{"id":251279,"date":"2026-07-24T17:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T17:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/251279\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T17:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T17:37:15","slug":"lebron-james-day-officially-declared-in-pennsylvania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/251279\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebron James Day officially declared in Pennsylvania"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. <a href=\"https:\/\/billypenn.com\/newsletter-signup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was long rumored, but still felt far-fetched. The former Laker, Cavalier and Heat member who\u2019s set multiple NBA records and created untold hours of conversation over his status among the upper echelons of basketball greats is really coming to Philadelphia.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement posted on social media, LeBron James said joining the Sixers will be the final move of his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is my last decision. I\u2019m not going for money. I\u2019m not going for family. What am I really playing for at this point? I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to grind. I still want to compete, to win and to have a chance at the feeling of winning another championship,\u201d James said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I\u00a0thought I was done when the season ended. I wasn&#8217;t ready to announce it, and I knew I needed some time to really decide, but I was pretty sure I played my last game. I was honest at that last press conference when I said I needed to look at myself and deicide if I still love<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 LeBron James (@KingJames) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KingJames\/status\/2080677086386430018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reaction to the news was quick and voluminous.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBy the power vested in me as the Governor of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a die-hard Sixers fan\u2026 I hereby proclaim today to be LEBRON JAMES DAY,\u201d Gov. Josh Shapiro posted online.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LEBRON IS COMING TO PHILLY.<\/p>\n<p>By the power vested in me as the Governor of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a die-hard Sixers fan\u2026 I hereby proclaim today to be LEBRON JAMES DAY.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to the City of Brotherly Love, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KingJames?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@KingJames<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JHsNkCFyyN\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/JHsNkCFyyN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GovernorShapiro\/status\/2080680553683046819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HIs proclamation recognized James\u2019 \u201cgreat philanthropic work\u201d and \u201cbright future in Philadelphia\u201d as he \u201cjoins the Philadelphia 76ers for his best season yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New Sixer Jaylen Brown, who was traded to the team earlier this summer from the Boston Celtics, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FCHWPO\/status\/2080680249482727490?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">had a much briefer response<\/a>, simply posting: \u201c#throwtheballup.\u201d The hashtag has been used by the Sixers as a slogan to help market excitement for the upcoming season. That job of boosting interest in the team is a lot easier with James on board.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eagles running back Saquon Barkley posted \u201cWelcome to the city!\u201d and invited James for a round of golf.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Welcome to the city! Let me know when you tryna tee it up \ud83c\udfcc\ud83c\udffd\u26f3\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KingJames?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@KingJames<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Saquon Barkley (@saquon) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/saquon\/status\/2080681992710935008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former Temple basketball coach and three-time Olympic gold medalist Dawn Staley posted an exuberant video on social media: \u201cWe got the king, ya\u2019ll\u2026 Great choice, my guy!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even the Merriam-Webster dictionary got in on the reactions, referencing the Sixers longtime unofficial slogan \u201cTrust the Process\u201d in it\u2019s post on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">James said he really wrestled with the decision following the disappointing end to the Lakers past season, which ended in a second-round sweep by the Oklahoma City Thunder.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI thought I was done when the season ended. I wasn\u2019t ready to announce it, and I knew I needed some time to really decide, but I was pretty sure I played my last game. I was honest at that last press conference when I said I needed to look at myself and deicide if I still love this game. I still truly love this game, and I have more to give,\u201d James wrote online.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe last few weeks have really been special. I\u2019ve never been able to have no clue what to do and take real time to just think. I\u2019ve had an incredible few months with all the people I love trying to figure it all out. This is my last decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. It was&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[31763,5956,564,442,18831,107388,28,30,29,86919,107423],"class_list":["post-251279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-76ers","tag-basketball","tag-featured","tag-gov-josh-shapiro","tag-lebron-james","tag-lebron-james-day","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-signing","tag-trust-the-process"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}