2003 Exquisite Collection LeBron James ROOKIE PATCH AUTO /99 #78 SGC 9.5 MINT+

While some foresaw LeBron James’ impact on the NBA, it’s difficult to imagine many knowing just how much Upper Deck’s Exquisite Collection era would transform the sports card landscape. The impact of the product remains strong more than two decades later, with high-end hoops collecting a pillar of today’s sports collectibles industry. Perhaps no card is more emblematic of Exquisite than LeBron James’ #78 RPA from the debut ‘03 set. And this Pop. 1 SGC 9.5 with none graded higher represents one of the finest known examples of this landmark printing. For context, there are no BGS 10 examples of this card, and only one PSA example has earned a PSA 10 Gem Mint condition grade. As such, this spectacular specimen stands as an offering of the King truly fit for a king. In 2001, Upper Deck introduced the industry’s first Rookie Patch Autographs on the SP Authentic football checklist. The cards experienced so much success that pressure mounted from company executives to immediately bring the RPA to basketball. But set designer Karvin Cheung had reason to hold off on making them. When he saw high school junior LeBron James on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the tagline “The Chosen One,” Cheung knew he wanted to wait to build the first basketball RPAs around the Ohio phenom. “I said, ‘That’s the year we’re going to hit hard with a product that is high-end with RPAs,’” Cheung said. And—thankfully for collectors—the company trusted his instinct. LeBron’s arrival coincided with the inaugural high-end Exquisite Collection release, giving the star-studded 2003 draft class the NBA’s first true base RPAs and other autographed patch cards. At $500 per five-card box, the barrier-breaking premium product featured troves of hard-signed autographs and intricate patches—making it an instant classic that helped usher in a new era of trading cards. And while there are 2003 Exquisite LeBron printings that feature smaller print runs, none remain as iconic as his #78 RPA. This example, stamped 35/99, presents wonderfully, its now-famous design providing the perfect stage on which a three-color Cavaliers patch and James’ bold blue on-card signature can shine. The seismic impact of the ‘03 Exquisite Collection set on card collecting cannot be overstated, nor can LeBron’s influence on the NBA. This card is a beautiful encapsulation of two of the most important eras in sports collecting history, one that unveiled both Exquisite and LeBron as monumentally important entities that remain just as significant now as they were more than 20 years ago. The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 04/07/2025.