I rarely talk about basketball on this site, so when I do, it needs to be something significant or I wont have the interest in posting. Now that the NBA season is wrapping up, and LeBron James has another opportunity to get to the NBA finals, its only fitting that his place in the hobby gets some play. Basically, for the last 8 years, Basketball cards have been about 2 people, with 2 others sprinkled in. The first is Michael Jordan, who will most likely remain the best ever for decades to come. The second is LeBron James, who has maintained a die hard following of collectors everywhere, even despite his public disregard for the team that drafted him. Of course, Durant and Griffin have recently come on as highly collectable players, but their marketability pales in comparison to the first two.

Although LeBron has won multiple league MVPs, he has one gaping hole on his resume – a ring. San Antonio may have the best team in the league this year, but as long as LBJ has a shot at a title, his cards will go nuts. They have definitely been doing that so far this month:

03-04 Exquisite LeBron James Rookie Patch Auto /99 BGS 9

03-04 Exquisite LeBron James Emblems Patch Auto /15

Exquisite LeBron James Michael Jordan Dual Patch Auto /23

James’ 03-04 Exquisite Rookie Patch Auto has long been a coveted card that many high end basketball card collectors have chased. For a long time, it was one of the only modern cards that broke the 10K ceiling that I have referred to in many of my discussions. Without a ring, the card can only be so valuable, but if James is able to squeak one out, the possibilities are even more likely that the cards could end up breaking 15K. Bosh might be back in time to play in the finals, and that will put more pressure on the Thunder or Spurs if Boston caves in the rest of the games the way they did last night.

During the regular season and for most of the post season, LeBron has played at the potential that people have assigned to him since he was drafted. Even with his accomplishments, the elusive championship has brought an onslaught of criticism with it. I almost think of what Peyton Manning went through prior to 2006, only on a worldwide scale. Everyone has something to say about James and his clutch performances or lack thereof, but his cards continue to be valuable regardless.

As an exclusive of Upper Deck, James has yet to have an NBA licensed auto card of him in his heat uniform. Because I hate player exclusives as much as I do, regardless of sport or player, I wish this weren’t the case. As a result, players like Durant and Griffin have REAPED the benefits, as their top tier performance and regular auto insertions in Panini product have made them that much more popular among a hobby almost 100% focused on the chase of high end cards.

Here is what I mean – check out these Jordan-esque prices:

National Treasures Blake Griffin Rookie Patch Auto /99

Panini Preferred Kevin Durant Silhouettes Patch Auto 1/1 – NOT EVEN A ROOKIE!

Even the old UD cards are going nuts, despite the Sonics Uniform:

Exquisite Kevin Durant Rookie Patch Auto /99 BGS 9

I have often said that Panini should invest the money to buy the exclusives of Jordan and LeBron from UD, as the value they bring to products is relatively immeasurable. I would even go so far as saying the license for the NBA isn’t worth even close to what it is with the two of them. National Treasures has struggled upon release because of how difficult it is to sell a product like this without the two hottest players. Only after Griffin and Lin’s explosion have they become hot, and that wont do anything for the shops who are forced to stock the high priced boxes.

Collectors have since gone back to busting years old products of Exquisite and the like, and now that LeBron is close to being back on top, that should continue. Even Blowout is pimping their stock of 03-04 products just to capitalize on the James and Wade tandem that has been raking all year long.