Top 10 LeBron James cards for collectors

When LeBron James jumped straight from high school to the pros, he was dubbed the next big thing in the NBA.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft gave the Cleveland Cavaliers’ franchise a pulse for the first time in years.

King James came onto the scene right when the NBA was ripe for a new superstar as Michael Jordan had just retired the season before.

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It wasn’t long before James captured the hearts of fans and became the face of the basketball world.

Now in his 21^st season in the NBA in 2023-24, James is the league’s all-time leading scorer. He eclipsed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s seemingly unbreakable mark during the 2022-23 campaign.

James is also on pace to break NBA records in minutes played, games played, field goals attempted, and field goals made in his illustrious career.

Since James came into the league at an optimal time in the sports card industry, there are a plethora of cards out there with significant importance and high financial gain.

According to Beckett, there are 62 James cards that have the rookie RC designation.

Let’s take a look at 10 of James’ most popular and valuable cards.

It’s a card that’s never seen the light of day — at least to the general public.

James’ 2003 Ultimate Collection Logoman autographed 1-of-1 is either still in a sealed pack or has been pulled and is stashed away by a collector.

“It’s the ultimate chase card for LeBron,” Jesse Craig, vice president of sales for PWCC Marketplace, told SCD in April 2023. “He didn’t have a 1-of-1 autograph Logoman in Exquisite, so this is the only vertical ’03 single Logoman signed by LeBron. It’s probably a $20 to $25 million card.”

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Collectors CEO Nat Turner, who is a big NBA card collector, has heard the James card was pulled in China. However, it’s unconfirmed.

Regardless if it’s been found or not, it’s James’ pinnacle card.

The fresh-faced 18-year-old exudes confidence in his photo alongside the Logoman patch. James’ autograph stretches across his chest with a matching blue 1/1 inked nearby.

The Exquisite James rookie cards are a thing of beauty. The jersey patch along with the on-card autograph really make the product pop.

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Numbered to 23 — which was James’ jersey number while with the Cavaliers — it’s an extremely hard card to track down. In fact, PSA has only graded six of the 23 cards.

In April 2021, card 07/23 — graded a mint 9 by Beckett Grading Service (BGS) — sold for a basketball record price of $5.2 million in a private sale brokered by PWCC.

A year early, card 14/23 in a BGS 9.5 and 10 autograph went for $1.8 million. It was purchased by Leore Avidar, who founded the alternative assets company Alt.

This card also comes in a version numbered to 99.

Upper Deck put out another great James card in this product.

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Ultimate Collection uses a pretty basic layout and took advantage of white space; the card shows James dribbling between his legs.

There are only 250 copies of this card, so it can be extremely hard to find.

In a PSA 10 or BGS 9.5, it can easily fetch in the six figures. PSA has graded 53 copies and 15 have garnered GEM MT 10 status.

When it was released, Ultimate Collection was a high-buck product and was one of the first in the industry to use the single-pack per box approach.

Another great looking card, this example appears as though James is going up for a dunk.

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SP put out good products and that’s reflective in this James card numbered to 500.

In December 2020, a BGS Pristine 10 and autograph 10 sold through Heritage Auctions for $204,000. Since this graded 10s on three of the four subgrades — the surface received a 9.5 — it certainly could be one of the best-shaped cards amongst all James rookies.

This is another LeBron SP version that makes collectors fall in love with these products.

With a print run of 750, the rarity is still there but there are enough examples where they aren’t too scarce to find on the open market.

James’ autograph is actually on the jersey, which makes it even cooler.

This set is pretty condition-sensitive with the borders being mostly dark and light gray. PSA has graded 46 examples GEM MT 10.

Skybox’s Limited Edition line has many variations of this die-cut card.

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There are the /99 and parallels that include gold proofs (/150), artist proofs (/50), photographer proofs (/25) and executive proof (1/1).

Unnumbered base versions of this James card — him flushing a two-handed slam dunk — are also available in the retail product.

Finally we come to a James base card, something that regular collectors might be able to afford.

And it comes from a popular product: Topps Chrome depicting “Draft Pick #1.”

With James taking a jump shot, it’s a basic but effective design. What makes it look cool is the chrome.

This card also comes in parallel versions, including base refractors, Black Refractors (numbered /500), X-Fractors (/220) and Gold Refractors (/50).

A Black Refractor in a PSA 10 sold at auction in February 2021 for $480,000.

With a cutting-edge look, the James card in the Finest product is extremely eye appealing.

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This rookie card is numbered to /999. It also comes in parallels, including Refractors (/250), Gold Refractors (/25) and X-Fractor (1/1).

A Gold Refractor version of this card in a BGS NM-MT+ 8.5 sold at auction in March 2021 for $295,200.

Another base card makes the list, this one James’ Bowman Chrome rookie.

This is another affordable option for collectors to get a James rookie and not have a bunch of zeros at the end of the price tag.

Just like Topps Chrome, there are variations of the Bowman Chrome product that demand high bucks. There are Refractors (/300), X-Fractors (/150) and Gold Refractors (/50).

Another low print makes the Upper Deck Finite cards rare and tough to track down. There are only 200 copies of James’ card No. 242.

There is another base variation in this set, No. 341. The First Class Finite has just 50 copies.

James rookie cards are never lacking in scarcity, hence commanding top dollar.

— Greg Bates is a freelance contributor for Sports Collectors Digest. He can be reached at gregabates@gmail.com.