NBA players making their debut this season will wear a special patch on their shirts as part of a programme by trading card brand Topps, made by sports company Fanatics.

Any player making their debut will wear the patch on their shirt for their first game, before the patch is removed and placed onto a unique one-of-a-kind trading card.

That trading card will not only consist of the debut patch, but will also have the player's autograph on it.

A similar programme of using debut patches on trading cards has been used by Topps trading cards in Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball previously.

"Imagine having LeBron [James]'s, [Michael] Jordan's, [Steph] Curry's debut patch and what that would mean?" Fanatics Collectibles CEO Michael Mahan told ESPN.

"Well, the next generational superstar will have a debut patch – the ultimate rookie card."

Fanatics have also announced plans to make special patch cards for the Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

For those players, they will wear a gold NBA Logoman Patch which will then be used on rare trading cards.

"Trading cards haven't been associated with achievements, success and accolades: we're going to bring that into trading cards," added Mahan.

The NBA season starts on Tuesday, 21 October. Among those who will make their debuts this year are Amari Williams, a British centre who was picked up in the NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics earlier this year.

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