Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James gave attending kids a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet and interact with him during Fanatics Collectibles’ Topps Hobby Rip Night for sports trading card and memorabilia hobbyists on Saturday afternoon at Rizo Sports in Santa Monica.
Topps Hobby Rip Night brings together thousands of hobbyists across the world who share their love for sports trading cards and memorabilia. Attendees were treated to rip parties, trade nights, and special giveaways in a variety of locations, one of them being in Santa Monica.
Being a rookie, James is just becoming familiar with the trading card game, but he thought it was cool to see himself on some cards
“It feels really good. Glad I can go play with cards of myself,” Bronny said.
When asked about his favorite card personally, of course James went with one of LeBron. “Some older cards of my dad… (My favorite) was one of the old Cavs ones that had the orange and blue jersey on, I forgot what card it is.”
Bronny James appearance at the Topps trading card event in Santa Monica.
Not in this video, but he pulled a Wemby rookie card and the kids were going NUTS. pic.twitter.com/TvWpw4jjRx
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) September 14, 2024
Here’s Bronny giving away the Wemby card. ?
(Probably want to turn your volume down) pic.twitter.com/bcCp5j4dYq
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) September 14, 2024
Bronny traded away one of his college cards for a DWade card. Sounds like an even trade to me. pic.twitter.com/3gBSOelGk9
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) September 14, 2024
When you have KD, LeBron and Kobe cards to give away, chances are you’re gonna be pretty popular. pic.twitter.com/0N7hVh2RtA
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) September 14, 2024
There were dozens of fans lined up to meet Bronny and potentially trade some cards with him. It made for a nice bonding opportunity for families in attendance.
“I’ve been collecting trading cards since I was a kid and my son is a big fan of Bronny, so this worked out perfectly,” Encino resident Gabe Morales told Lakers Nation. “Hopefully they start doing more of these events.”
When asked what he loves about Bronny, Morales’ 9-year-old son Sam hilariously told Lakers Nation: “He’s really good at Call of Duty.”
While Bronny’s future remains in basketball with the Lakers, it appears he may have a fallback as a video game streamer given how much kids love him.
Topps Hobby Rip Night included other notable appearances around the country such as Tom Brady (Triple Sports Cards in Dallas), Victor Wembanyama (Boomtown Sports Cards & Collectibles in San Antonio), Anthony Volpe, Nestor Cortes and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin (Bleecker Trading in New York), Dez Bryant (FYE Cards in Dallas), Dana White (Paradise Cards in Las Vegas), Kevin Hart (Collector’s World in Washington D.C.), Quavo and Michael Rubin (Santiago Cards in Old Bridge, NJ), Brandon Graham and Michael Rubin (Wheelhouse Cards in Philadelphia) and PJ Tucker and Michael Rubin (The Card Capitol in Collingswood, NJ).
LeBron James won’t let Bronny James call him ‘Dad’ on court
Bronny James isn’t much older than a lot of the kids that attended the Topps trading card event in Santa Monica. At just 19 years of age, he will make history this season when he teams up with his dad LeBron on the Lakers.
Don’t expect Bronny to be referring to LeBron as ‘Dad’ on the court though as the latter made it clear that is not allowed in the workplace.
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