In 2018 a true crime fan decided to look for evidence of all the expenses the brothers made in the time between their parents murder and their own arrest. Eventually that fan-turned-investigator, Stephen Zerance, uncovered something truly unexpected. You see, at some point during Lyle and Erik’s post-murder binge, they decided to check out a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. And since no expense needed spared, they likely sat courtside. Zerance ordered a bunch of bulk 1989 season basketball cards off of eBay, starting flipping through them, and made a startling discovery.
Zerance’s tweet would eventually go viral when it was posted to Reddit and boosted by ESPN reporter Darren Rovell. Here’s a clearer version of the card, Lyle and Erik are seated courtside to the left of Jackson.
And that is how evidence of two killers’ opulent post-murder spending spree forever came to be immortalized on New York Knick Mark Jackson’s basketball card. For what it’s worth, Jackson’s career wasn’t cursed by it as he went on to become an NBA coach and a live commentator of NBA games for ESPN.
For some time after the discovery of the Menendez brothers on Jackson’s card, eBay disallowed sales of the card due to its policy forbidding anything “affiliated with murders or serial killers.” Copies of the card can still be found over the internet for exorbitant price points, contingent on grading. As far as true crime memorabilia goes, a Mark Jackson basketball card is a relatively benign collectible. Still, there’s gotta be a better way to spend $4,000.
All nine episodes of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story are available to stream on Netflix now.
