For nearly a month, the NBA waited for LeBron James to pick his next team.
When the answer finally arrived, it wasn’t ESPN, The Athletic or one of the NBA’s army of insiders that broke the news.
It was a trading card company.
As relayed by the New York Post, Topps revealed James’ decision to sign with the 76ers at 11:30 a.m. ET Friday, posting an image of a James Sixers card in collaboration with the NBA legend on Instagram.
ESPN insider Shams Charania followed with the news roughly a minute later.
Yes, really. Topps got the LeBron scoop.
The Post reported that multiple league sources said the NBA was blindsided by the unusual rollout. The card shown in the announcement appeared to be an autographed one-of-one, although a source told the newspaper that the actual card hasn’t been signed yet.
The image was digitally altered to show what James’ eventual autograph will look like.
There was another interesting connection. Fanatics purchased Topps in 2022, and James had just appeared at Fanatics Fest in New York the previous weekend.
During a live edition of his “Mind The Game” podcast there, James even used the phrase “trust the process” while describing what he wanted from his next organization.
That phrase certainly looks a little more interesting now.
James also has an exclusive trading-card partnership with Fanatics, making Topps a natural partner for a carefully planned announcement.
Still, after weeks of reporters chasing every LeBron rumor imaginable, there’s something pretty funny about the ending.
The biggest NBA scoop of the summer belonged to Topps.
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