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Trading card company Topps broke news of LeBron James’ free agency decision

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Topps, the Fanatics-owned trading card company, hopped into the NBA newsbreaking business Friday morning. It announced that LeBron James would be signing with the Philadelphia 76ers via a social media post displaying James’ first autographed trading card in a 76ers uniform.

Timestamps on the posts from James, Topps’ X account post and ESPN’s Shams Charania all popped at 11:30 a.m. ET. But users received Topps’ post notification first, indicating Topps sent its post seconds before the others. It’s particularly of note because parts of the Sixers organization were apparently surprised by James’ decision, with a team source close to the process telling The Athletic that they did not learn of his choice to accept their offer until minutes before the social media alerts.

According to the company, this marks the first time a player move has ever been announced via trading card.

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The Topps Now card was available for purchase 90 minutes before James’ No. 23 jerseys became available through the Fanatics website and the team’s official online shop (which is operated by Fanatics). Topps Now cards are sold individually and only available for purchase from the company’s website for three days before they are distributed. One randomly selected customer who purchases the base card will get a one-of-one version of the card autographed by James instead.

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The topic of James’ decision came up multiple times during his panel discussions at Fanatics Fest in New York last week — once on July 16 in a podcast with Tyrese Haliburton and on July 17 during James’ live episode of “The Shop.” In the latter, James used the phrase “trust the process” multiple times, a reference to a slogan tied to the 76ers’ rebuild around Joel Embiid.

Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin was previously a minority owner of the 76ers but sold his stake in 2022. In a comment on James’ Instagram post about the news, Rubin said, “You should have told me before I sold my ownership!!!! But seriously LFG let’s go get the chip.”

Why LeBron James chose the Philadelphia 76ers
Joe Vardon and Jeshua Kidd
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Last year, Kevin Durant happened to be on a panel during the final day of Fanatics Fest when news broke that he had been traded to the Houston Rockets. Interviewer Taylor Rooks announced the deal in real time, bringing a wry smile to Durant’s face.

James signed an exclusive trading card and autograph rights deal with Topps (owned by Fanatics) in January 2024 that came into action once the company regained the exclusive license to produce NBA trading cards in late 2025. Since then he’s worn a number of custom patches for the brand (including one to commemorate his historic 23rd season in the NBA), that will be included in future Topps cards. He also added a crown to his signature on some Topps cards.

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— Tony Jones contributed reporting from Philadelphia.

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