How to play the LeBron James career timeline

This deck follows LeBron James from draft night onward, one career moment per card, with a short hint printed under each. You're ordering the moments by year. One moment begins on the timeline with its year visible. For each new card, choose a gap among those already down. A correct pick reveals the year, and a wrong one moves the moment to its real place and uses one of three lives.

His career runs through several teams, including a return to his first one, so knowing which jersey he wore is half the battle. Firsts, records, Finals and Olympic golds pile up fast, and some seasons hold more than one card. The late-career records are tricky because they arrived one after another at the end of a very long run.

Want a longer game? On the deck tree you can tick this deck alongside any other one measured in release years and dates, and they shuffle into a single timeline together.

How players are doing

This deck has been played 19 times. An average run places 16.2 cards, and 88% of all placements land in the right spot. 32% of runs place every card.

The cards players get wrong most often:

Broke the all-time playoff scoring record missed 57% of the time, usually by about 2 places
Named MVP of the first In-Season Tournament missed 33% of the time, usually by a single place
Repeated as regular season MVP missed 27% of the time, usually by about 2 places

The safest card is Named NBA Rookie of the Year, placed right every time it has come up.

What's in the deck

Here are 26 of the 26 cards you might be dealt. Their values stay hidden until you place them.

Drafted first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers Straight from high school to the top pick
Named NBA Rookie of the Year An immediate impact debut
Made his first All-Star appearance The first of many midseason selections
Led Cleveland to its first Finals against the Spurs A young star reaches the championship stage
Won his first scoring title Topped the league in points per game
Won Olympic gold in Beijing Redeem Team glory in China
Won his first regular season MVP Recognized as the league's best
Repeated as regular season MVP Back-to-back most valuable honors
Announced The Decision to join Miami A televised free-agency bombshell
Reached his first Finals with the Heat, losing to Dallas A painful championship-round defeat
Won his first championship and Finals MVP with Miami Breakthrough title in South Beach
Won Olympic gold in London A second gold medal for Team USA
Won a second straight title over the Spurs Defended the crown in a seven-game classic
Announced his return to Cleveland Coming home to the Cavaliers
Delivered Cleveland's first title after a three-one deficit Overturned a historic Finals hole
Broke the all-time playoff scoring record Passed Michael Jordan in postseason points
Signed as a free agent with the Lakers A new chapter in Los Angeles
Passed Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list Climbed past a legend on the leaderboard
Won a championship in the Orlando bubble A title in the isolated playoff campus
Named to the league's seventy-fifth anniversary team Honored among the all-time greats
Named MVP of the first In-Season Tournament Won the inaugural NBA Cup honor
Passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer Became the scoring king
Reached forty thousand career points The first player to hit the milestone
Played alongside his son Bronny The first father-son duo on an NBA court
Won Olympic gold in Paris as a flag bearer Led Team USA to another gold
Named an All-Star for a record twenty-first time Extended his selection record