LeBron James Rookie Card At Center of $6 Million Lawsuit
By Kay on January 11, 2023 at 10:45 AM EST
Updated on January 11, 2023 at 7:30 PM EST
The validity of the LeBron James Rookie card is in question, and it can set serial collectors back a gut-wrenching $6 million.
LeBron James' Rookie Card Causing A Lot Of Drama
The card in question is an Authentic 2003-2004 Lebron James Exquisite Collection Basketball Jersey autographed rookie patch card and it’s extremely rare. Issued by The Upper Deck Company, LLC, only 99 cards were printed.
Alan Spiegel and Steven Spiegel own one of the 99 cards, they are buyers, collectors, and sellers of high-end sports memorabilia and are claiming that a deal they made with Goldin, a sports memorabilia auction house has been tarnished because of an online account that has been trolling the brothers and accusing them of hawking a fake card to Goldin.
As a result of the account known as “Card Porn” on both Twitter and Instagram, Goldin has decided to pull their deal with the Spiegel’s.
This Case Has Been Brewing
This drama all began in late May and ran until June 2021 when the Spiegel’s listed their rare LeBron Patch Card was for sale by Goldin. According to the court documents obtained by The Blast, soon after the card went up, Card Porn began posting “false, libelous and defamatory written posts on Instagram and on various sports memorabilia chatrooms and sites, alleging that the Lebron Patch Card was not authentic.”
Taking it one step further, the lawsuit alleges that someone claiming to be the person or persons behind the Card Porn account called up the auction house and “asserted that the LeBron Patch Card was inauthentic.”
Unfortunately, the card had already hit the market and the bids were phenomenal “as high as $690,000 were made for the LeBron Patch Card. At the time, the estimated market value and predicted sale price for the LeBron Patch Card was approximately $2 million.”
Did The LeBron James Card Screw Over The Spiegel’s?
The lawsuit is a heavy one alleging a lot of wrongdoings against Card Porn. The Spiegel’s also believe that Card Porn, “engaged in a targeted and specific campaign of defaming certain cards (while avoiding commenting on others that are actually suspicious).”
They also believe that “Card Porn has been able to create a virtual racketeering ring in the collectibles industry, where sellers and professionals are terrified of earning the ire of Card Porn, which thereby allows Card Porn to control the sports card markets by choosing which cards to target as “false” and which cards to ignore.”
Unfortunately, the Spiegel’s are having a hard time serving this lawsuit to the person in question because they are hiding behind a social media account.
The Spiegel’s Can’t Serve Their Cease & Desist
The lawsuit made it clear that the plaintiffs are unable to contact Card Porn therefore their cease and desist cannot be served. Ultimately, they want all the “false and defamatory statements regarding the LeBron Patch Card, to be take down and retract all prior false and defamatory posts that they have made regarding the LeBron Patch Card.”
Plus, the plaintiffs claim they suffered a loss of reputation, shame, mortification, and injury to their respective feelings, and loss of the value of the LeBron Patch Card. They are seeking damages of at least $6 million.
They are also seeking a “temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction enjoining and restraining Defendants from any further posting of any statements, comments, representations or other publications on any social media site regarding Plaintiffs, the LeBron Patch Card, or any sports memorabilia.
