The Sixers went 45-37 last season and were swept in the second round by the NBA champion New York Knicks.
Most betting sites had the Sixers as 9-1 favorites to win the championship behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks, as of Friday afternoon.
James joins a 76ers team that has not won an NBA championship since 1983 and has not advanced out of the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs since 2001.
The 76ers should boast one of the top starting fives in the NBA with fellow All-Stars Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer this past season acquired in a stunning offseason deal with the Celtics.
Maxey posted an Instagram story of him celebrating in a gym and yelling “what!? what?!” over the news while Brown wrote on X “#throwtheballup.” Brown wrote that in his introductory note to Philadelphia, and it has already been branded on billboards throughout the city.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro even proclaimed Friday as LeBron James Day in the state.
Turned out with the Brown deal, new 76ers team president Mike Gansey — an Ohio prep basketball star with James — was just getting started with his summer of surprises.
No move, of course, hits like James’ arrival.
He won his four NBA championships in stops with Cleveland, Miami and the Los Angeles Lakers. James left the Lakers after an eight-season run highlighted by the 2020 NBA title.
James is the NBA’s oldest active player at 41 and the only player in league history to have a career spanning 23 seasons; this coming season will be his 24th. Speculation has been rampant for more than two months about his future, officially starting in May when the Lakers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs.
James’ resume is beyond compare in NBA history. He’s a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, and was a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.
He’s also coming off a season where he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he’s averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.
James started his career in Cleveland in 2003 and spent seven seasons with the Cavaliers before heading to Miami for four seasons — where he won his first two NBA titles. He then returned to Cleveland for four more seasons, including that title run in 2016, and left in 2018 for the Lakers.
Cleveland and Miami were believed to be on James’ radar again as he weighed this decision.
“Thank you LA. Miami I’ll forever love and Northeast Ohio will always home!” James wrote.
For the next two seasons, James’ professional home is in Philadelphia.