#LeBron James could be biggest winner after card sells for $1.8 million

LeBron James has set numerous records on the court throughout his career. Now, his image is setting records off the court.

A 2003-04 LeBron James rookie card sold for $1.8 million at Goldin Auctions on Sunday, setting the modern-day record price for a card. There were only 23 of the cards produced. It appears some belong to the man himself.

“Guess who else has a couple of those exact ones too,” James commented on Instagram.

If they match the auctioned card’s valuation, James could be holding on to a few extra millions with his own cards. The auctioned card scored a 9.5 mint gem rating by Beckett grading service, one of only two of the 23 cards graded that highly.

“If we were talking about a T206 [Honus] Wagner, or a 1952 [Mickey] Mantle, it probably wouldn’t be that much news,” Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, told ESPN. “But when you’re talking about a card that was literally produced 17 years ago and is for a guy still playing in the NBA, it’s just shocking news to a lot of people. It’s really where my particular industry has been going for several years.”

Goldin Auctions has set three modern-day card records in 2020. Along with the James rookie card, the auction helped sell a Mike Trout signed rookie card for $922,500 and a card featuring both James and Michael Jordan for $900,000.