LeBron James and Topps Race Against Time with Year 24 Patch

Prior to the start of the NBA season, Topps and LeBron James announced that he would be wearing a special Year 24 jersey patch that features him in his iconic chalk toss pose with the number 24. The patches will be removed from his Philadelphia 76ers kits and an undetermined number will be inserted into Topps trading card products.

The response from the public has been mostly positive as it will be another way for collectors to own a piece of history as James becomes the first player to reach 24 seasons, breaking the previous record of 23 seasons by… LeBron James. But there is also criticism as James signed a two-year with the Sixers and will more than likely also wear a Year 25 patch, breaking the record of 24 seasons that is now held by… LeBron James. Will the Year 25 patches render the Year 24 patches less special?

Between the announcement of the Year 24 patch and Topps starting hot out of the gate by including a piece of LeBron’s Nike shooting sleeve on a one-of-one Topps Now signed card commemorating his first game as a Sixer, there appears to be a sense of urgency from all parties to create as many “LeBron moments” as possible while he is still an active NBA player. What that means to the value of all of these cards now and into the future remains up in the air, much like the chalk he throws up before every game.

When Did LeBron James start Signing Topps Cards?

When LeBron James signed with Fanatics in 2023, ending a 20-year partnership with Upper Deck, the wheels of longtime collectors started spinning. Two years prior, Fanatics announced that they had entered into an agreement with the NBA and NBA Players Associations that made them their exclusive trading card licensee starting in the 2025-26 season. A year later, Fanatics acquired Topps for $500 million, answering the question of who exactly would be making these cards after Panini.

With Topps and LeBron on the roster, Fanatics had plenty of momentum but also time to burn. So for two whole seasons, as they waited for Panini’s deal with the NBA to expire, Topps made unlicensed basketball cards with autographs of not only LeBron James, but rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama. While the cards made headlines for the exorbitant prices people were paying in the secondary market, the lack of official NBA uniforms put a damper on people’s excitement for their designs, no matter how creative they got with covering up logos. People were going to pay good money for LeBron autos no matter what he wore, as evidenced by the prices of his Upper Deck autos in his high school uniforms or in his Nike gear, but there was going to be a cap on non-licensed pieces. Topps could only make so many cards of LeBron with zoomed in profile pictures or action shots with his back facing the camera. Sometimes it was both poses at the same time as Bronny helped out with the signing duties.

When Did the First Topps NBA Licensed LeBron James Autos Arrive?

The first official NBA autograph cards of LeBron James since 2009-10 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection were found in 2025-26 Topps NBA Basketball. To say that there was pent up excitement would be an understatement as James, Wembanyama, and Cooper Flagg autos were selling for thousands upon release. The prices were unheard of for what is considered a paper product, as the card stock is relatively thin. The return of Topps to the NBA mixed with the trading card boom led to prices that seemed unimaginable 15 years ago when Upper Deck made the last LeBron NBA autos. Take it from someone who owned a LeBron James and Michael Jordan 2004-05 Upper Deck Trilogy Dual Jersey Autograph and sold it 18 years too soon for a price that’s a fraction of what a regular LeBron Topps auto goes for today, it is unreal.

Are There LeBron James Panini Cards that Include Game-Worn Memorabilia?

Yes, because while Painini could not get James to sign cards because of his exclusive Upper Deck deal, cards with pieces of his jersey were not part of the agreement. There is no shortage of LeBron James jersey patch cards from Panini as they frequently appeared in both basic and premium products. And they are all priced outside of the realm of trying to create a fun LeBron James trading card collection on a budget. Thankfully, it appears that Panini was very careful when it came to the handling of LeBron cards with game-worn pieces as nearly every card that we have seen includes wording in the back that guarantees their authenticity. Panini has received fair criticism at times for not even guaranteeing that the athlete featured on the card ever came into contact with the piece of cloth included, but they try to erase all doubt in LeBron’s case.

Regardless of whether or not Topps was able to sign James to an exclusive deal, there would have been Topps trading cards of LeBron James with pieces of game-worn jersey. James’ exclusive contract elevates the partnership as now special patches, shooting sleeves, sneakers, and more could be in play. It can’t possibly be sillier than a ultra thick “card” with a chunk of a baseball cleat, can it?

What Cards Will Contain the Year 24 patches?

There are a lot of possibilities for the placement of the Year 24 patches. If James never wears the same jersey twice, there could be as many as 82 different Year 24 patches (not counting for swaps mid-game to replace damaged kits or trades with opponents post-game) and that number increases depending on how deep of a run Philadelphia makes in the playoffs. Topps has said that not all of the patches will be placed on cards, which is a smart move as releasing too many cards - even if they are signed and accurately dated - will dilute the market and bring the value down. Call it the “Jordan Brand 2027 retro strategy.”

There are a lot of possibilities for where the Year 24 patches will go, including Topps Now for games where James breaks an NBA record or stat milestone. Topps Chrome is the home of the million-dollar Rookie Debut Patch Autograph so it would be unusual for LeBron to break continuity there. Higher-end Topps sets like the recently announced Five-Star (which is still a 2025-26 product so 2026-27 is in play next year) fit the patch’s high-end stature, as does the $25,000 Topps Transcendent box that has proven to be a seller in baseball.

What LeBron James Topps Cards Can We Expect in the Future?

As the famous Tweet goes, when LeBron was 30 years old in 2015, it can’t go on much longer. Topps and James are maximizing their partnership by making up for lost time. The lack of autographed memorabilia cards will likely ramp up between the Topps Now program and the arrival of more high-end products. There are untapped eras that Topps has to undoubtedly be trying to make happen at this moment. For example, there are no LeBron James autograph cards from his time in Miami or his second stint in Cleveland. Here is just a shortlist of autograph cards Topps could put together that could make LeBron collectors “whole.”

• Triple Autograph with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh
• Triple Autograph with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love
• Dual Autograph with Anthony Davis
• Triple Autograph with Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves
• Dual Autograph with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Stadium Club Dual Autograph of LeBron and Wade using the legendary alley-oop photo
• Dual Autograph with Pat Riley
• Autographs celebrating his four championships, which all happened in the Panini era
• Autograph card of the chasedown block of Andre Iguodala in the NBA Finals
• Dual Autograph with Steph Curry (NBA version)

It’s not impossible for LeBron to check all of these dream cards off the list over the next two years and especially post-retirement. But Fanatics will want to see these cards happen now because the demand of the fans and the big-money collectors and investors are never going to be bigger than when he is still on the court and playing productive minutes. His name and signature will still command big numbers after his retirement in a way that’s only reserved for the Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and Tiger Woods class, but it will not capture the zeitgeist in the same way. LeBron is already an “unc” to a lot of fans and collectors, but it will be further crystallized when he steps off the court for the last time.

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. His current hot take is that people are really underrating the Psyduck trading card market. Email: juan@soleretriever.com Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky | Threads : @ezyville