LeBron to Wear Special Jersey Patch Honoring 23rd NBA Season
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When the Los Angeles Lakers face the Sacramento Kings on Monday, LeBron James will debut a commemorative jersey patch celebrating his record 23rd NBA season.
The patch, positioned on the upper right chest of his uniform, features a silhouette of James’ signature pregame chalk toss and three colored stripes symbolizing the teams he has played for: the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Lakers. James plans to keep the emblem on his jersey for the final 46 games of the regular season.
After each contest, the Lakers’ equipment staff will remove the patch, mark it with the date and send it to Topps’ Dallas facility for authentication. The company will later embed the game-used patches into trading cards.
Topps returned to NBA-licensed cards in October after a 16-year absence and has already introduced patch programs for rookies and award winners. First-year players wore “Debut Patch” logos during their initial appearances, while last season’s MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley and Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle sported gold NBA logos that were also destined for trading cards.
James, 41, is averaging 21.9 points on 51% shooting along with 6.9 assists and 5.6 rebounds. The Lakers (23-13) sit fifth in the Western Conference.
Head coach JJ Redick recently rewatched James’ first NBA game — Cleveland’s Oct. 29, 2003 matchup in Sacramento — while preparing for an episode of their former podcast “Mind the Game.” James scored 29 points on 12-for-20 shooting with nine assists, six rebounds and four steals in that debut, though the Cavaliers fell 106-92. Redick said he was surprised to see the then-rookie running a traditional “floppy” set to free him for catch-and-shoot looks, noting James “hasn’t run floppy in 15 years.”
Source: ESPN
