticket holder from New York, had purchased the card on Feb. 8 two days after the 23- year-old Lin's first NBA start.
A Harvard University economics graduate, Lin has risen from an undrafted player cut by two other teams to the most sought-after corporate player at the NBA's All-Star Weekend in Orlando, after leading the Knicks to an 8-3 record as a starter.
Rozmaryn said he was impressed by Lin's play and appeal to a large audience. He cited Lin's style of play, his Asian ancestry and the size of the New York market, the biggest in the U.S.
"I figured this could really blow up, so I took a calculated risk," said Rozmaryn, a 29-year-old client delivery manager at information technology company Mitchell Martin Inc.
The card, which contains a Lin autograph and a piece of the guard's jersey, had 36 bids during the seven-day online auction, which ended Thursday at 1:40 p.m. MT. The buyer, a San Francisco man who Rozmaryn declined to identify, placed the winning bid in the last 10 seconds of the auction and hasn't made further contact, according to the seller.
Another New Yorker, identified by the New York Post as Pamela Schecter, paid $42,388 in a charity auction this week for a package that included a game-worn Lin jersey, Knicks tickets and a chance to meet the player.