Collectibles On SI

Bronny James Says He Only Collects One Players Sports Cards, And Its His Dad!

Bronny James reveals he only collects his father LeBron's sports cards, as LeBron’s Exquisite Rookie sells for $432K in a Sotheby’s auction.
Adam Palmer|
Jul 10, 2024; San Francisco, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James Jr. (9) smiles during warm ups before a game against the Miami Heat at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
Jul 10, 2024; San Francisco, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James Jr. (9) smiles during warm ups before a game against the Miami Heat at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Players in this day and age are growing up with social media, so it's inevitable that some of them will come across posts online about their own sports cards. If you could only choose one player to collect for the rest of your life, many might say LeBron.

That includes his son.

At an appearance during one of the Hobby Rip Nights, Bronny was asked which players he collects. He said the only player he collects is his dad, LeBron. Then, when asked about the cards he collects, Bronny didn’t seem to know the name, but based on his description, it sounds like he was referring to his dad's Upper Deck Exquisite Rookie card.

During this past week’s “Holy Grails” auction, organized by Sotheby’s in partnership with Fanatics, one of these cards sold for $432,000.

LeBron had four cards, including his Exquisite Rookie, sell during this auction, and his total sales amounted to just under $1.1 million. That included another card, not from his rookie year, but an on-card patch autograph that sold for $567,000. A significant portion of that $1.1 million came from these two sales, making that total even more impressive.

Players getting into sports cards is not a new phenomenon. We even have players like potential AL MVP Bobby Witt Jr., who is a sponsored athlete by PSA and has done multiple videos with them.

Signing Bronny to an exclusive deal a few years ago was the first step in the pursuit to sign LeBron as a Topps athlete. Then, Fanatics signed Omar Wilkes to be the Head of Athlete Relations. Wilkes was “one of the NBA’s most prominent agents” and worked for Klutch Sports Group, which is Rich Paul’s agency and essentially LeBron’s agency.

All of these moves worked, and recently Topps announced that there would be a 1/1 LeBron and Bronny dual autograph card back in January.

LeBron’s autographs have been almost nonexistent over the past few years, appearing in very few Upper Deck sets. Topps has acquired the NBA rights, which will begin in a few years, but for now, it looks like we are going to get LeBron autographs in some basketball sets, even if they aren’t fully licensed.

Published | Modified
Adam Palmer
ADAM PALMER

Adam has been a sports content creator since 2016, initially focusing on creating sports-related graphics for his Instagram page. In 2018, he transitioned to writing and podcasting about sports cards. Since then, he has worked both independently and with companies within the industry, producing podcasts, videos, and written content on sports cards.

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