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LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er. That sentence is real.
LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er. That sentence is real.
Good morning. This is a special edition of Good Morning It's Basketball. It's July 25 and LeBron James is no longer a free agent. Let's basketball.
Back when I wrote that LeBron James' legacy required him to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers if he was going to continue playing, the Philadelphia 76ers didn't make much sense at all. That was because adding LeBron James to that team didn't, in my mind, put them anywhere close to the top of the Eastern Conference.
Since then, the Sixers traded Paul George for Jaylen Brown and made smart moves on the edges. Things have changed dramatically. The calculus on LeBron's legacy changed, too: bringing a long-suffering franchise a championship, No. 5 on his individual ledger, would be a helluva footnote, perhaps in a way that trying to do that with a team he already rained confetti on wouldn't. More importantly, after the first two weeks of the NBA offseason, Philadelphia looked much closer to a title than the Cleveland Cavaliers when you add LeBron to the mix. Of the options on the table, LeBron chose the one with the clearest path to a championship and the biggest potential legacy pay-off given what the Sixers have been through since 1983. There's a healthy overlap of opportunity and upside.
And it's still such a weird-feeling choice. LeBron has no ties to Philadelphia or Pennsylvania. He's very close with Tyrese Maxey, who is (was, actually) the third most famous active Sixer even though he might be the best (still). Joel Embiid played with LeBron on the 2024 Olympic team, but Stephen Curry was believed to be the American co-pilot most likely to land the fellowship of King James for this NBA season. Jaylen Brown and LeBron have been mutually complimentary, but there have been no apparent strong ties there. The same applies to Nick Nurse. There is the Mike Gansey angle – the Sixers hired a former Cavaliers executive who happened to be growing up playing high-end basketball in northeast Ohio parallel to The Chosen One. With Bob Myers behind Gansey and Jameer Nelson in tow, that all probably helped.
In the end, it really does appear that LeBron did this because he thinks he can still contribute to a championship and that the Sixers are on the precipice of challenging for that.
That makes this a pretty eye-opening indictment of the Lakers' management of LeBron's denouement. James is taking a minimum contract in Philadelphia, and did not appear willing to entertain such in Los Angeles. That's a huge factor here: the Lakers wanted to move on from LeBron in part (if not primarily) to spend his salary slot on players the front office felt better complemented Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. LeBron, understandably, having lifted the Lakers from the worst stretch in franchise history by choosing them in 2018 free agency and then cajoling the Anthony Davis trade, would be insulted by L.A. asking him to take pennies at this stage. LeBron accepting a minimum contract in Los Angeles was simply not going to happen, and the front office was (wisely) unwilling to set up a Kobe Bryant retirement plan where they paid LeBron tens of millions of dollars until he decided he was ready to retire.
And yet: LeBron will play for a team that needs a boost to really contend for a title next season, and he chose the East's No. 7 seed over the squad he's held down for eight years. It's a telling move in that respect.
It's also somewhat of an indictment of LeBron's feelings on the Cavaliers' short-term outlook. All of the emotional momentum should have been pushing King James to Cleveland. The Cavaliers purportedly were going to pay LeBron something closer to the mid-level, with James Harden hanging out in free agency limbo and rumors of another salary cap dump floating. And he chose Philadelphia instead.
What a world. What a league. LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er.
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Michael Pina is skeptical of the Sixers' outlook.
For the past month, I’ve been of the mind that James’s decision wouldn’t move the league’s needle in a meaningful way; he’s debatably a top-20 player in a highly competitive playoff picture. While his decision is extremely surprising, undeniably a good thing for Philadelphia, and a bad thing for the Cavs, Heat, Warriors, and any other team that thought they were in the mix, I still feel that way. Sure, if everyone buys in, Embiid (or whoever they trade him for) stays healthy, and some bench pieces unexpectedly pop, the Sixers could absolutely win an NBA championship. It doesn’t seem likely that all those variables will coalesce at the right time, though.
I love Tyrese Maxey, V.J. Edgecombe, Labaron Philon Jr., Dominick Barlow, and the youth movement they have going in Philadelphia. I’m excited about what that group might do together in a few years … when the team can finally use Joel Embiid’s massive salary slot on players who are more likely to be available. To me, the idea of the 76ers as contenders, with this roster, hinges on Embiid manning the middle through multiple consecutive playoff series. And of course, LeBron’s at an age where he wasn’t sure, a few weeks ago, he would ever play again. Just continuing to play is a miracle. The 76ers are loaded, and much improved. Maxey is a potential future MVP. But who can bet on LeBron and Embiid both being at their best for a playoff run? And failing that, do you expect Ariel Hukporti and Adem Bona to hold their own against Karl-Anthony Towns?
Now Philadelphia fans get to walk around, cheeks hurting from smiling. Imagine what Saturday morning feels like in that town, Sunday and then Monday. LeBron dragged it out, but at least he gave his new hosts the chance at a long weekend. He chose them, had a chance at every city and every roster and decided Philadelphia's was the one. That's enough to keep a tri-state area floating for weeks.
Rich Paul was recording a podcast with Max Kellerman when LeBron tweeted the announcement.
Rest in peace, Tom Bro Dude. Put this post in the Hall of Fame.
Good Morning It's Basketball will return on Monday. Be excellent to each other.
