LeBron James Card Sells for $793K, Setting Record
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Basketball card sales continued their hot steak this weekend when a 2012-13 Panini Prizm GOLD Lebron James card serial numbered to 10 (7/10) with a BGS 9.5 grade sold on Saturday, September 13th for $793K. It took 39 bids at a Goldin auction, but now the new owner can proudly say they have the highest-selling Gold Prizm in their personal collection.
For a little over four and a half years a 2018 Panini Prizm Gold Luka Doncic rookie card (3/10) held the top spot for highest selling gold Prizm, when it sold for $780,000 back in February, 2021. The first year or so of the COVID pandemic was a particularly wild time for sports card sales with records being shattered on a regular basis.
Why This Card Is Special
The 2012-13 season marked the debut of Panini Prizm basketball cards. As a result, these Prizm cards have become iconic and popular among collectors, especially the rarest parallel Prizms in silver and gold.
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The 2012-13 season was also a banner year for Lebron, winning back-to-back NBA championships and NBA Finals MVPs as a member of the Miami Heat. And who can forget the 2013 NBA Finals seven game slugfest between the Heat and the Spurs, featuring an epic performance by Lebron and Ray Allen’s unbelievably clutch 3-pointer in game six? An NBA Finals for the ages.
Basketball Cards - So Hot Right Now
Basketball card sales this summer have been on an absolute tear with no signs of cooling off. August notched not one but two record setting basketball card sales, including the record setting Logoman Autograph of Kobe Bryant (1/1), which sold $2.3M, and a few weeks later we witnessed the highest selling sports card of all time, an Upper Deck Exquisite Dual Autograph Logoman featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant (1/1).
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Record Breaking Recipe
When you put it all together, a legendary player, a championship season, a first-of-its-kind Gold Prizm, and a piping hot card market, you have the makings for another record setting sale.
With Lebron entering a record setting 23rd season this year, and with the basketball card market continuing to reach new heights, all eyes will be on the hobby to see which grail card touches new heights. Chances are, we won’t have to wait long.
Conor is a life long sports card enthusiast who started collecting in the early ’90s, inspired by hometown heroes like Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, Tom Brady, and David Ortiz. Like many ’90s hoops fans, he also started building (and continues to build) a modest Michael Jordan collection.