{"id":252378,"date":"2026-07-26T13:35:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T13:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/252378\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T13:35:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T13:35:30","slug":"the-hobby-impact-of-lebron-james-move-to-the-philadelphia-76ers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/252378\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hobby Impact of LeBron James&#8217; Move to the Philadelphia 76ers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"69\">The most anticipated move of the 2026 NBA offseason is complete: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/collectibles\/lebron-james-begins-final-nba-chapter-76ers-topps-now-chase\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">LeBron James will be a member of the Philadelphia 76ers come tip-off in October<\/a>. While the team was already on his radar, multiple teams were still in the mix right until the day of the announcement, which came as a surprise to the basketball community.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6c\">It was the biggest story you could find anywhere for the 24 hours following Shams Charania&#8217;s post, and the same is true within the sports card community. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/collectibles\/top-4-cards-lebron-james-from-his-lakers-era\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">LeBron&#8217;s cards are obviously liquid in this day and age<\/a>, but his official move to the 76ers caused an instant surge in demand and price for tons of the King&#8217;s collectibles.<\/p>\n<p>LeBron Joins A Championship-Contending Team<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01kyenkn5yck74fjmj0e.jpg\" alt=\"LeBron James and Joel Embii\" title=\"LeBron James and Joel Embii\" width=\"0\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6p\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Feb 10, 2019; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) embrace | USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6t\">The Philadelphia 76ers have arguably the most stacked roster in the entire basketball world, that is, on paper. They recently acquired 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, which was already a massive deal on its own, but it turned out to be one of the turning points for LeBron&#8217;s league-defining decision.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6w\">The addition of Brown made Philly a serious contender for LeBron&#8217;s services. Not only do they now have two championship-winning players on their team, but they also have a world-class starting rotation to go with the pair.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6z\">VJ Edgecombe, Tyrese Maxey, and Joel Embiid (when healthy) is an incredible three-man core that would do wonders with the talent both Brown and James bring to the table. But wait, while that&#8217;s all good and exciting to see, what does that have to do with any kind of Hobby impact?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"72\">Enter point #2.<\/p>\n<p>76ers Stars&#8217; Card Markets Are Up Since The Move<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01kyenzvzm3yxphds258.jpg\" alt=\"Tyrese Maxe\" title=\"Tyrese Maxe\" width=\"0\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7f\"\/><\/p>\n<p>May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) celebrates during the final moments of their win over the Boston Celtics in game seven  | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7j\">Yes, the hype was mostly centered around LeBron James, and the attention Philadelphia received is a byproduct of his choice, but you cannot deny that the Sixers have been talked about more in the past 48 hours than they did over the previous 23 days of July combined.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7m\">This has led to a sharp increase in demand and value for cards of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/collectibles\/tyrese-maxey-cards-are-surging-up-over-150-in-a-year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the 76ers&#8217; main guys such as Maxey<\/a>, who&#8217;s long been seen as the player of the future by Philadelphia basketball fans.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01kyep9sh6spk7gqye8t.jpg\" alt=\"2020 Panini Prizm Tyrese Maxey Silver Prizm RC PSA 10\" title=\"2020 Panini Prizm Tyrese Maxey Silver Prizm RC PSA 10\" width=\"0\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7w\"\/><\/p>\n<p>2020 Panini Prizm Tyrese Maxey Silver Prizm RC PSA 10 | CardLadder<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"80\">Before the LeBron announcement, this Silver Prizm RC of Tyrese Maxey&#8217;s in a PSA 10 was averaging sales in the mid-$400 range. The last three publicly known sales of this card have all been at $600 \u2014 a 50% increase simply because one of the greatest athletes in history joined his team.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"83\">Joel Embiid&#8217;s market is also slightly up since the move, and while individual card sales won&#8217;t show it directly, CardLadder shows his Index Data growth from 4,505 on July 23 to 4,689 on July 24th. $2,770 worth of Embiid&#8217;s cards were also sold on the day of the LeBron announcement, an amount that totals more than the entire previous week combined.<\/p>\n<p>LeBron&#8217;s Card Market Responds To The Hype<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01kyeq2mcbkwfhecnkgh.jpg\" alt=\"LeBron James' Card Market Last Two Weeks Daily Sales Volume\" title=\"LeBron James' Card Market Last Two Weeks Daily Sales Volume\" width=\"0\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"8g\"\/><\/p>\n<p>LeBron James&#8217; Card Market Last Two Weeks Daily Sales Volume | CardLadder<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8k\">Of course, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/collectibles\/new-record-for-public-sale-lebron-james-card\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the main star of the entire situation is LeBron James&#8217; card market<\/a>. Almost everything is on the rise, even by marginal amounts, and the July 24 data really speaks for itself.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-18\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8n\">$695,000 worth of LeBron&#8217;s sports cards were dealt on the very day his signing with Philadelphia was announced, which is more than twice the combined value from any other day over the past two weeks.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01kyeq6v8yjy515wxdwr.jpg\" alt=\"2007 Topps Chrome LeBron James PSA 9\" title=\"2007 Topps Chrome LeBron James PSA 9\" width=\"0\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"8x\"\/><\/p>\n<p>2007 Topps Chrome LeBron James PSA 9 | CardLadder<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-20\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"91\">This piece from 2007 Topps Chrome is just one of many examples of a LeBron James card that shot up in price thanks to all the hype surrounding the announcement. From averaging around $160\u2013170 to selling for $274 the day after the news broke, a literal $100 jump, the card is a testament to just how much influence LeBron still has in the Hobby.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The most anticipated move of the 2026 NBA offseason is complete: LeBron James will be a member of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":["post-252378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}