2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch Auto #78 LeBron James 69/99 - BGS 8/Autograph 10 | On-Card Autograph | Rookie Card

One of the most important modern rookie cards ever made, LeBron’s 2003-04 Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch Autograph (RPA) represents the founding inspiration for one of the most important trading card sets of all time.

On June 4, 2004, Upper Deck released the first ever edition of Upper Deck Exquisite Collection. The creator of Exquisite Collection, Karvin Cheung, had been looking for the right player to serve as the centerpiece for a new high-end set that would feature highly-limited rookie patch autographs. Cheung has cited the moment he saw LeBron James on the cover of Sports Illustrated in February 2002 under the headline “Chosen One” as the single moment that he knew he had his player. 

Exquisite Collection, in many ways, was created because of LeBron James.  The initial issue featured many of his most valuable cards and revolutionized what collectors expected from a high-end product. After establishing itself with basketball, Exquisite Collection spread to other sports, including baseball and football, and boasts a number of the most highly sought after cards in sports from the mid-aughts. Cheung joined Panini in 2011, where he created a product that, like Exquisite, features highly sought after RPAs, Immaculate Collection. Since, Immaculate has featured some of the most highly sought after cards for rookies across a multitude of sports, especially its RPAs. Nat Turner, CEO of Collectors Universe, the parent company of PSA, credits the influence of Exquisite with the founding of National Treasures and Flawless, some of the most marquee products on the market today. Without LeBron James and the drive and creative vision of Cheung, the trading card landscape would look very different today.

LeBron’s Exquisite RPAs aren’t only valuable because they date back to the nascent moments of one of the greatest sporting careers in history, though that doesn’t hurt, but because of the rarity of LeBron’s NBA licensed autographed cards. James was, until recently, an Upper Deck exclusive athlete for signed trading cards, and as a result autographed trading cards of LeBron in his iconic Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, or Los Angeles Lakers gear have not been released in packs since Upper Deck’s license with the NBA expired following the 2009-10 product year. As such, any patch autograph featuring LeBron in an NBA jersey is highly coveted but those coming from the Exquisite Collection, especially his rookie year, exist at the very top of the line.

The featured card, sporting James’ authentic signature under a stunning player-worn three-color jersey patch, commemorates LeBron’s first season, in which he took home NBA Rookie of the Year honors. LeBron averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game in 2003-04 while immediately living up to the billing that Sports Illustrated bestowed upon him as “The Chosen One.”

Limited in print to just 99, the serial number “69/99” is stamped on the front of the card to denote its place in the print run.

This card has been authenticated and deemed to be in Near Mint-Mint condition, receiving a grade of 8 from Beckett Grading Services (BGS). The autograph was graded and received a 10 from BGS.

The BGS certificate number for this card is: 0016369347.

Going Deeper - LeBron James

The King

LeBron’s legacy began in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. As a high school phenom at St. Vincent-St. Mary, LeBron, and his teammates, dubbed the 'Fab Five', led the school to three state championships in four years. During his high school career, LeBron garnered national attention, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school junior in 2002 with the headline 'The Chosen One,' and achieving honors such as the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2002, and the McDonald’s All-American MVP in 2003.  

At 18 years old, LeBron James was selected first overall in the 2003 NBA draft, directly from high school, by his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Immediately making an impact upon entering the league, LeBron became the first player in franchise history and the youngest player in NBA history to win the Rookie of the Year award, doing so at 19. In his first seven seasons in the NBA, James led the Cavaliers to 50 or more wins on four separate occasions, including a franchise record 66-win season in 2008-09. He was twice named NBA MVP and led the Cavaliers to their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2007. Though LeBron and the Cavaliers would fail to bring a championship to Cleveland that year, this would not be his last attempt to bring his hometown team an NBA championship.

After a four-year stint in Miami, dramatically launched by “The Decision” and culminating in two titles and four straight runs to the Finals, LeBron returned to Northeast Ohio in 2014 and made a bold promise: he would make the Cavaliers a champion. This mission set up the NBA’s next great cross-conference rivalry between Lebron’s Cavs and Steph Curry’s “Splash Brothers” Golden State Warriors. In 2015, Cleveland and Golden State met for the first of what would be four straight NBA Finals matchups, a remarkable feat that even the famed Lakers-Celtics rivalry has never matched. It was a tightly contested series, however the Cavaliers would fall in six games to the ascendant Warriors. 

The following season, the Warriors looked downright unstoppable as they set the mark for the NBA’s best regular season record at 73 wins to just 9 losses and returned to the NBA Finals for a rematch with the Cavaliers. After four games, the series stood at 3-1 Warriors, a deficit that had so far proven insurmountable in NBA Finals history. What followed was the greatest comeback ever achieved in the NBA’s championship round. LeBron led an unprecedented comeback, and set up the game winning shot in Game 7 with likely his most lasting and poetic career highlight, a thunderous block against the backboard of the previous season’s Finals MVP Andre Iguodala. Fighting tears as he donned his NBA champions gear, LeBron exclaimed to the largest TV audience for an NBA game this century: “Cleveland, this is for you!”

After completing his 21st NBA season and helping to lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, LeBron James continues to further cement his legacy of excellence as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.