In February 2002, still in high school, LeBron James was on the cover of Sports Illustrated under the line “The Chosen One.” Sixteen months later he was the first pick in the NBA draft, and Upper Deck, which had signed him that May, issued a card of the player before the league.
UD Top Prospects was licensed by the NCAA rather than the NBA, so it could show players in college, high school and European uniforms. Upper Deck announced it for release on July 29, 2003, about a month after the draft, as his first appearance in its products, along with Victory.
He is in St. Vincent–St. Mary's gold-and-green uniform with a green headband, gathering the ball on his way to the basket, and UD TOP PROSPECTS runs up the left side in green.
The set has 60 cards, and LeBron is on three of them, #3, #55 and #60, all in St. Vincent–St. Mary colors. Number 3 is the first and the one usually meant. Michael Jordan (#1) and Kobe Bryant (#2) are in the same set.
A card from before the league, in a high school jersey.
It predates his NBA cards and shows him in no NBA uniform, and that is its point: a card of the young man from Akron, still in his high school jersey.
