{"id":252220,"date":"2026-07-26T05:32:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T05:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/252220\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T05:32:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T05:32:53","slug":"lebron-james-chooses-sixers-coming-to-philadelphia-on-2-year-deal-nbc-sports-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/252220\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James chooses Sixers, coming to Philadelphia on 2-year deal \u2013 NBC Sports Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the latest incredible development of the Sixers\u2019 offseason<\/a>, LeBron James<\/a> has chosen Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

James has agreed to join the Sixers on a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option in Year 2, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told ESPN’s Shams Charania<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The move comes after the Sixers shocked the NBA by trading for Jaylen Brown<\/a> and sending Paul George, two first-round draft picks and two second-rounders to the Celtics.<\/p>\n

On the \u201cGame Over\u201d podcast in early July<\/a>, Paul named the Heat, Cavaliers, Timberwolves and Warriors among the other teams in the mix for James.\u00a0<\/p>\n

James is one of the most decorated athletes in history. He made his 22nd straight All-Star Game last year and averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds over 60 games with the Lakers. The 41-year-old forward opted to leave Los Angeles this summer and seek another opportunity to play for a championship-contending team (on a much lower salary).\u00a0<\/p>\n

James played his first NBA game in Philadelphia on Dec. 19, 2003, scoring 36 points in the Cavaliers\u2019 victory over the Sixers.<\/a> He\u2019s since won four NBA titles and four MVP awards. James is the NBA\u2019s all-time scoring leader<\/a>, fourth in assists <\/a>and sixth in steals.<\/a><\/p>\n

James released the following statement in a thread on X:<\/a><\/p>\n

“I thought I was done when the season ended. I wasn’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 this game. I still truly love this game, and I have more to give.<\/p>\n

\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. I\u2019m not going for money. I\u2019m not going for family. What am I really playing for at this point?<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n

\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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you LA. Miami I\u2019ll forever love and Northeast Ohio will always [be] home!”<\/p>\n

Multiple Sixers already have relationships with James.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sixers star guard Tyrese Maxey knows him well from their summer workouts<\/a>. Seven-time big man All-Star Joel Embiid teamed up with James during the United States\u2019 run to a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics.<\/a> James and new Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey<\/a> go way back. Gansey finished second to James in Mr. Basketball voting for Ohio high school basketball.<\/a><\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin<\/a> reported on July 14 that Maxey, Embiid and Brown had all \u201cbeen in communication with James\u201d and that Maxey was \u201cleading the charge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With James on the roster, the Sixers\u2019 full-strength starting lineup projects to be Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Brown, James and Embiid. The team\u2019s role players include guards Anfernee Simons<\/a> and Labaron Philon Jr.<\/a>, wing Justin Edwards, forwards Dean Wade<\/a> and Dominick Barlow, and centers Adem Bona and Ariel Hukporti.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the latest incredible development of the Sixers\u2019 offseason, LeBron James has chosen Philadelphia. James has agreed to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[18831,69,1002,71,70,10793,10794],"class_list":["post-252220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-lebron-james","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-sixers-analysis","tag-sixers-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252220","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=252220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}