Going to do my next player, Lebron James. I feel like I have a ton of worthy candidates, since I love most of the rookie cards I have of him, but I cut down to 5 honorable mentions and the top 10. First up Honorable Mentions in no particular order
2003-04 UD Top Prospects School Colors BGS 8.5
I'm not trying to pump this, but I really do think this is an underrated card from Lebron's rookie year. It's his first ever memorabilia card and it features a pretty nice sized swatch of a high school jersey worn by Lebron. There's other issued high school jerseys, but it's still a unique card compared to the millions of game used pro jersey cards out there
2013-14 Panini Prizm Blue PSA 9
I just think this card really pops. The Blues were Wal Mart exclusives.
2003-04 Upper Deck Future All Star Die Cut PSA 8
I really struggled with leaving this off. I LOVE this set and the original 1993-94 set which had Penny. I just happen to love 10 cards more than this
2021-22 Panini Immaculate Lebron James Patch Gold Parallel (#3/10)
I didn't want to dominate my Top 10 with Game Used Cards so this one barely misses the cut. It's my only Lakers game used card and it's a patch
2018-19 Panini Obsidian Vitreous
I think the original Vitreous insert from 2018-19 Obsidian are super underrated as well. Unlike the years after this, these are pretty tough to find and look just gorgeous. A very tough one to leave off the top 10
and now the Top 10
10-2022-23 Panini Donruss Optic Black Velocity Holo Prizm(#29/39)
As far as Optic Parallels go, Black Velocity are my absolute favorites so had to put the Lebron I have on this list
9- 2022-23 Panini Obsidian Blue Flood (#13/16)
To me ALL Flood parallels in Obsidian are gorgeous. This Blue one REALLY pops and is numbered to only 16 copies as well
8-2018-19 Panini Donruss Optic Purple Stars Holo Prizm (#5/13)
I pulled this myself out of a FOTL box (when those were AFFORDABLE), it's low numbered, and it's a Lakers color match. Great looking card
7-2016-17 Panini Donruss Optic Preview PSA 9
These are NOT easy cards to find as they were inserted in regular Donruss boxes
6-2007-08 UD Ultimate Collection Ultimate Quad Materials Patch with Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, and Brandon Roy PSA 7 (#1/5)
Just an amazing card from Lebron's first stint in Cleveland. It's the only game used Cavs card I have from his 1st go around, I love it's a patch from an older Cavs jersey. The other 3 players aren't too shabby, and people forget just how good Brandon Roy was before injuries derailed his career
5-2015-16 Panini Preferred Finals Booklet Game Worn FInals Jersey (#73/99)
Not only is it tied to a specific game, it's tied to a NBA FINALS game which makes it that much sweeter. This has a giant swatch of a jersey Lebron wore in Game 4 of the 2015 NBA Finals. Only a patch would be sweeter.
4-2003-04 Fleer Ultra Lucky 13 RC BGS 9 (#269/500)
Another rookie card I feel is underrated. Numbered to only 500 copies, you see the unnumbered Hummer and even the Gold Medallion parallel all the time. This one is a little tougher to come by
3-2015-16 Panini Immaculate Jersey Numbers Patch #8/24
First of all, the numbering is ironic..it's both of Kobe's jersey numbers. But this is a HUGE jersey patch and hands down my best Lebron Game Used card in my collection
2-2003-04 Topps Chrome RC
There's no way this can't be on the list. It's not a difficult card to obtain at all, but it's THE Lebron base rookie to own. I've had it in my collection pre pandemic so I never paid the crazy prices they got to thankfully. A must have in a Lebron Collection
1-2003-04 Topps Finest Refractor RC BGS 8 (#65/250)
Hands down the #1 Lebron in my collection and it's not even close. A beautiful, popular rookie parallel. One of my favorite cards in my entire collection, period
