On June 26, 2003, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Cleveland Cavaliers took LeBron James first overall, out of St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in Akron. He was the second high school player ever chosen first.
Topps put that night on his rookie card. The photograph shows him smiling in a white suit, holding up a red Cavaliers jersey with the number 23 and wearing a matching red cap, against a plain backdrop, inside a white border with silver foil.
A teenager in a white suit, holding up a jersey he had not yet worn in a game.
Across the bottom, beneath the photograph, the card says it plainly: DRAFT PICK #1.
The 2003-04 Topps set has 249 cards, and the Draft Picks run from #221 to the end; LeBron is the first of them. The base card is not numbered. A Gold parallel is numbered to 99, a 1st Edition version was sold only through hobby shops, and a factory-set Topps Collection version uses a different photograph, from a game.
The Topps Chrome #111 is the better-known card. This is its paper relation from the same season, with a different number and the draft-night picture: the card of the season he became Rookie of the Year, averaging 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 79 games.
