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Category: Sixers/NBA

  • LeBron James signs two-year, $8 million contract to join Sixers

    LeBron James signs two-year, $8 million contract to join Sixers

    King James is officially bringing his talents to South Broad Street.

    LeBron James, a legendary player and one of the most famous humans on planet Earth, has signed with the 76ers on two-year, $8 million contract. The deal includes a full 15% trade kicker, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

    The Sixers already shocked the NBA this offseason by acquiring All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster trade. They then one-upped themselves by landing James in one of the more improbable roster additions in franchise history.

    This second monumental move during a transformational offseason further illustrates that the Sixers are making the all-in push toward championship contention in a deep Eastern Conference.

    New Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey has now assembled a starting five featuring arguably the best player of all time in James, a former NBA MVP in Joel Embiid, a five-time All-Star in his prime in Brown, and ascending guards Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. And James was willing to take a veteran minimum contract to join this group — and a historic franchise aiming to advance past the playoffs’ second round for the first time since 2001 and capture its first championship since 1983.

    Before Mike Gansey became a Sixers executive, he was a hard-nosed high school player who earned LeBron James’ respect

    James chose the Sixers over bookending his career with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers or returning to the Miami Heat, where he won his first two NBA championships. The Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves also were reported to be in contention for James.

    It took James more than three weeks for his latest decision, essentially putting the second wave of NBA free agency on hold.

    The Las Vegas Summer League, where NBA executives, coaches, and agents gather annually, came and went with more speculation than insight about where James would play next. James did not reveal his next playing destination during multiple public appearances at Fanatics Fest last Thursday and Friday in New York, even after some light coaxing by fellow NBA star Tyrese Haliburton during a live taping of James’ Mind the Game podcast. Commissioner Adam Silver said even he was waiting on James’ decision so the league could finalize its 2026-27 schedule because James’ popularity demands prime television games.

    It was worth the wait for the Sixers.

    James’ basketball resumé could fill a book. He is the NBA’s all-time leader in points and games played, a four-time MVP, and a 21-time All-NBA selection. He has won four championships with three teams in the Los Angeles Lakers (2020), Cavaliers (2016), and Heat (2012 and 2013), and three Olympic gold medals with Team USA.

    And though James is no longer a perennial MVP front-runner at age 41, he is still a versatile, All-Star-caliber player with an exceptional basketball IQ.

    LeBron James scored 29 points in his most recent game in Philly. Charles Fox / Staff Photographer

    Last season, he averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals, and particularly thrived as a third offensive option behind Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. James had a memorable performance in his most recent visit to Philly in December, scoring 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting — including a late tiebreaking three-pointer and another game-sealing jumper — in the Lakers’ 112-108 victory.

    Now, James will team up with another dynamic young player for whom he has expressed fondness in Maxey. James and Maxey, who made an All-NBA team for the first time last season, are represented by Klutch and super agent Rich Paul. Maxey has worked out with James dating back to his predraft process in 2020.

    “He loves Maxey,” Paul said on an episode of his Game Over podcast released earlier this month. “We don’t even need to talk about that.”

    ESPN reported last week that Maxey, Embiid, and Brown had been recruiting James. Bob Myers, the president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and former lead executive during the Warriors’ dynasty, also went on Game Over to make his pitch to the Sixers.

    James also has loose ties to Gansey, who played high school basketball in Ohio at the same time as James and worked in the Cavaliers organization for more than a decade. The first hint that the Sixers were a legitimate contender may have come from Gansey’s brother, Steven, who after the Brown trade posted a photo of Mike Gansey and James as high school basketball players in Northeast Ohio, and the eyeballs emoji.

    Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey continues to turn the franchise into a title contender. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Gansey told The Inquirer last week that he, “like the rest of the NBA,” was simply waiting on James’ free-agency decision.

    “We’d love to have him in Philly,” Gansey said from the Sixers’ team hotel at Las Vegas Summer League. “I think he’d really, really help us and add to our group. But he’s making a big decision here. It’s wild [that], at his age, he’s playing at such a high level. But it’s not surprising.

    “I have all the respect in the world for him, and he’s smart as heck. He’s going to figure it out and talk to his family, and we’ll be waiting. Whatever he decides, I know he’s going to make the right decision.”

    When James informed the Lakers on June 30 that he would join another team in free agency, outsiders naturally connected him to his past stops in Cleveland and Miami as well as to the Warriors, where teaming up with fellow generational superstar Stephen Curry appeared tantalizing. Paul said publicly that James was prioritizing happiness and the opportunity to compete over salary at this point in his career.

    What the Sixers are saying about the Jaylen Brown trade, from ‘Oh, snap!’ to ‘It’s going to be special’

    Sixers followers, though, unearthed memories — part joke, part lament — of when James considered Philly as a free agent in 2018 but did not personally attend the meeting with Sixers representatives. He instead signed with the Lakers, where he spent the ensuing eight seasons.

    Yet after the Sixers pulled off the trade for Brown, which sent Paul George (and his hefty contract) and four draft picks to Boston, Philly began percolating as a possible James destination once again.

    Paul went on his podcast and unveiled a whiteboard with James’ name pointing to five possible destinations: the Sixers, Cavaliers, Heat, Nuggets, and Timberwolves. The Warriors, Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, and New York Knicks were on the outskirts of that inner circle.

    “Philadelphia, everything changed,” Paul said.

    “Do they have [James’] attention?” cohost Max Kellerman asked.

    “How could you not have the attention when you have Maxey, Edgecombe, Brown, Embiid?” Paul responded. “ … [James] enhances everything. He unlocks everything here.”

    Now, that is reality. James is set to join the Sixers, in another NBA shocker and monumental roster move.

  • LeBron James believed he could win with Joel Embiid. The 2024 Olympics can show the Sixers how.

    LeBron James believed he could win with Joel Embiid. The 2024 Olympics can show the Sixers how.

    On a practice court in Paris early in the 2024 Summer Olympics, during the event that was supposedly a testament to his selfishness and opportunism, Joel Embiid glanced around the gym at the stars who soon enough would meet their expectations of gold-medal glory. There was Steph Curry. There was Kevin Durant. There was You Know Who.

    There was LeBron James.

    “This is a great setting for me because I’m playing with a lot of great players,” Embiid said then. “It’s all about finding ways to win. Whatever I can add to make sure we win, that’s all there is.”

    Two years later, with James’ decision last week to become Embiid’s teammate again, Embiid’s up-and-down experience during those Games should take on a new perspective and value. If the sacrifice of Embiid’s playing in those Olympics, dragging his body up and down the court for five games in that tournament, was a lost Sixers season in 2024-25, maybe the real upshot is that the entire experience and Team USA’s victory paved the way for James to stun everyone and sign with the 76ers.

    Only Embiid and James know how many text messages it took, how much pleading Embiid had to do to persuade James that Philadelphia was the place for him, that Embiid was healthy enough and committed enough for the two of them to win a title here. Whatever words and memes passed between them this offseason, they were enough that a source with knowledge of their interaction said that Embiid played “a significant role” in coaxing James to choose the Sixers.

    He wasn’t the only one. Bob Myers brought the necessary cachet and credibility, and Mike Gansey’s relationship with James from their time together in Cleveland helped, and Tyrese Maxey’s talent and connection to James through Klutch Sports mattered. Still, this was mostly a peer-led push from Embiid and Maxey to get James to see the possibilities here.

    Most importantly for the Sixers and the player who has been their centerpiece for the last 12 years, Embiid already had to have established a baseline of confidence with James for LeBron to take this leap.

    They’ve been in the NBA together since 2014, but when Embiid finally settled on playing for Team USA in ‘24 — after shopping his skills to France and Cameroon — his relationship with James could have fallen apart. And from an outsider’s view, it had the potential to crumble. It was a chore just to watch Embiid lumber around the floor, his left knee leaving his whole body wobbly and unstable, the sweat flooding his face.

    Joel Embiid (11) was not physically at his best in the 2024 Paris games but his efforts were a step towards a future alliance with LeBron James. Michael Conroy

    The complaints that Embiid had put his own aims and goals — “It feels good to be part of winning something as a team,” he said after Team USA’s victory over France in the gold-medal game — above the good of the Sixers were to be expected around here. They also ignored the priority that Embiid’s Team USA teammates, James among them, placed on competing on that stage, for the right to call themselves the best in the world. In that context, there was an understanding that it took a lot for Embiid just to be out there playing, and there was an appreciation that, without him and his 19 points and second-half dominance of Nikola Jokić in the semifinals against Serbia, the U.S. wouldn’t have won gold at all.

    No, Embiid wasn’t the overall force that James or Curry or Durant was in Paris, but he apparently didn’t do anything to dissuade James from thinking that he could win with him. Now Embiid gets another shot to witness what James does each day to prepare, how much that preparation matters to him, and how he can model the habits and behavior on which James has built his remarkable 24-year pro career.

    “Even though I see a broken-down Joel — in the fourth quarter, if ever the verb ‘trudge’ would fit anybody, Joel just trudges up the court — even given all of that, I would say it is absolutely true it’s good to [be] around these guys who have won something — just getting a different kind of culture,” former Sports Illustrated staff writer Jack McCallum, the author of Dream Team, the definitive work on the 1992 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team, said in a 2024 interview.

    “What those guys got from the other guys. I was sort of astonished to hear that. … ‘Oh, I really found out how Karl Malone worked out. Oh, I really found out about Larry Bird’s shooting drills. Oh, I watched [Michael] Jordan and [Scottie] Pippen play defense, and I took that back to my team.’ As much as [the Sixers] are probably going, ‘No,’ I would say play, because I think there’s a real positive aspect that he can get out of that.”

    The time to show what he learned is now. At 32, without having appeared in more than 39 games in any regular season since 2022-23, Embiid can’t be counted on and shouldn’t expect to be the primary focus of the offense every single time he’s in the lineup. The best-case scenario for the Sixers, of course, is that he won’t have to be — not every night, not even most nights. Among James, Brown, Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and an improved bench, they have plenty of firepower even if Embiid isn’t their alpha and omega. “You’re used to being the guy,” he said in Paris. “Now you’ve got to be with these guys.” What they’ll likely need is what he gave Team USA against Serbia. What they’ll need is Embiid to pick his spots, to win them particular games against particular opponents. He’ll still be vital, but he might end up bearing a lesser burden, and the team might be better for it.

    Team USA’s superstars won a gold medal together, and their work habits rubbed off on one another. Mark J. Terrill

    “There’s a certain amount of relief that comes with not having to bear the full responsibility of the franchise,” Steve Kerr, who was Team USA’s head coach in Paris, said at the time. “These guys get to lean on each other. Every game is different. They get to throw all the other nonsense out the window because none of it matters. The only thing that matters is winning the gold medal.”

    The same standard applies here and now for James and Embiid, for the Sixers, for a city waiting 43 years and counting for its latest NBA championship. Joel Embiid’s performance in those Olympics was mostly a hard watch and a distant memory until these last few days. But come next spring, if there’s a celebration here unlike any since 1983, the windfall will have been worth the stiff investment.

  • LeBron James reportedly plans to film a ‘Last Dance’-style documentary about his final season

    LeBron James reportedly plans to film a ‘Last Dance’-style documentary about his final season

    LeBron James is set to film a documentary tracking his final seasons in the NBA, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

    James has already been shooting with a camera crew for multiple seasons, so a potential documentary could contain much more than just his time with the Sixers.

    “Andy Thompson, acclaimed executive producer and principal videographer from The Last Dance docuseries that so unforgettably told the story of Michael Jordan’s final season in Chicago — and so much more leading up to it — has been a notable presence at James’ games since the 2022-23 season at least,” Stein wrote.

    LeBron James will wear No. 23 with the Sixers: ‘No words to measure the impact he’ll have’

    The documentary could also include livestreaming components, Stein said. James said his decision to join the Sixers on a two-year contract will be his “final decision,” and expects to end his NBA career in Philadelphia. Stein said the windfall from the documentary could help compensate for the veteran minimum salary that James was prepared to accept from any team that signed him.

    James has not announced any official plans to produce a documentary, so there’s no information about length or where it could potentially be distributed. James is signed through 2027-28, so this might not even be his final NBA season.

    Philly sports stars have been the subject of numerous recent documentary projects, including the Eagles’ turn on the in-season edition of Hard Knocks, Saquon Barkley’s documentary on Prime Video in 2025, and Jason Kelce’s Prime Video series Kelce, and the recent 30 for 30 chronicling the “Philly Special” 2018 Super Bowl run.

  • This Sixers fan has the tweets to prove he waited almost a decade for LeBron to join the team

    This Sixers fan has the tweets to prove he waited almost a decade for LeBron to join the team

    An X (formerly Twitter) account that’s been around since 2017 has only ever had one question: Is LeBron James a 76er yet?

    After having lost hope and gone dormant years back, the anonymous account has returned for what fans are calling “the greatest re-login” of all time.

    It was a moment of redemption when @IsBronA76erYet came back online Friday. The user didn’t use words, but rather posted a popular GIF from the TV show BMF, where one of the main characters, Lamar, opens his eyes while on oxygen after waking from a coma. Millions of viewers knew exactly what they meant.

    You see, not much is known about X user @IsBronA76erYet besides their fandom. X stats show the account was created in July 2017, is based in the United States, and follows only two accounts — take a wild guess who.

    @IsBronA76erYet followed a format popular across Twitter accounts throughout the aughts. The “is [insert topic] XYZ yet” accounts were devoted to constantly answering a lingering question, usually in the pop culture realm, with a brief status update.

    Know Your Meme has documented dozens of so-called “gimmick accounts” on Twitter over the years, with the earliest examples dating back to 2007, according to managing editor Zach Sweat.

    Examples include “Is Winds of Winter out yet?” an account devoted to George R.R. Martin’s sixth novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, @knickswintrack, which follows if the Knicks have won, or “Is GTA 6 out yet?” which has been waiting since 2019 for the latest Grand Theft Auto installment.

    “When these pop up dedicated to a specific event, most of the time they fizzle out or are forgotten when the thing they’re dedicated to never happens,” Sweat said. “However, when they do come true, people love digging them up and reviving them, and it’s always really funny seeing them come back to life and seeing how users react to them like they were an oracle or something.”

    Over the course of @IsBronA76erYet’s lifespan, it would repeatedly just tweet: “No.”

    There was a brief moment of hope for this devoted X user in August of 2017 when media outlets suggested James was done with the Cleveland Cavaliers. “No, but soon,” the account mused.

    But in 2018, when James announced he was headed to the Los Angeles Lakers, the user took it like a dagger to the heart. “He never will be now,” the user tweeted on July 1, 2018. “Time to deactivate.” The account went quiet.

    For years, fans speculated that James’ retirement from the league was imminent. Even James, the NBA’s oldest active player at 41, said there were moments he thought he was done, too.

    “I was pretty sure I played my last game,” James said in a series of social media posts Friday morning. “I still truly love this game, and I have more to give.”

    That’s when the figurative oxygen tank started hissing for this X user — or probably more likely, when they started fervently trying to find their old dormant account’s login information.

    At 9 p.m. Friday, it was the tweet seen around the world.

    Is LeBron A 76er Yet was back.

    Their prophecy had been fulfilled. And the internet was there to see it.

    The wordless post with the GIF has been viewed over 50 million times and has 1 million likes — more than the 400,000 or so likes for ESPN insider Shams Charania’s post breaking the news about James in the first place.

    Users have been enamored with the account’s determination.

    “One million likes from a non verified account who’s finally got Bron in Philly, after not tweeting for 7 years. We’ll never see this organic tweet ever again,” one user wrote. The account “rose from the ashes,” said another. “Remembering the password on an account you haven’t been able to use in eight years is worth the [likes] alone,” another remarked.

    On Monday, @IsBronA76erYet posted again. This time, they wrote something they’ve never gotten to say before. One word, three letters. “Yes.”

  • LeBron James could live in NYC while playing for Philly. He wouldn’t be the first Sixer to do it.

    LeBron James could live in NYC while playing for Philly. He wouldn’t be the first Sixer to do it.

    LeBron James is bringing his talents to the City of Brotherly Love after signing with the Sixers on a two-year, $8 million contract, making Philly the King’s new home — kind of.

    On Monday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said the 22-time NBA All-Star could potentially live part time in New York.

    “This whole thing is outrageous, and I don’t say that critically, I say that just from a fascinating situation,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s Get Up. “This a one-off moment in the history of the league. We’ve never seen a player ever say the following things, ‘I don’t care about money, I don’t care about my family.’

    “He doesn’t even that much apparently care about the city because he doesn’t seem like he’s going to be living in Philadelphia full time, it seems like he’s going to live at least part time in New York. So, this is a — I don’t even know how to frame it because it’s really truly unbelievable.”

    ESPN’s Shams Charania first mentioned James making the commute to Philadelphia from New York via helicopter on The Pat McAfee show on Friday after James’ decision.

    “The last step for him was just making sure his family was on board,” Shams said. “Savannah, his wife, lives in L.A. with his young daughter, Zhuri. Bronny also plays right now with the Lakers in L.A. Bryce, his youngest son, is in Arizona.

    “So, he’s going all the way to the other side of the coast. And we’ll see, will he live in Philly, will he live in Jersey, will he live in New York, will he take a chopper back and forth? We don’t know those answers yet. But, we do know he’s going to the East Coast now and that’s a big lifestyle change for LeBron James at this age of his career. And he made it very clear that it wasn’t going to be about money. And at the end of the day, it’s not.”

    James wouldn’t be the first Sixers player to make the commute from New York. His former coach J.J. Redick made the commute from his family’s home in Brooklyn to Philly during his time with the Sixers (2017-19).

    And NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain primarily lived in New York during the season while regularly traveling back and forth to play with Philly while owning a night club in Harlem — giving James and Chamberlain, both four-time MVPs, even more in common.

    In his book, Wilt: Just like any other 7-foot black millionaire who lives next door, Chamberlain mentioned how the media resented him for living in New York.

    “I had missed one practice that week — just one — because I had the flu, and the press had played it up big,” Chamberlain wrote. “They had always resented my living in New York, first with the Warriors and now with the 76ers; they thought it was an insult to Philadelphia (which, I guess, it was — a richly deserved insult), and when the sportswriters had asked Dolph [Schayes] where I was that day I was sick, he had mishandled the situation, as usual.

    LeBron James will wear No. 23 with the Sixers: ‘No words to measure the impact he’ll have’

    “I had called and told him I was sick, but he just shrugged at the reporters, and said, ‘Who knows?’ The press had a field day with that —another example of the double standard I’d always been subjected to. Bill Russell missed more practices than I ever dreamed of missing, but no one ever criticized him for it; Tom Gola had lived in New York before I even joined the Warriors, but no one ever accused him of insulting Philadelphia.”

    The decision to live in New York has already ruffled some feathers for James.

    “This guy is so disgusted by the city of Philadelphia that he’s commuting in from Manhattan,” said Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy. “To quote Dick Vitale ‘Are you serious?’ … This is the biggest spit in the face to any city I’ve ever seen. … This is a dark day for Philadelphia and I’m outraged.”

    But New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul is all for it, posting “LePied-a-Terre” on social media, referencing the term pied-à-terre, which is a part-time second home in the city.

    Although James could potentially be living in the city of the New York Knicks, the team that bounced the Sixers out of the playoffs, Sixers fans should at least be happy he didn’t choose to live in this house.

    The Moorestown house formerly belonged to two Philadelphia sports stars: Ben Simmons and Nick Castellanos. And we all know how that worked out.

  • LeBron James will wear No. 23 with the Sixers: ‘No words to measure the impact he’ll have’

    LeBron James will wear No. 23 with the Sixers: ‘No words to measure the impact he’ll have’

    The Sixers officially announced LeBron James’ signing on Monday, sharing a statement from president of basketball operation Mike Gansey and blitzing social media with images of James’ likeness.

    James will wear No. 23 with the Sixers after signing a two-year, $8 million deal on Sunday, the Sixers confirmed on their social media account with an image of his jersey in the team’s locker room.

    “There is no doubt LeBron is one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball and there are no words to measure the impact he’ll have on this organization,” Gansey said. “I have had the pleasure of knowing LeBron since high school and have seen the high-level impact he’s produced at every stop of his basketball journey. He is a consummate professional, the ultimate competitor, and a tireless worker.

    Murphy: LeBron James’ maddening process was everything the Sixers needed

    “But he is also an incredible person with natural leadership traits, a family man, and someone who possesses unwavering commitment to community and those around him. We couldn’t be happier that he is officially here and are excited to welcome him, Savannah, and the James family into our 76ers family.”

    James joins the Sixers as one of the most decorated players in NBA history. He’s the NBA’s all-time leader in points (43,440) and minutes played (61,030), a four-time champion and the record holder for All-Star appearances (22) and All-NBA Team selections (21).

    James most recently led the Lakers to the second round of the NBA playoffs, averaging 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists in the regular season and increasing those numbers in the postseason to 23.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists. James has career averages of 28.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 7.2 assists over the course of his 23-year career.

    “I am thrilled to welcome LeBron James to the Philadelphia 76ers,” Sixers managing partner Josh Harris said. “One of the greatest players in NBA history and one of the best athletes ever, his accomplishments are iconic: four-time NBA champion, four-time NBA MVP, four-time Finals MVP, three-time Olympic Gold medalist, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a record 22 All-Star selections, and 21 All-NBA selections.

    Five underrated benefits of adding LeBron James to the Sixers

    “I cannot wait to see LeBron alongside Jaylen Brown, VJ Edgecombe, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and our talented roster as we work to deliver a championship for Philly. To LeBron and his family: we are grateful you chose the 76ers, and look forward to this next chapter of your legendary career. Welcome to the 76ers!”

    The Sixers’ coronation of James did not end in their official statement as the franchise made several posts on social media. The barrage of messages showed reactions on social media, highlights of James’ offensive prowess and the recreation of a classic meme — the one where James is “Smiling through it all!” — only this time James was wearing a Sixers jersey.

  • Five underrated benefits of adding LeBron James to the Sixers

    Five underrated benefits of adding LeBron James to the Sixers

    LeBron James is a member of the 76ers and there are a number of obvious benefits that come with that. While he’s not a prototypical score-first player, James is the NBA’s all-time scoring leader. And while James is not a prototypical point guard, he’s one of the more talented passers to ever pick up a basketball. The same applies for his ability to rebound, defend, and think the game.

    These are known commodities and the expectation is that James will bring immediate punch for the Sixers all over the stat sheet. Those tangible qualities have been on display throughout James’ 23-year career and they will likely be present in his time with the Sixers after he signed a two-year, $8 million contract.

    But the intangibles are what makes James great. He can elevate teammates, serve as a strategist, and demand greatness from every player on the roster. At 41 years old, James is past his physical prime and might not dominate games at the same level he once did. But that doesn’t mean he won’t bring a host of underrated benefits to a Sixers roster chock full of talent. We took a look at five of them.

    LeBron James (23) has helped guide young superstars, including Kyrie Irving (2), and has won titles with them. Leah Klafczynski / MCT

    Leadership

    This is typically one of James’ biggest assets. The Sixers are technically a veteran team, with Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid all boasting ample postseason experience. But remember these Sixers haven’t won a title since 1983 and haven’t advanced past the second round since 2001. Of course, they look great on paper, but it will take a lot of hard work and hard conversations to mesh four ball-dominant scorers and a rookie hoping to make a second-year leap in VJ Edgecombe.

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    This is where James’ ability to keep the main thing the main thing, as Jalen Hurts would say, comes into play. James steered and steadied the ship with bigger personalities and more dysfunctional rosters. After successfully leading the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat to titles, James will now have a chance to become the first player to win a title with four franchises.

    LeBron James’ ability to call plays and direct the action on the court is one of his underrated skills. Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

    Late-game strategy

    You’ve heard the stories about David Blatt. A rookie coach still soaking up the NBA and American basketball culture, Blatt made the mistake of drawing up a play for J.R. Smith on the 2015 Cavaliers. James famously erased the play, called his own number, and sank a baseline dagger to win Game 4 of their second-round series against the Chicago Bulls.

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    James is famously unselfish and has called the number of other players with the game on the line as well. Former Cavs teammates turned media members like Iman Shumpert and Richard Jefferson have touted James’ ability to prepare his teammates and predict moments when he will need them.

    And this is also where the Sixers have lacked direction. Look back at their past playoff losses and you’ll see that they have hung tight with some of the league’s best franchises. Prior to this year’s blowout loss to the New York Knicks, they played them close in the opening round of the 2023-24 playoffs. The same goes for the Celtics, Heat, and Hawks in the three years before that. And then the Raptors defeated the Sixers on Kawhi Leonard’s four-bounce buzzer-beater en route to their 2019 title.

    David Murphy: A note to LeBron James’ skeptics. And maybe to the Sixers’.

    In each of those losses, execution in the closing moments played a large part in deciding the winner of the series. Whether it was Ben Simmons’ ill-timed pass against the Hawks in 2021 or Jayson Tatum’s offensive outburst in 2023, the Sixers found ways to lose. James came to Philly to win a title and he’ll do what he can to help his new team avoid the mental meltdowns that have defined this franchise for the last decade.

    Passing and playmaking are among LeBron James’ greatest skills. Mark J. Terrill

    Playmaking

    James is one of the best passers to ever pick up a basketball. That much was clear when we watched him as a youngster at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. While James is the leading scorer in Ohio high school basketball history, several of James’ most famous highlights as a prep star were passes, which isn’t typical for stars on that level. He’s only sharpened that skill over the last 20 years.

    LeBron James first played in Philly as a teen and had no interest in seeing the Liberty Bell

    Few teams could use that mastery more than the Sixers. Edgecombe is learning how to set the table on offense. Maxey is still at his best as a score-first guard. He was fifth in scoring last season at 28.3 points per game. Brown was right above him at 28.7 points. In his last healthy season, Embiid averaged 33.1 points and played 66 games in 2022-23, and his dominance is better suited in the paint and at the free throw line extended. James will allow them all to spend more time off the ball to do what they do best.

    LeBron James’ presence means another Joel Embiid (right) injury doesn’t have to sink the Sixers. Matt Slocum

    Joel Embiid insurance

    Embiid has played more than 50 games only six times in his career. This is year No. 10. The Sixers’ title hopes have always come with one large caveat: Can Embiid stay healthy? The answer was no for the past three seasons, as Embiid’s availability was complicated by chronic knee injuries and bouts with Bell’s palsy and appendicitis.

    Marcus Hayes: LeBron James signing with the Sixers could save Joel Embiid’s career

    That reality was the source of the Sixers’ moves to sign Paul George, then trade George for Brown. Now the grouping of James, Brown, Maxey, and Edgecombe allows the Sixers to finally enter the season with real championship expectations, whether Embiid’s body holds up or not. To his credit, Embiid has fought to play through every injury. He’s also in the middle of his first healthy summer in quite some time. That’s a good start.

    Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe finished third last season in Rookie of the Year voting.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    VJ Edgecombe’s maturation

    Billed as an uber-athletic defensive specialist, Edgecombe was expected to be a project last season. Then coach Nick Nurse immediately placed Edgecombe in the Sixers starting lineup. Edgecombe stepped up and served as the Sixers’ secondary offensive option when injury and suspension kept Embiid and George sidelined.

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    As a result, Edgecombe averaged 35 minutes and trailed only Maxey, who led the NBA at 38. Edgecombe added 16 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, including a historic 34-point debut against the Boston Celtics. Edgecombe scored 14 points in the first quarter of that game and broke James’ previous record of 12.

    As the season wore on, Edgecombe benefited from the tutelage of George, Maxey, Kyle Lowry, and more. He soaked up that information and applied it in real time, finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting. Edgecombe arrived ahead of schedule and took the Sixers’ focus from their three-star system to the young backcourt of the future. Now, after breaking James’ record, Edgecombe will have the opportunity to learn directly from the NBA legend and build on his breakout rookie season.

  • LeBron James’ maddening process was everything the Sixers needed

    LeBron James’ maddening process was everything the Sixers needed

    LeBron James chose the Sixers the only way he could.

    By letting everyone think there was no way he would.

    It all makes a little more sense now, doesn’t it? The weeks of deliberations, the radio silence, the professions of ignorance from those close to James, the cryptic dispatches from the Man Behind the (Recording Studio) Curtain. For nearly a month, the world watched and waited and speculated amid a maddening self-muzzling interrupted only by the occasional communication via proxy. What we knew came almost entirely from a handful of podcast episodes where Rich Paul sounded more like a bystander than James’ agent and confidant.

    Eyes were rolled. Deep breaths were sighed. Every lapsed news cycle was another shell in the stockpile of the critics and skeptics and purists who prefer brands of basketball to basketball brands. James’ most hostile audience has always been those who would rather live in a world where the Greatest of All Time is not first and foremost a business, man. But let’s give them their due. Even someone who is unbothered by the primacy of the 1099 in sports could have found their patience tested by James’ monthlong melodrama.

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    In hindsight, James’ actions seem perfectly reasonable. This wasn’t attention-seeking behavior. It was the private torment of a man who was about to choose, via his own free will, to move from Los Angeles to Philadelphia.

    But it is deeper than that. Everybody involved needed it to go down this way. The significance of James’ signing with the Sixers is that he had every reason not to. He had other options, all of which had won championships within the last decade-and-a-half. They had superstars, some of the greatest to ever play the game: Steph Curry, Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden.

    They had stronger personal ties, more spotlight appeal. They had the tech scene, the outdoors, the party scene. James said he was looking for basketball bliss. Which means there is a lot of political capital in the fact that he chose the Sixers. The basketball is all they had to offer.

    LeBron James has a well-documented friendship with Tyrese Maxey with both being part of Klutch Sports.Chris Szagola / AP

    It’s perfectly valid to question whether James at 42 years old will create the on-court impact worthy of the hoopla surrounding his decision. There are plenty of scenarios where the sum of the parts exceeds the whole. That’s true even before you factor in age and injury. In James, Jaylen Brown, and Joel Embiid, the Sixers have three players who are accustomed to having the loudest voice in the room. In Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, they have two young players who have been plagued by bouts of deference when sharing the court with more established veterans.

    Yet, therein lies the significance of James’ deliberate evaluation of his options. The great general Charles de Gaulle once said that silence is the ultimate weapon of power. For weeks, everyone wondered what he would decide, and why. They thus imbued his ultimate decision and explanation with a tremendous amount of power. It meant something when James finally picked Maxey, and Edgecombe, and Brown, and, yes, Embiid. Everybody assumed James wouldn’t pick the Sixers because they were the Sixers. But he did pick them, which automatically makes them something nobody thought they were before.

    Intentional or not, James’ decision-making process has empowered both his new organization and his new teammates before he has even arrived.

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    You probably saw the social media video Maxey released in the wake of James’ signing. It was just a few seconds of him yelling spastically. You have to think that there was a little bit of that going on inside Brown and Embiid as well. At various points over the last few years, both players have allowed their veils to slip from their insecurities. Brown, passed over for the Olympic team after winning NBA Finals MVP, second fiddle to Jayson Tatum, inefficient, overpaid, not a real superstar.

    Embiid, injured, maybe finished, soft, selfish, supplanted by Maxey and Edgecombe as the heart and soul of a franchise. Who knows how those insecurities would have played in a power vacuum like that which could have existed without an unquestioned adult in the room. Insecurity is mostly thirst for validation. To be good enough for the best is a heck of a quench.

    Part of me wonders whether LeBron’s real attraction to the Sixers is an opportunity to lead. Not that he hasn’t always led, in both spirit and example. But the Sixers offer him a unique opportunity.

    More than any of the teams that pursued him this offseason, maybe even more than any team he has been on to this point, the Sixers were a team that genuinely needed exactly a player and a person like James is right now. It will be fascinating to see how the whole thing will look on the court, and what part James will play. Don’t be surprised if his biggest impact has already been made.

  • Sixers waive Dalen Terry in cost-cutting move to sign LeBron James and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

    Sixers waive Dalen Terry in cost-cutting move to sign LeBron James and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

    Dalen Terry has been waived by the 76ers, the team announced Sunday.

    The move will allow the Sixers to officially sign megastar LeBron James and veteran wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope while staying under the first apron hard salary cap. The Sixers need to waive (or potentially trade) one more player in order to get under that financial ceiling.

    Terry being one of the cuts is unsurprising. His $2.6 salary for 2026-27 was nonguaranteed until Jan. 10, after the Sixers picked up the team option in his contract in late June.

    Jaylen Brown is now eligible to sign a one-year contract extension with the Sixers

    Terry joined the Sixers on a two-way contract in February, and averaged 4.1 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 12.4 minutes across 14 games. He had his contract converted to a standard deal in April, after veteran point guard Cameron Payne sustained a hamstring injury that would have kept him sidelined for weeks.

    The 24-year-old Terry was with a group of Sixers teammates and staff to watch a Las Vegas Summer League game earlier this month. He said then that he had spent his offseason working on his shooting, and was excited when the team acquired All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown.

  • Jaylen Brown is now eligible to sign a one-year contract extension with the Sixers

    Jaylen Brown is now eligible to sign a one-year contract extension with the Sixers

    Jaylen Brown has yet to play a game for the 76ers, following the stunning blockbuster trade from the Boston Celtics earlier this month.

    Yet a significant Brown-related decision already faces the Sixers. The All-NBA wing on Sunday became eligible for a one-year contract extension that could be worth nearly $69 million, which would keep him signed through the 2029-30 season.

    If Brown does not sign the one-year extension this offseason, he will become eligible for a three-year extension in the 2027 offseason.

    This all further demonstrates the financial investment the Sixers are making in Brown, who last season finished sixth in voting for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award and is a five-time All-Star and former Finals MVP. He has three years remaining on his current supermax deal, with salaries of $57.7 million for the upcoming season, $61.7 million in 2027-28, and $65.6 million in 2028-29.

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    It also aligns with the rationale given by Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens for why he dealt Brown in his prime.

    Had Brown stayed with the Celtics, he instead would have been eligible for a two-year, $142 million extension. Stevens cited a reason for the trade was that Brown and fellow star Jayson Tatum — who has four years remaining on his current contract, including a $71.4 million player option for 2029-30 — would take up approximately 70% of the Celtics’ salary cap. That makes it increasingly more challenging to build out a roster with strong complementary players under the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, with “apron” penalties including trade restrictions for high-spending teams.

    Stevens repeatedly used the word “optionality” when describing the roster-building reasons for the move that shocked the NBA.

    “I might be wrong. I’m not going to stand up here and be defensive about that,” Stevens said at a news conference following the trade. “But the path [to winning a championship] looked a little bit more challenging. … You have to do a great job of building out depth that can hopefully replace the irreplaceable individual.”

    But Brown being traded to the Sixers knocked his extension eligibility down to one year, because players on new teams are only allowed to extend their contracts out to four total seasons. According to NBA cap expert Keith Smith, the salary figure Brown can earn on that additional year is the greater number of either the max salary for a player with 10 years of NBA service, which Spotrac projects to be $66.9 million in 2029-30, or a 5% raise on the final year of his current deal, which is $68.9 million.

    Though adding Brown is a bit less of an immediate financial burden for the Sixers, it still creates a top-heavy salary cap sheet for multiple seasons.

    Former NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid is slated to make $57.7 million on his max extension in the upcoming season, then $62.4 million in 2027-28 and $67 million in 2028-29. All-NBA guard Tyrese Maxey also has three years remaining on his first max contract, at $40.8 million for the upcoming season, then $43.6 million in 2027-28, and $46.4 million in 2028-29.

    Though both contracts are scheduled to come off the books in the 2029 offseason — barring another max or supermax extension for Maxey — standout guard VJ Edgecombe will be eligible to sign his first (potentially max) extension in the 2028 offseason.

    It is possible the Sixers could persuade Edgecombe to take the same route that Maxey once did. Instead of signing a max extension when eligible entering the final year of his rookie contract, in 2023, Maxey waited a year before inking a max deal. That gave Maxey a smaller cap hit in the 2024 offseason, and more financial flexibility for the Sixers that they ultimately used to sign Paul George to a four-year max contract.

    Today that George deal is considered even more of an albatross than Brown’s contract, because George is older (36), no longer a perennial All-Star, and has struggled to stay on the court in recent seasons. But he will come off Boston’s books sooner, with two years remaining on his deal including a player option. That contract also becomes increasingly easier to trade the closer it gets to expiring.

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    Just because Brown is now eligible for the one-year extension does not mean that it will be offered by the Sixers and agreed to immediately — or at all.

    Yet it is a reminder of at least part of the Celtics’ justification for trading Brown. And it gives the Sixers a Brown-related decision before he even steps on the court for his new team.