Newly drafted Lakers guard, Bronny James, attended Fanatics Collectibles’ Topps Hobby Night event at Santa Monica. During his time at the event, he pulled one of the rarest cards. But Bronny showed allegiance to his father despite that.
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Bronny began to open some packs at the show, which resulted in him pulling a rookie Victor Wembanyama card.
Bronny James pulls a Wemby rookie card pic.twitter.com/uDVUQwuovP
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) September 14, 2024
As soon as the crowd realized which card it was, there was an uproar of excitement in the room. However, Bronny remained unfazed as he continued to sift through the rest of the cards.
His expression can be explained by a response he gave earlier in the event. The 6-foot-1 guard was asked about his card collection by one of the hosts of the show.
“The only thing I collect is my Dad, some older cards,” Bronny said.
Due to Bronny’s collection consisting of just cards of his dad, it was not surprising that he wasn’t that excited to pull Wembanyama’s card. Shortly after, he shared his favorite card from his collection with the audience.
“One of the old Cavs ones. Where they had the orange and blue jerseys,” Bronny said.
Although Bronny wasn’t excited about it, that doesn’t diminish the value of the rookie Wembanyama card. The Spurs star is among the most sought-after athletes in packs. After all, the Frenchman is widely touted as the most hyped NBA talent after Bronny’s father, LeBron James.
LeBron and Wembanyama’s impact on trading cards
The market for LeBron and Wembanyama trading cards is not comparable to any other NBA players. These two players had received immeasurable hype entering the league, which has led their cards to be a hot commodity in the market of trading cards.
In January of 2024, LeBron announced a new deal with Fanatics, which ended his 20-year-long partnership with rival Upper Deck. The details of the deal weren’t disclosed, but it is worth nearly $5 million each year, according to CNBC.
The Lakers superstar is capitalizing on the high value that his cards have on the market. In 2021, a signed rookie LeBron card sold for $5.2 million, making it the second most valuable sports card ever.
Topps revealed that the company also plans to release an exclusive 1-of-1 card featuring Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and LeBron from the Paris Olympics.
This will be the first card of its kind, which will have collectors doing what they can to acquire it. Clay Luraschi, Senior Vice President of Product at Topps, commented on the release of the card.
“There’s been many different autograph cards throughout basketball trading card history, but this is the first time these three players have signed the same card. So, it makes it very unique,” Luraschi said.
Wembanyama is already starting to experience the same sort of value within his trading cards. There are cards listed as high as $200,000. There was even a listing for a signed rookie Wembanyama card for $1.1 million.
