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The seismic impact of LeBron picking Philly continues to ripple through the sports town and region.<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s Note: Read more NBA coverage from The Athletic\u00a0here<\/a>. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Within seconds of the basketball news of the summer breaking, my friend Stephen Pi\u00f1a \u2014 a lifelong Sixers fan \u2014 called my phone. I couldn\u2019t answer. Like almost every other NBA journalist Friday morning, I was trying to gather details on LeBron James signing with the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>.<\/p>\n As I checked in with my editors, I looked at my phone again. I had 138 text messages. My basketball-agnostic wife was in our family living room screaming like her favorite team had won it all. My daughter was asking about tickets to a game. And Steve was still calling.<\/p>\n I finally answered.<\/p>\n Steve, who grew up with me in Center City and also worked in basketball, was mid-sentence: \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me LeBron was coming to Philly? You think we can win it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSteve, it\u2019s July,\u201d I responded. \u201cI gotta write, bro.<\/p>\n The seismic impact of LeBron picking Philly continues to ripple through the sports town and region. Local restaurants have\u00a0promised him free ribs<\/a>\u00a0and named cheesesteaks in his honor. His new teammate VJ Edgecombe recreated the famous LeBron\u00a0\u201cI can\u2019t believe this is my life\u201d meme<\/a>, while Tyrese Maxey posted from the weight room,\u00a0repeatedly yelling, \u201cWhat?!\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Tickets to games have\u00a0reportedly quadrupled<\/a>\u00a0in price. Social media exploded with stories of glee, even\u00a0emanating from funeral services.<\/p>\n \u201cHe chose us,\u201d former NBA player Alvin Williams told\u00a0The Athletic. Williams was once the best high school point guard in the city at Germantown Academy, a member of the famed \u201cFab Five\u201d 1993 high school class that included Rasheed Wallace and former Sixer Marc Jackson. Williams went on to star at Villanova before having a productive NBA career and currently works in television for the Toronto Raptors, the team he primarily played for.<\/p>\n He was in Chicago when he heard the news. Two days later, he was still processing James\u2019 decision.<\/p>\n \u201cSuperstars don\u2019t usually choose Philadelphia,\u201d Williams continued. \u201cSo, just from that alone, this means a lot. We\u2019re a proud city, and we embrace those who embrace us. If this goes well, he will have a lot to gain.\u201d<\/p>\n Many others expressed outright shock that James decided to come to Philadelphia. Comedian Kevin Hart, a Philly native, posted an expletive-filled video in celebration, shouting out his, \u201cbrother for making the right choice, for making the best choice.\u201d South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, perhaps the best woman basketball player to come out of the city,\u00a0posted on social media right after the announcement<\/a>: \u201cWe got the king, y\u2019all,\u201d before offering to help James\u2019 young daughter find a local school.<\/p>\n Former NBA shooting guard Cuttino Mobley, a Philly legend at Cardinal Dougherty, the same school Kyle Lowry attended, went on Instagram and promised he would be flying home for more games this season. In South New Jersey, Camden High School\u2019s football team\u00a0celebrated in unison<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of the biggest moments in the history of the city,\u201d Williams said \u2014 which is saying something for a city known for history.<\/p>\n James\u2019 decision brings risk and reward to a city that essentially promised on Friday to ride the wave with him, no matter what.<\/p>\n As good as James was with the Lakers in Los Angeles, it\u2019s a place that\u00a0never fully embraced him. Yes, James brought the franchise its 17th NBA championship with that dominant 2020 team. But there was still a lack of acceptance that was always slightly beneath the surface of all the success. No matter what he did, James could never mean as much to them as Magic Johnson. He would never be Kobe Bryant, homegrown and in purple and gold his entire career. By the time James matriculated to Los Angeles, he was with his third franchise.<\/p>\n It won\u2019t be like that for James in Philadelphia. Not even close. Immediately after the announcement, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, himself a longtime Sixers fan, took to X and\u00a0proclaimed Friday as LeBron James Day<\/a>. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker\u00a0posted on Instagram<\/a>: \u201cIn Philadelphia, we don\u2019t just welcome you to a city \u2014 we welcome you into our One Philly Family with open arms and electric energy!<\/p>\n It\u2019s ironic, of course, that James leaves behind the Lakers to come to the city that raised Bryant. Sure, Bryant left Lower Merion High and went straight to the Lakers, where he went on to win five NBA titles. But he grew up here, and people will never forget him.<\/p>\n \u201cKobe did a lot for the city, even when he turned pro,\u201d said Michael Jordan, the former University of Pennsylvania star (not the Chicago Bulls legend). \u201cFor LeBron to come here and have a chance to have a big impact is huge. Just him choosing the Sixers has a chance to bring the city together. It\u2019s huge that he\u2019s going to be a Sixer.\u201d<\/p>\n When James made\u00a0his announcement on Instagram<\/a>, he did so to the backdrop of Meek Mill\u2019s Philly anthem \u201cDreams and Nightmares.\u201d For the first time since Allen Iverson was here, the 76ers will have the complete attention of the city.<\/p>\n For so long, the Sixers have drawn something close to apathy. There hasn\u2019t been a trip beyond the second round of the playoffs in star center Joel Embiid\u2019s career. There hasn\u2019t been an NBA Finals appearance since 2001, when Iverson was the league\u2019s MVP. There hasn\u2019t been an NBA championship since 1983.<\/p>\n Even if last season featured the surprise series win over the Boston Celtics, the second-round sweep at the hands of the New York Knicks was about as embarrassing as you can get. Knicks fans took over Philly\u2019s home arena in Games 3 and 4, despite Embiid pleading with Sixers fans to not let it happen. Knicks guard Josh Hart, who won a national championship at Villanova,\u00a0rubbed salt in the wound afterward<\/a>, saying, \u201cI used to think Philly was a sports town. I don\u2019t know if it is anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Hart said that just over two months ago. And yet, LeBron looked at these Sixers \u2014 and this city \u2014 and decided this was a worthwhile challenge for his final act.<\/p>\n The man he\u2019s so often compared to, Michael Jordan, was in his Washington Wizards era by this stage, comparatively (plus his final season came at age 39). James is still an All-Star as he nears 42. And, unlike Jordan with the Wizards, James has a chance to win here.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what LeBron will be chasing. The chance to be the first player to win a ring with four franchises. Going after one more with a hardcore sports city in desperate need of an NBA title.<\/p>\n If he wins big, Philadelphia will back him unlike anything James has seen outside of Cleveland. He has two seasons to make Philly his town. He has a chance to etch himself into Philadelphia sports lore \u2014 along with the Big Dipper, Concrete Charlie and Smokin\u2019 Joe \u2014 by bringing the Sixers to a place they haven\u2019t been in more than four decades.<\/p>\n And if he accomplishes that, James will never have to pay for a cheesesteak again in his life.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Tony Jones<\/a> is a Staff Writer at The Athletic covering the Philadelphia 76ers and the NBA. A native of the East Coast and a journalism brat as a child, he has an addiction to hip-hop music and pickup basketball, and his Twitter page has been used for occasional debates concerning Biggie and Tupac. You can follow Tony on X @Tjonesonthenba<\/a>.<\/p>\n