Philly’s other pro athletes spent weeks on red carpets, at events, and on podcasts trying to pitch LeBron James on signing with the Sixers. Everyone from Bryce Harper to Cooper DeJean and Saquon Barkley tried to sell him on it.
And on Friday, James finally announced that he will continue his NBA career in Philadelphia, signing a two-year deal with the Sixers to try and win another championship.
Despite speculation that Jaylen Brown, whom the Sixers acquired earlier this month, and James might have beef, after Brown said two years ago that he didn’t believe James’ son, Bronny, was a pro, Brown was the first Sixers star to post after the announcement.
While we’re still waiting on Joel Embiid, the 2022-23 MVP spent much of 2014 on Twitter trying to lobby James to the Sixers. Twelve years later, he finally got his wish.
@KingJames hey bro hope you're having a good day…… Want to join us in philly?? Peace
The city’s other athletes are reacting, too. Barkley extended a golf invite after Sixers fans spent weeks pondering the locations of James’ golf trips.
Welcome to the city! Let me know when you tryna tee it up 🏌🏽⛳️ @KingJames
But some former NBA players were less enthused about James’ fourth decision, including Gilbert Arenas.
“This don’t look right, I’m sorry. Who is this?” Arenas said. “… Philly? What? I know Savannah didn’t approve this. Nobody approved him going to Philly.”
Dwight Howard posted encouraging the Sixers to complete the team with Ben Simmons, who said he plans to return to the NBA this year. Many fans responded with a famous old Colin Cowherd meme.
The Eagles are being awarded a $4 million grant from the state of Pennsylvania to help fund renovations to their training facility, the Jefferson Health Training Complex, according to documents published by the Office of the Budget.
The Philadelphia Business Journal was first to report on the grant award.
The Eagles had submitted an application for the grant through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, which supports regional economic, recreational, cultural, civic, and historical improvement projects, during the 2025 funding round.
The team had applied for a $7.725 million RACP grant. The program requires at least 50% of the total project costs to be paid by at least one non-state funding source. The Eagles listed their total private match at roughly $7.753 million, bringing their budget total for the project to approximately $15.478 million.
The Eagles declined to comment on the awarding of the grant.
The Eagles listed their planned renovations in the application, which included the expansion of the locker room and the training room, the construction of a cafeteria addition to include a rooftop area, the expansion and renovation of the seating area in the existing cafeteria, the renovation of the kitchen, the expansion and renovation of the staff locker rooms and coaches locker rooms, and the expansion and development of the main lobby and coaches’ entrance.
The grant, the Eagles wrote, would be used to “offset hard construction costs associated with the renovations to the amenities” they listed in the application, resulting in a “more efficient workplace and training facility.”
The Eagles also were required to explain how the project to upgrade the Jefferson Health Training Complex, which was called the NovaCare Complex until mid-February when the team announced new sponsorship agreements, will provide a benefit or improvement to the community in the application.
“NovaCare has served as the Eagles’ training facility and corporate headquarters since 2001,” the team wrote. “The Eagles have made 3 Super Bowl appearances and earned 2 Super Bowl victories in the past 8 years. This would not be possible without its commitment to investing in its facilities to attract top talent. This success has fueled civic pride and provided increased visibility to the city. As the nature of professional sports has changed, so have teams’ needs relating to physical space.
“When NovaCare opened, we had 138 full-time employees. Today we have 276. In 2017, the Eagles Autism Foundation was created, and has grown from a staff of 1 to 10 and raised $40MM+. From 2003-12, total PA State Income Tax withheld was $29.5MM (average of $2.9MM/year). From 2013-22, total withheld was $61.7MM (average of $6.17MM/year). We project that for 2023-32, total withheld would be $113.9MM (average $11.39MM/year). This project will ensure the facility can meet the needs of our team as it continues to grow.”
Saquon Barkley greets fans at what then was known as the NovaCare Complex last season.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
The Eagles also explained the factors that they relied on to arrive at their requested grant amount.
“The construction of the NovaCare Complex included public financing, and the Complex sits on public land,” the Eagles wrote. “It is an excellent example of a successful public/private partnership that has generated an economic return for the Commonwealth and the City. Financial assistance from the Commonwealth will enable the Eagles to maximize the scope of the project, minimize the construction timeline, and increase the prospect of maintaining the practice facility at the site.”
As The Inquirer reported in February, the team has been upgrading its practice facility after acquiring the former Rothman Orthopaedics space. The team had a meeting last offseason with their player leadership council to address the topics raised in the 2025 NFLPA survey, which rated the locker room a D+, as a means of identifying prospective improvements.
This year, according to an ESPN report, the Eagles locker room was rated a D. Still, the team received an A- for their weight room and a B- for their training room.
The Jefferson Health Training Complex may not be the only Eagles facility subject to upgrades — or, potentially, more significant changes. At the league meeting in March, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said the team is conducting “exploratory research” on the prospect of a new or renovated stadium ahead of the expiration of Lincoln Financial Field’s lease in 2032.
One of the variables that the Eagles must consider is the location of a potential new stadium, either in the South Philadelphia sports complex or beyond. Lurie wouldn’t rule out any potential location if the stadium was built anew, noting that he would do “whatever’s best for the fans.”
A week later, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on The Inquirer’s unCovering the Birds podcast, “We’re not going to lose the Birds. They’re going to stay in Philly, and we’re going to make sure of that.”
After the blockbuster trade with the Boston Celtics that brought Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia, you might be forgiven for thinking new team president Mike Gansey was done adding stars. But that deal kicked off rumors that one of the game’s all-time greats, LeBron James, could also ply his trade in South Philly.
Despite the initial talk linking him with a return to Cleveland or Miami, “King James” confirmed on June 24 that he’ll be a Sixer. We tracked it all with our initially unscientific Bron-O-Meter. He’s how it all unfolded…
Latest updates
Here's a look back at all that's happened since James informed the Lakers on June 30 that he'd play his 24th NBA season elsewhere, and how each moment impacted the vibes around him potentially joining the Sixers …
news
July 24, 11:43 a.m.
This is not a drill.
In a series of posts on X, LeBron James confirmed that he is bringing his talents to South Broad. According to ESPN, he agreed to a two-year contract with the Sixers on Friday in one of the more improbable roster additions in Sixers history.
“I 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.” said James on X while confirming the news.
Get the latest on the Hall of Famer’s move to Philly in our live blog.
news
July 22, 8:32 a.m.
Talk about a whoopsie. A member of the Miami Heat’s social media staff posted a link Tuesday night for a July 27 livestream titled “LeBron James Introductory Press Conference.” The post was later deleted and a Heat spokesperson told ESPN that the team was preparing for the possibility of James signing in Miami and accidentally posted the link to the team’s YoutTube page.
Needless to say, the errant post sent the internet into a frenzy, but it’s not hard to imagine how it happened. All the teams reported to be finalists for James — and the news organizations that cover them — are similarly preparing just in case he picks their city. It’s just that one of them jumped the gun. The real question is whether it was truly an accident, or if Miami knows something the rest of us don’t.
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podcast
July 21, 11:47 a.m.
Mark J. Terrill
The waiting game continues. Rich Paul, LeBron James’ agent and longtime friend, reiterated that there’s no timetable for a decision from his client.
“We're not going to be rushed,” Paul said on the latest episode of his Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman, which was released Monday evening. “We're not going to be rushed. It's his choice to make and when he makes the choice, he'll make it.”
Paul added that a decision could come at any time — “It could be 48 seconds [from now]. It could be 48 minutes.” — and that there’s nothing teams can do at this point to sway King James.
“There's been several people to call and say, ‘Hey, Rich, is there anything more we should be doing? We could be doing?’” Paul said. “And my answer is, ‘No. We don't need you to go above and beyond about anything. We understand it. It's clear. All the messages have been sent.’”
If people were taking Tyrese Haliburton’s mention of “Year 76” as a possible hint that James is coming to Philly, then those same people might notice Paul twice mentioned the number 48. First seconds … then minutes … next would be hours. The 1982 movie 48 Hours was set in San Francisco. Is it a sign LeBron is headed to the Warriors? If we’re going to read the tea leaves, let’s read all the tea leaves.
report
July 20, 4:24 p.m.
After LeBron was spotted meeting Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sixers owner Josh Harris while in New York City for Fanatics Fest, it doesn't appear the prized free agent’s top three teams have changed. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the pitches are in and "the choice is LeBron James' right now." The Sixers, Cavaliers, and Heat remain the possible landing spots.
"All of the information is in, the teams are set, everyone has made their moves," Charania, who said he spoke with James' agent Rich Paul earlier on Monday, reported on NBA Today. "There is no decision or choice yet. There's no timetable on a choice of a team. … My understanding over the past couple weeks, that the focus has been primarily on the Eastern Conference teams, being Cleveland, Miami and Philadelphia."
podcast
July 17, 1:34 p.m.
LeBron James continued making appearances at Fanatics Fest In New York City Friday, and during one of them — a live recording of The Shop — the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer sent the crowd into a frenzy when he said he wants to play for a team that “trusts the process.”
While “The Process” was both a rebuilding period for the Sixers and Joel Embiid’s nickname, James went on to say that he has been using the phrase for his entire career, and that it was not a reference to the Sixers or their former motto.
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podcast
July 17, 9:58 a.m.
LeBron James made a pair of appearances Thursday at Fanatics Fest, and shared his first public comments since his free agency began. While James didn’t say much at either — first on a live recording of Mind the Game podcast, and then on CNBC’s Boardroom — he did hint that a decision could be coming soon, saying that he “won’t hold you guys up too much longer.” He also hinted that his 24th NBA season may not be his last.
report
July 15, 12:53 p.m.
Chris Szagola / AP
ESPN reported that the Sixers’ three biggest stars have all been in touch with LeBron James, with Tyrese Maxey leading the team’s pitch to the superstar free agent.
“As LeBron James' free agency decision extends into its second week, the Philadelphia 76ers have kept up their pursuit of the four-time NBA champion through three of their players, league sources told ESPN,” Dave McMenamin wrote. “Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown have all been in communication with James, sources told ESPN on Tuesday, with Maxey leading the charge. … Sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Tuesday the Sixers remain one of the top potential destinations for James, along with the Cavaliers and the Miami Heat.”
reporting
July 14, 5:29 p.m.
Gansey told the Inquirer that “we’d love to have [LeBron] in Philly. 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.”
“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.”
interview
July 11, 11:34 a.m.
Rich Paul, LeBron James’ agent, is in Las Vegas for NBA Summer League, and joined ESPN Friday night to discuss James’ free agency. In addition to saying there’s no timeline for a decision — "I just tell him take your time, [and] whenever you’re ready, just let me know," he said — Paul added that his client and longtime friend isn’t “chasing a ring” and is “not worried about nobody’s opinions.”
That could be taken a couple of different ways by Sixers fans: a negative, since their team arguably gives him the best fit and best chance to win; or a positive, since some have said that LeBron finishing his career in Philly would be awkward, especially compared to places like Cleveland or Miami.
podcast
July 10, 4:22 p.m.
Rich Paul dropped another episode of his Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman on Friday, and was asked about Tyrese Maxey being the main draw in Philly. His response? “First of all, none of these lists [of teams] are accurate, what you’re seeing out there. No one knows what the list looks like.”
While that wasn’t the question — and was certainly an interesting start to his answer — Paul went on to outline some of the reasons Maxey is at the top of the list of reasons his client would want to play for the Sixers. But he also talked about Joel Embiid, the Jaylen Brown trade, and more.
report
July 10, 2:19 p.m.
While attempting to temper Cavaliers fans' expectations during a radio hit in Cleveland, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said he "had somebody on the phone with me today that I consider a good source who was swearing it's a done deal in another city [outside of Cleveland] a couple hours ago."
"And so, I am being very, very cautious. Right now, it's too scattered," Windhorst said. "I also know how LeBron has operated. They have kept their circle very tight. … I'm hearing rumors all day long, and all of them make some level of sense, and all of them make some level of not sense. So I'm just telling you: Cleveland is not the only place where there are rumors."
social
July 9, 5:26 p.m.
Two Philly sports stars — including one of the newest Sixers — made public pitches to James on Thursday. First up was Saquon Barkley, who said he’d tell LeBron that he’ll be “remembered forever” if he brings a championship to Philly.
Later in the day, Jaylen Brown used an appearance with streamer iShowSpeed during the France-Morocco World Cup quarterfinal to have Speed, an Ohio native whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr., to court James to the Sixers.
report
July 9, 8:06 a.m.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst reiterated how impactful Tyrese Maxey could be in the Sixers' recruitment of James, but also said on First Take that other teams “are skeptical” they can compete with Cleveland in the recruiting process. He did, however, point out another reason the Sixers are a compelling option:
"What I suspect is going to be important to him is he is going to get through the regular season without having to go to extraordinary measures. Without having to play 38 minutes per game, take 25 shots. I think Philly can make a compelling case that they would not tax him too much, that he could save up his body for the postseason. … But so can Cleveland. Cleveland has a buildout just as strong as Philly and they are home. That's what everybody out there is worried about. Can anybody make a more compelling case on the roster than Cleveland and more compelling on the home front than Cleveland? The teams out there that I've talked to are skeptical. They don't know for sure, but they're skeptical."
opinion
July 9, 5:01 a.m.
Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayesisn't buying the hype, and outlined all the reasons why he believes James doesn't actually want to be in Philly, adding that "LeBron’s representatives are using this (feigned) interest as leverage to land the King elsewhere."
"I don’t think he wants to be in Philadelphia, which is a much tougher city than anywhere else he’s played. I don’t think he wants to deal with an organization with anabsentee owner and afirst-time top executive. I don’t think he wants to be associated or represent one of the most dysfunctional organizations in major league sports over the past 14 years, and with the NFL’s Jets, Raiders, and Browns in that mix, that’s quite an accomplishment. I don’t think he wants to play for the NBA veteran minimum, which is all he’d get at this point."
While not ruling the Sixers out, Brian Windhorst reported Tuesday thatthere is a "vibe" suggesting the Cavaliers are the most likely destination for James. He also added some more teams — the Warriors, Nuggets, and Timberwolves — back into the mix.
“While there is a ‘vibe’ pointing toward the Cavs, coming off their best non-LeBron season in more than 30 years and signing Donovan Mitchell to a four-year maximum contract extension, other teams are not counting themselves out,” Windhorstwrote. “The Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Philadelphia 76ers each believe they have a compelling case, per sources."
He doubled down on Wednesday:
podcast
July 8, 9:00 a.m.
Bob Myers, the president of sports for HBSE and the man who led the search to replace Daryl Morey (and hire Mike Gansey), was a guest on the Game Over podcast andpitches the Sixers directly to LeBron's agent and longtime friend, Rich Paul.
“If he was here, I’d say I honestly believe [Philly] is your best chance to win,” Myers said. “… What I would just say is, if it’s about winning, let’s talk about this team. Because you can win here in Philly.”
report
July 7, 6:24 p.m.
ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the Sixers are one of the top-three teams in the running to land James, along with the Cavaliers and Heat.
analysis
July 7, 5:01 a.m.
Gina Mizellbroke down some backup options for the Sixers if their pursuit of James comes up empty. Obviously none are as impactful as the four-time MVP, but there are still some quality veterans — and familiar faces — available on the free-agent market.
opinion
July 6, 5:01 a.m.
Inquirer columnist David Murphy outlinedwhy you can't rule out LeBron to Philly: "The Sixers do offer James a chance to do something novel. You can’t say that about many of his potential landing spots."
social
July 4, 10:21 p.m.
James was spotted in Cleveland over July Fourth weekend with some former high school teammates, including with Cavaliers assistant GM (and longtime friend) Brandon Weems, whom Paul previous said was "basically LeBron's brother."
podcast
July 3, 6:00 a.m.
Paul outlined James' possible landing spots on Game Over, and included the Sixers among them,launching a million consipiracy theories and causing Sixers fans to ask, "Why was Maxey the only player with a star next to his name?" and, "Why were the Sixers the first team added to the board?" The four other teams listed among the top contenders were the Cavaliers, Heat, Timberwolves, and Nuggets.
report
July 2, 3:30 p.m.
ESPN's Shams Charania and Brian Windhorstboth signal the Sixers are seriously in the mix for James and outline their potential pitch.
social
July 1, 8:11 p.m.
Steven Gansey, the younger brother of new Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey,posted a photo on X of his sibling alongside James during their time as high school basketball players in Ohio.
news
July 1, 6:33 p.m.
The Inquirer confirmed that the Sixersacquired Jaylen Brown from the Celtics in exchange for Paul George and four draft picks.
report
July 1, 11:04 a.m.
ESPN's Shams Charania reported that James is willing to play for a veteran minimum.
podcast
July 1, 6:00 a.m.
Paul told Game Over podcast cohost Max Kellerman thatbetween 12 and 14 teams have reached out about his client, and says that it's not about money.
report
June 30, 1:07 p.m.
The Cavaliers, Heat and Warriorsemerged as the initial suitors for James, according to NBA insiders Chris Haynes (NBA on Prime), Jake Fischer (SteinLine), and Brian Windhorst (ESPN).
report
June 30, 12:03 p.m.
James informed the Lakers he's leaving Los Angeles and will play his 24th NBA season elsewhere.
Staff Contributors
Design and Development: Sam Morris
Reporting: Matt Mullin
Editing: Matt Mullin, Sam Morris, and DeAntae Prince
Photography: AP
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Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey has a history with James. They first crossed paths as Ohio high school basketball players and later when Gansey was an executive with the Cavaliers.
// Timestamp 07/24/26 7:44pm
‘It’s a Philly King’: Inquirer and Daily News front (and back) pages
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s front page for Saturday, July 25, 2026.The Philadelphia InquirerThe front of the Philadelphia Inquirer sports section for Saturday.staffThe front cover of Sunday’s Daily News.Daily NewsAnd the back cover of the Daily News.Daily News
// Timestamp 07/24/26 7:37pm
Steve Gansey says Sixers fans are showing him the love after his brother’s big move
Steve Gansey, right, brother of Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey, left, became popular online after he shared an image of his brother and LeBron James.Courtesy of Steve Gansey
Steve Gansey was at work on Friday morning when the texts started to trickle in.
Two colleagues from Philadelphia shared the news that LeBron James had signed with the 76ers. Gansey, the younger brother of new Sixers’ president of basketball operations Mike Gansey, logged onto Twitter/X, and saw a post from ESPN insider Shams Charania saying the same.
Like any other responsible basketball fan, he checked to make sure it wasn’t a prank account, before getting too excited.
“I was like, ‘OK, well, who knows?’” Gansey said on Friday. “You’ve got to do your due diligence and make sure that’s real.”
About an hour later, Steve received the ultimate confirmation from his brother.
“Mike actually called me,” he said. “And was like, ‘What’s up?’ And I was like ‘… What’s up?’”
Steve said his brother barely talked about LeBron at all.
“We talked about how excited he is, this that and the other, and the first thing he said was, ’Yeah, it’s Nick Nurse’s birthday,’” Gansey said. “And Nick was boarding a plane or something, and Mike had to shoot him a text, and he said, ‘Happy Birthday,’ or something.”
He added: “Only a couple of hours after he gets the news with LeBron, Mike is talking about going to the flea market with his kids tomorrow in Cleveland. And how excited he is to find some old school starting lineups or action figures. That’s just who Mike is.”
The younger Gansey ignited social media a few weeks ago, when he posted a photo of his brother, side-by-side, with LeBron, in high school. LeBron played basketball at St. Vincent-St. Mary, a short drive from Olmsted Falls, where Gansey played.
Steve says he didn’t have any inside knowledge when he posted that prophetic tweet, but that didn’t stop Sixers fans from showering him with praise on Friday afternoon, after the news became official.
“Everyone was like, ‘Thanks Steve for everything,’ like I did something,” Gansey said. “I gave people hope, I guess, by throwing out a couple of tweets there.”
Steve has never been to Philadelphia; the closest he got was a trip to Delaware when he was coaching in the G-League. But he is excited to go. And when he does, he will have plenty of free food and alcohol awaiting him.
“Someone said that Mike can walk on the Sch-ku-yu? What is it? Water?” Gansey said, referring to the Schuylkill River. “I was like, ‘OK, that must be a tough body of water to walk on.’
“The free Tastykakes. ‘I have your hookup for free Tastykakes for Mike.’ Free cheesesteaks. ‘You get free beer, or a free drink, when you come into town.’”
These are nice perks, but the younger brother is more proud of his brother than anything else — and unlike the rest of the NBA, he’s certainly not surprised.
“It comes around,” he said. “And that’s what relationships are. Obviously they have a good relationship together, they won a championship [in Cleveland] together, they feel comfortable. Nick Nurse won a championship. He’s a players’ first type of coach.
“It’s just really awesome that they are back together again. And it’s even cooler that they’re teaming up in a different city. Two northeast Ohio guys, takin’ on the world.”
We still don’t know when LeBron James will make his regular-season 76ers debut, as the NBA has yet to drop its schedule, but two preseason games have already been revealed. And if you hope to see him in preseason action at Xfinity Mobile Arena, get ready to pay a pretty penny.
As of Friday afternoon, tickets for the Sixers’ preseason home game vs. the Boston Celtics (7 p.m. on Oct. 16) start at $305 each for two tickets, according to Vivid Seats. A single ticket is $321. Tickets for the Sixers’ other known preseason game, at the Celtics’ TD Garden Oct. 10 (8 p.m.), start at $157 for two tickets together, while a single seat starts at $193.
We’ll say it again: These are for preseason games.
Worth it for an audience with King James?
The preseason home-and-home already had intrigue, since it could be the first time Jaylen Brown sees his former team. The Sixers acquired Brown from the Celtics, the only team he had known in his 10 NBA seasons, on July 1 for Paul George and four draft picks.
Breaking down LeBron’s decision to join the Sixers
// Timestamp 07/24/26 5:24pm
‘That’s cheating’: Kendrick Perkins, Vince Carter on LeBron signing
ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, who played with LeBron James on the 2014-15 Cavaliers team that fell in the finals, said the future Hall of Famer’s decision to sign with the Sixers made Philly a legitimate championship threat.
With an existing core of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and the recently acquired Jaylen Brown, Perkins believes James is the piece that will put Philly over the top.
“The Philadelphia 76ers, with LeBron James, can win the championship this year, with this roster,” Perkins said. “The teams that he won a championship with, they had dogs… this is what [the 76ers] have”
Hall of Famer Vince Carter said James joining the Sixers was “cheating”.
Along with James, who is entering his 24th season in the NBA, Carter also played well into his 40s, with a career spanning from 1998-2020. But while the former 5th overall pick did not win a championship across his 22 year career, James will now aim to win his 5th championship, and become the first player to win one with four separate teams.
During an recent episode of The Cousins, a podcast he co-hosts with Tracy McGrady, Carter said James “doesn’t have to do much to still be him” due to Philly’s talented roster.
“Now your fifth-best starter has to guard one of those guys,” Carter said, calling it “crazy.”
LeBron James’ signing adds an exclamation point to Sixers’ transformational summer
LeBron James chose the Sixers over suitors that included the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
LeBron James’ Friday morning news dump did not come via ESPN television special or Sports Illustrated open letter.
Or on his agent’s podcast, for that matter.
Instead, it was one tweet from ESPN newsbreaker Shams Charania. And another from James’ agency, Klutch Sports, with confirmation. Then a thread of tweets from LeBron himself, with an initial explanation of what he is calling his final decision.
It was gargantuan all the same. For the NBA. And for Philly.
LeBron is a Sixer. So is Jaylen Brown. And Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe, for that matter. And it all brings together arguably the most improbable-yet-transformative offseason in franchise history under new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey.
James, who has agreed to sign a two-year, $8 million deal, The Inquirer confirmed, will finish his legendary career with a team with which he has far less prior connection than his other reported suitors. He did not choose the hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Or the Miami Heat, where he won his first two NBA championships. Or even the Golden State Warriors, where it is easily commutable from Los Angeles if his family chose to stay there.
But “everything changed,” agent Rich Paul said on his Game Over podcast, once the Sixers pulled off the blockbuster trade for Brown.
Playing with Tyrese Maxey, a fellow premier Klutch client who has worked out with James since his pre-draft process, went from theoretical to realistic. Working with a young VJ Edgecombe was intriguing to James, Paul said. A source close to James also told The Inquirer Friday that James has known Sixers co-owner David Blitzer for many years, and appreciates the franchise’s history and passionate fan base.
In 2017, coming off the opening weekend of his film Split, M. Night Shayamalan rang the Sixers’ ceremonial bell before the Philly team took on the LA Clippers. His daughter Saleka sang the national anthem.
“I can still remember when Dr. J retired,” the filmmaker and die-hard Sixers fan who grew up in Wynnewood and lives in Willistown Township, wrote on the Sixers website in 2019. “It was a tough, tough night in the Shyamalan household.”
A big fan of the late 1990s, Pat Croce, Allen Iverson, Dikembe Mutombo era, Shyamalan chose to celebrate LeBron James’ decision to join the Sixers with an AI generated image of him and James, which he shared on Instagram. In it, the filmmaker is dressed in an armor embossed with the Sixers’ logo and wears a metal crown. Next to him, James wears a “Phila 6” basket ball jersey and a crown more regal than Shyamalan’s. Behind them, a chessboard serves as a background; Shayamalan is the knight (get it?) and James the king. The minimalist caption just tags James and the Sixers’ Instagram accounts.
Most comments decried Shyamalan’s use of Generative AI and one commenter specifically pointed out that the number 6 jersey was retired across NBA teams, in honor of the late Boston Celtics legend, Bill Russell, who passed away in 2022.
Shyamalan, a Sixers season-ticket holder with courtside seats, directed former Sixers point guard James Harden and former coach Doc Rivers in a promotional short for his 2023 thriller, Knock at the Cabin.
Sixers remain silent about LeBron, but not season ticket sales
A text message sent by the Sixers Friday afternoon.Conor Smith
The 76ers have not posted about LeBron James’ decision to sign with the team on social media yet. However, it seems that the team’s ticket sales department is looking to take advantage of the frenzy following the initial news breaking.
In a well-timed time message, the team sent out a reminder to past ticket purchasers that “2026-27 Season Tickets are selling out fast.” Wonder why that may be?
No plan for Bronny James to join LeBron in Philly: ESPN
As for the impact of LeBron James’ decision on his son Bronny James, Rich Paul, the agent for both tells ESPN that "they are not a package deal" and there's no current plan or request for Bronny Janes to join his father in Philly.
Raymond Davis took the train into 30th Street Station to play basketball at Schuylkill River Park.
Before leaving his home in Mount Airy, he put on his Tyrese Maxey to hoop in — not knowing LeBron James would sign with his favorite team shortly after. pic.twitter.com/VhnGdRSg9i
Raymond Davis took the train into 30th Street Station to play basketball at Schuylkill River Park. Before leaving his home in Mount Airy, he put on his Tyrese Maxey to hoop in — not knowing LeBron James would sign with his favorite team shortly after.
“I didn’t even know he was coming until I got on the train,” Davis said. “I was ready to cry on that jawn, bro. It’s so crazy. We getting the chip though, you know what I’m saying. This is the best our team ever looked and I’m just happy to be here. Happy for LeBron, been a LeBron fan since I was a young boul. It’s thorough.”
Davis met up with a few friends on the way to Schuylkill River Park. One of them, Christopher Gaines, is just as excited as Davis. Gaines is ready to write the day down in history books.
“The king of basketball’s coming to Philly — the city of sports and this is like a great day, a great moment,” Davis said. “You know, what? July 24th, I will always remember as ‘King Bron Day’ — the day LeBron came to Philly.”
“I think it’s a special day that all people in Philadelphia should celebrate and should look deep inside their hearts to just remember this is a very important and special day in Philadelphia’s history.”
‘We were picked!’: Sixers fans react to LeBron signing
Lydia Victor and her sister bought a Whole Foods cake to celebrate LeBron James signing with the Sixers.Lydia Victor
After LeBron James announced his decision, Lydia Victor and her sister bought a Whole Foods chantilly cake to celebrate. The Northeast Philly graphic designer and sports content creator had the bakery write “Trust the Process 23” in red frosting on top. She planned to cut it later Friday with her father, who went to college in Ohio and is the biggest LeBron fan, she said.
She said it almost didn’t matter if the James-led team wins a championship — though she was already planning to celebrate on Broad Street. The fact that James chose Philadelphia brought her more happiness than a championship (or potentially getting married or having kids) might. She likened the moment to Meredith Grey’s iconic monologue in the TV show Grey’s Anatomy imploring Derek Shepherd to choose her.
“It’s just the mindset that Philly isn’t always considered a big market and the national media usually counts us out when it comes to acquiring big name free agents,” she said. But this time, things were different.
“We were picked!” she said.
Cormac Watson, a Lakers fan visiting Philadelphia from Ireland, said he was glad James had chosen the Sixers. He wished the 41-year-old well after having spent nearly a decade playing in Los Angeles, but gave a cryptic and familiar warning about the Sixers’ future.
“It all relies on Embiid,” he said.
Darnell Butts, 56, said there’s no way the Sixers would have landed James had former general manager Daryl Morey still been in charge. Butts was optimistic about the Sixers’ championship chances, and excited for the team’s younger stars to learn from a player he calls the greatest of all time. Butts said he wants to welcome James in Philly fashion.
“Get a Philly cheesesteak, it’s on Darnell Butts. Meet me at Reading Terminal,” he said.
Not everyone was thrilled with James’ decision though. Swain Tomar, 39, is from Miami and was dismayed his Heat couldn’t ultimately sway James. He said although he’s a fan of James, it would be tough watching Sixers fans getting to enjoy his final act when the Heat were reportedly among James’ final suitors. Swain blames it on the team’s mistakenly posting a YouTube link to a future introductory press conference for James had he signed with Miami.
“I think we bungled it,” he said.
But Victor said her goodwill toward James goes away if reports are true that he would commute from New York City while a Sixer, instead of living in the area.
“If you’re choosing us lock in [and] choose us,” she said.
LeBron James’ new Sixers jerseys didn’t last long.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer
Fanatics is already sold out of some LeBron James Sixers jerseys.
About two hours after the news broke, all first editions of the no. 23 jerseys were sold out on the Fanatics website. The adult royal blue, white, and red Swingman premium jerseys had been selling for $124.99, in line with the price of similar jerseys for other Sixers stars. Youth jerseys had also been available to pre-order for $69.99.
Red-and-blue adult Fast Break jerseys, which are made of different material, were available to preorder for $79.99 as of Friday afternoon. They were set to ship in early August.
Longtime Sixers public address announcer Matt Cord retired at the end of the season, but took a minute to offer up what his LeBron James intro would sound like during an appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic Friday.
I bet you want to hear Matt Cord Introduce LeBron James…
Deyson Martinez prepares food at Honeygrow in Center City Philadelphia.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Honeygrow, the Philly-founded fast casual food business, tried to lure LeBron James to the Sixers in the day leading up to the announcement.
On Thursday, the company known for its made-to-order stir-fries as well as salads posted on its Instagram what sounded like an enticing offer: Come to Philadelphia, and we’ll give you free Honeygrow food for life, the company touted.
“Thoughts on taking your talents to Broad Street?” the company said in the Instagram post. “We’ve got all the Heat you need.”
One commenter on Instagram chimed in: “I’m not LeBron James but I’d happily take free Honeygrow for life.” Another noted: “Way to sweeten the pot lol”
When the news came out on Friday that James was actually coming to Philadelphia, founder and CEO of Honeygrow Justin Rosenberg said he was “ecstatic.”
He joked: “LeBron personally called me before the announcement and let me know that it was partially because of this – I’m totally kidding.”
Rosenberg, who calls himself a “hardcore Sixers fan,” doesn’t think his company ultimately had anything to do with the decision.
“We’re all floored. This is super cool,” he said. “Just to have him be a part of the city is great.”
Asked if he’ll keep up his end of the deal and provide free Honeygrow to James for life, Rosenberg said, “We’re going to have to keep our end of the bargain and have a conversation with him about this.”
“He’s going to have to reach out. Let’s talk, LeBron,” he said. “Let’s figure it out.”
Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe react to LeBron James coming to Philly
Tyrese Maxey and LeBron James during a December 2025 game in Philly.Bill Streicher, Bill Streicher-I
Philly’s other pro athletes are among the most excited about James coming to Philly, after big names like Bryce Harper and Cooper DeJean attempted to make their pitch on the All-Star red carpet.
Despite speculation that Jaylen Brown and James might have beef, after Brown said a few years ago that he didn’t believe James’ son Bronny was a pro, Brown was the first to post after the announcement.
While we’re still waiting on Joel Embiid, Embiid spent much of 2014 on Twitter trying to lobby James to the Sixers. Twelve years later, he finally got his wish.
@KingJames hey bro hope you're having a good day…… Want to join us in philly?? Peace
Even the city’s other athletes are getting in on it. Saquon Barkley extended a golf invite, after Sixer fans spent weeks conspiring on the locations of James’ golf trips.
Welcome to the city! Let me know when you tryna tee it up 🏌🏽⛳️ @KingJames
LeBron James’ arrival makes the Sixers true championship contenders.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
A lot changed for the Sixers on Friday, including their title odds after LeBron James announced he’d be ending his free agency by signing with the Sixers.
Prior to James becoming a Sixer, they were listed as +2000 to win the NBA Finals, according to Sports Illustrated on July 20.
Philly is now up to +1000, the fourth favorite behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (+260), San Antonio Spurs (+260), and New York Knicks (+900).
The Knicks (+340) remain the favorite to win the Eastern Conference, but the Sixers sit in second with +380 odds for the conference title. Prior to James’ two-year $8 million contract, Philly was +700 to win the East.
Their odds to be the Atlantic Division winners jumped from +450 to +220, according to DraftKings Sports.
— Mia Messina
// Timestamp 07/24/26 11:58am
Gov. Shapiro declares it ‘LeBron James Day’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro rings the bell before a 2024 Sixers game.Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer
Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that Friday would be known as LeBron James Day in a proclamation posted on X following the announcement that the famed player would be signing with the 76ers.
“Pennsylvania is honored to welcome LeBron James to our Commonwealth as he joins the Philadelphia 76ers for his best season yet,” the proclamation reads.
Shapiro highlighted James’s record-breaking NBA career and philanthropic endeavors throughout the proclamation as a reason to dedicate the day to him.
“LeBron has prioritized giving back to his community by founding programs to help at-risk youth stay in school,” the proclamation says. “Funding scholarships and college support, establishing community hubs to address emergency housing, food insecurity, and other wraparound service needs, and much more — making LeBron one of the most charitable athletes in the world.”
LEBRON IS COMING TO PHILLY.
By the power vested in me as the Governor of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a die-hard Sixers fan… I hereby proclaim today to be LEBRON JAMES DAY.
Shortly after news broke that LeBron James planned on signing a two-year deal with the Sixers, the future Hall of Famer took to social media to explain his most recent decision. Here’s the full text:
“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 decide if I still love this game. I still truly love this game, and I have more to give.
“The last few weeks have really been special. I’ve never been able to have no clue what to do and take real time to just think. I’ve had an incredible few months with all the people I love trying to figure it all out. This is my last decision. I’m not going for money. I’m 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.
“I 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.
“Thank you LA. Miami I’ll forever love and Northeast Ohio will always home!”
LeBron James is signing with the Sixers, who immediately become one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer
Steph Curry changed the way basketball was played and the way boys and girls around the world wanted to play it, and among the fraternity of NBA players themselves, Kobe Bryant was more respected and feared, for his preparation and cutthroat competitiveness. But LeBron James has been greater longer than any other player in the sport (with the possible exception of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, if you count his Lew Alcindor/UCLA years).
Set aside, if possible, the four NBA championships and the 10 Finals appearances and the league’s career scoring record and the three Olympic gold medals and the other records he has set. His choreographed announcement in 2010 that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat was the 21st century’s answer to the revelation that Kristin Shepard had pumped two bullets into J.R. Ewing’s belly. It changed everything about the power that elite players held over their respective teams because it showed elite players that they held power over their respective teams. Pro sports hasn’t been the same.
Finding an athlete comparable to James in popularity and influence is difficult enough, let alone one who arrived in Philadelphia during the middle stage or latter half of his career, after he had established his galactic superstardom. Wilt Chamberlain already had been a high school phenom here when the Warriors made him a territorial pick in the 1959 NBA draft. Julius Erving was the “Babe Ruth of basketball” — at least, that’s how Sixers general manager Pat Williams described him in trying to persuade owner Fitz Dixon to cough up the money to acquire Dr. J. But Erving had spent six years in the relative obscurity of the ABA; telling someone you had seen him play for the Virginia Squires or New York Nets, whether in person or on TV, was akin to claiming you had spotted a Sasquatch.
Allen Iverson was a pop-culture revolutionary with the Sixers for introducing hip-hop style and fashion into the mainstream; his on-court accomplishments, though, don’t stack up to James’. Bryce Harper was as well known as any player in Major League Baseball when he signed with the Phillies in 2019, but he didn’t and still doesn’t have anywhere near the global recognition and cachet that James does.
Right now, we’re still waiting for the NBA to release the Sixers’ full 2026-27 schedule, but on Monday some preseason games began to trickle out, including a pair against the Boston Celtics on Oct. 10 (away, 8 p.m.) and Oct. 16 (home, 7 p.m.). Both games will likely air on NBC Sports Philadelphia, but could be promoted to a national network.
And that’s assuming James even plays in the preseason.
At 41, James could opt to wait until the regular season opener to make his Sixers debut, although he has played in recent years, with the exception of last season when he also missed the first 14 regular-season games with sciatica.
Shooting guard: VJ Edgecombe, Anfernee Simons, Dalen Terry
Small forward: Jaylen Brown, Justin Edwards, Jabari Walker
Power forward: LeBron James, Dean Wade, Dominick Barlow
Center: Joel Embiid, Adem Bona, Ariel Hukporti, Johni Broome
// Timestamp 07/24/26 11:32am
Mike Gansey first earned LeBron’s respect as a player
A photo of Mike Gansey (far right) and LeBron James (to the left of Gansey) that originially appeared in the Plain Dealer. Gansey and James both played high school in Ohio.Courtesy of Steve Gansey
By now you’ve probably seen the picture. It was taken in 2000, and was on the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s sports section. Ten high school basketball players from Northeast Ohio stood side by side, in their respective jerseys.
The group had been voted by coaches and athletics directors as the best players in the region. There was Maverick Carter and Chester Mason (“Chet the Jet”) toward the left. Brian Swift was closer to the middle, alongside Mike Patrick.
But what caught everyone’s attention was to the far right: future Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey, of Olmsted Falls High School, alongside future Hall of Famer LeBron James, of St. Vincent-St. Mary.
Gansey was a junior at the time; James was a freshman. Steve Gansey, Mike’s younger brother, posted the photo on X on July 1, with an eyeball emoji, promptly setting the Sixers fan base ablaze with speculation.
Before long, it received hundreds of retweets. Sixers fans sent Gansey direct messages asking if he had any information on whether James would consider coming to Philadelphia.
The truth is that James and Gansey never competed against each other on their high school teams. Olmsted Falls and St. Vincent-St. Mary were in different regions.
Olmsted Falls, which is on the west side of Cleveland, was grouped with schools in northwest Ohio, closer to Toledo. St. Vincent-St. Mary’s is south of Cleveland, and often played schools in the Akron-Canton area. It is possible they overlapped playing AAU ball, but if they did, Steve didn’t hear about it.
Despite their lack of competitive overlap, James and Mike Gansey shared a mutual respect. Over the years, Gansey frequently referred to the future Hall of Famer as the “greatest of all time.”
And James thought highly of the future executive, too. One time, when Gansey was playing in Europe, and James was in the midst of his first stint with the Cavaliers, the two brothers went to a game at Quicken Loans Arena (now Rocket Arena).
Gansey knew some of Cleveland’s players, from training with them during the summer, and went down to the tunnel to say hello.
“And we were probably 100 feet from where LeBron and his people were talking,” Steve recalled. “Someone said, ‘Ganz is over there.’ And LeBron totally walked the opposite way of where he was going, and went to dap up Mike, to say, ‘What’s up, hey man, how you doing?’ Just a quick hello.
“It just shows you the respect. And I was like, ‘Man, Mike, he really walked 100 feet over here, and just dapped you, and walked directly right back. That’s pretty cool.’ And Mike’s like, ‘Yeah, yeah, he’s a great guy,’ and that was it. I’ll always remember that.”
The Bron-O-Meter now officially reads: “It’s on!”Sam Morris
From the asterisk next to Tyrese Maxey’s name on Rich Paul’s white board to LeBron James saying he wants to “trust the process” — and from Steve Gansey’s viral picture to Tyrese Haliburton asking James if this was his 76th season — there have been no shortage of Easter eggs pointing to King James ultimately signing with the Sixers.
Were some of them random coincidences? Sure. Were some chum in the water for Sixers fans starving for a title? You bet. We may never know which was which, but you can recap it all — and see how each moment impacted his chances of ending up in Philly — with our patented Bron-O-Meter.
LeBron James, 41, is entering his 24th NBA season.Katie Chin
The 76ers had already shocked the NBA by acquiring Jaylen Brown in a blockbuster trade on July 2. They just one-upped themselves.
LeBron James, a legendary player and one of the most famous humans on planet Earth, is coming to Philly. According to ESPN, he agreed to a two-year contract with the Sixers on Friday in one of the more improbable roster additions in franchise history.
The second monumental move in a month further illustrates that the Sixers are making the all-in push toward championship contention in the Eastern Conference, joining a Toronto Raptors team that has reacquired Kawhi Leonard and a Miami Heat team that traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo in recent days.
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 Most Valuable Player 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’s minimum contract to join this group.
The Phillies have lost two straight series, but fans will have at least one thing to look forward to this weekend — John Kruk in a suit.
The former Phillies first baseman turned TV analyst will be back in the booth for NBC to cover the series finale against the New York Yankees on Sunday Night Baseball. That means Kruk will once again ditch his polo shirt and ball cap to meet NBC’s rigorous broadcast standards.
“We’re a coat-and-tie shop, so somebody does forcibly make him wear the suit,” said Jason Benetti, the voice of NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball, who will be calling the game alongside Kruk and former Phillies manager Joe Girardi.
If the past is any indicator, expect social media to have fun with Kruk’s attire. This is the third Phillies game he’s called for NBC this season (though the first was a Peacock exclusive), and each time fans have cracked jokes.
One thought Kruk looked like “a clean-shaven Benjamin Franklin.” Others joked he “legit looks like a Mafia hit man” or like a “washed-up hockey coach who tries to make a comeback after years of heavy drinking.”
John Kruk in a suit looks like someone who’s been advised by a judge to not represent themself in court. pic.twitter.com/hkNmcBqPSh
“Some local place should give him a suit deal, and they should let him gift it to charity,” Benetti said.
Even Tom McCarthy’s gotten in on the fun. Following June’s NBC game, McCarthy suggested they send Kruk’s suit to Cooperstown, N.Y., to be part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Earlier this week, Kruk mentioned he might need to borrow a tie for Sunday, so McCarthy brought in a bunch of his own for his broadcast partner to pick from.
“I believe he is going with one of the ones I brought him,” McCarthy said. “The whole exchange has been great.”
Kruk didn’t have a specific color in mind — he just wanted “something that pops” that went well with his dark blue suit.
“I mean, I look good in everything,” Kruk said on the broadcast Sunday during the Phillies’ loss to the New York Mets, though he questioned why he needs to wear a suit in the first place.
This is NBC’s first season broadcasting Sunday Night Baseball, which it took over from ESPN as part of a three-year TV deal with MLB that reportedly runs about $200 million a season. While Benetti is the play-by-play voice, he is joined each week by two different analysts linked to the teams playing.
Benetti has called two games with Kruk this season, describing him as “the perfect improv partner.” But the depth of Kruk’s baseball knowledge took Benetti a bit by surprise.
“I went in with this notion he’ll say anything, and it’ll be interesting, intriguing, weird — the whole range of creativity,” Benetti said. “But he’s an absolutely astute, perceptive, issue-spotting baseball analyst.”
Phillies back on Apple TV to kick off Yankees series
While Apple TV will stream the game, fans can choose to listen to Scott Franzke and the Phillies’ radio broadcast. NBC Sports Philadelphia
Before we get to see Kruk back in his suit, fans will have to log onto Apple TV to watch the Phillies-Yankees series opener on Friday Night Baseball.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Friday, with Jesús Luzardo on the mound facing Yankees ace Cam Schlittler. Calling the game is Wayne Randazzo alongside onetime Phillies pitcher Dontrelle Willis. Heidi Watney will report live from Citizens Bank Park.
Despite the annoyances that come with being forced to stream a Phillies game, Apple TV has the best feature of any sports streamer — the ability to switch to an audio feed of your team’s radio announcing crew. So Phillies fans can listen to Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen, no syncing required.
It’s the fifth season of Apple TV’s seven-year, $595 million deal with MLB, which runs through the 2028 season. Over that time, the cost has nearly doubled from $6.99 to $12.99 a month, though Apple TV is offering a free one-month trial and this is the last Phillies game scheduled to stream on the tech giant’s platform.
Saturday’s game will be back on NBC Sports Philadelphia, with McCarthy calling the action alongside former Phillies general manager Rubén Amaro Jr.
Citizens Bank Park gets high marks from Benetti
NBC play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti, seen here interviewing Phillies slugger Bryce Harper.NBC Sports
In addition to being the voice of Sunday Night Baseball, Benetti calls Detroit Tigers games for Detroit SportsNet. Prior to that, he spent eight seasons as the TV voice of the Chicago White Sox.
There isn’t a stadium in the majors Benetti hasn’t called a game from. And Citizens Bank Park, where he’ll be Sunday night, is near the top of his list of the best ballparks.
“It’s top three in the league,” Benetti said. “It’s absolutely wired. When it’s close and late, you can’t hear yourself … The ballpark itself plays loud.”
“It was an 11 out of 10,” Benetti said. “It was nonsense how good it was.”
Phillies standings
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Phillies news
Phillies owner John Middleton. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
It has the potential of being a dream story, really.
It’s also one the Union have played out before. Stop if you’ve heard this: An area native and former professional climbs the ranks to become the franchise’s manager.
Part 1 of that tale was former manager Jim Curtin. Part 2 is interim head coach Ryan Richter, the Southampton native, 2010 Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year at La Salle, and Union draft pick who played seven professional seasons across MLS and other leagues.
On Wednesday, Richter, 37, stood in the coach’s box on the sidelines at Subaru Park and orchestrated a 3-1 win against rival Red Bull New York.
Congratulations to La Salle grad Ryan Richter, ‘11, as he has been named @PhilaUnion interim head coach!
In this role, Ryan manages team logistics, leads specific training drills, and analyzes player performances.
It was the Union’s first league win at home this season, and, despite their starting centerback holding out, which forced a shift along the team’s back line, the Union (2-10-4, 10 points) looked impressive.
But Richter knows one win doesn’t make him soccer’s Winston Wolf. He’s not quite the fixer yet, but he coaches in a forgiving league. Despite the Union wallowing in the basement of Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference, there’s still time to chase a playoff run. And that would make it hard for Union brass not to consider revisiting history when it comes to their next full-time manager.
But that’s not on Richter’s mind right now. Well, maybe a little.
“I’ve been a part of this club since 2011 and in pretty much every role, from a coaching standpoint, that you can be involved in,” said Richter, who in addition to coaching the club’s reserve squad, Union II, has coached on just about every level of the club’s youth system, including SWAG, its developmental program dedicated to introducing an underserved population to high-level soccer training.
“I think over that period, I’ve made a lot of good relationships with people, staff in the academy, staff in the second team, ownership, everyone that’s involved in the club … this opportunity for me, personally, is a reflection of all the people that have helped me in this club, all the people that have helped me get to this point.”
For now, all Richter can do is continue to replicate the success from Wednesday and wait. There’s a prevailing belief that the Union not bringing him on immediately is less that they want to conduct a global search for their next manager, than that they don’t want to be on the hook for paying three. They’re still paying Curtin’s buyout and remain on the books with Bradley Carnell, who lasted a season and a half before being dismissed in May, but has a contract with the club through the end of the year.
Richter took over in an interim role following the departure of Bradley Carnell (above) in May.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
However, according to a source with knowledge of the proceedings, the Union made few moves to bring in candidates over the seven-week break for the World Cup.
Many within the organization believe Richter already has the respect of the locker room, the tactics to make adjustments within the Union’s playing philosophy, and a “ton of energy,” as Union president Tim McDermott said recently when asked about the team’s coaching situation.
But McDermott’s words felt less like a deflection and more like admitting that right now the club’s on-field leadership is in wait-and-see mode, and part of that is waiting to see whether Richter can turn around the team’s fortunes.
“He interacts and communicates and relates incredibly well to our players,” McDermott told The Inquirer. “He is a guy that’s not too far removed from playing himself, and that brings a lot of credibility. He carries himself in a way that’s highly respected, and he’s good at simplifying messages to the players so they get it. They understand what he’s trying to do.”
Drafted by the Union in 2011, Ryan Richter also had a stint with Toronto FC in 2013.
Listen to Richter speak about the game, and it becomes clear that the guy knows ball.
“The philosophy is not going to change,” Richter said. “As someone who’s worked in this club for eight years … three of those years, the Union has had the most points in the league. So what I’ve learned and what I’ve seen produce a winning product is playing this style [and] using this methodology.
“I know it can lead to success when it’s done in the right way. Your job as a coach is to put your players in a position where you only see their strengths. So whether that’s a [4-4-2] diamond [formation], whether that’s a 4-2-2-2, we’re going to try to put the players in a position where we can see their strengths in the game.”
Playing to strengths is a novel idea, considering that Richter had to adapt to a new role when he played for the Union. A striker with a nose for goal, Richter often was used as a more defensive player and even played outside back at times. It may not always have felt comfortable, but he was effective and filled a need that got him playing time.
Union interim head coach Ryan Richter relays instructions from the sidelines during the first half of Wednesday’s game against Red Bull New York.Isaiah Vazquez / For The Inquirer
What did look comfortable? His transition to the sidelines, particularly Wednesday. He stood toe-to-toe with former U.S. soccer stalwart Michael Bradley, Richter’s former teammate in Toronto and now the manager of Red Bull and son of U.S. coaching legend Bob Bradley, and outperformed him.
There are a lot of games left, and the Union likely will take their lumps as they look to write history as one of the few teams that bounces back from the bottom of the standings to squeak into the playoffs.
They’ll need more goals, more opportunities. Communication. And, of course, stacking wins. And there are intangibles, too: timing, luck, leadership.
On Wednesday, Richter made a team down on its luck believe it can bounce back. Time will tell if all those stops along the way have made that last one, leadership, his most significant contribution in their run toward the top of the table.
Union midfielder Jovan Lukic (second from left) celebrates with teammate Cavan Sullivan (left) and others in Wednesday’s home win against Red Bull New York. Isaiah Vazquez / For The Inquirer
“The opportunity to take on Union II was something I was really grateful for because it’s so important to learn how to lead a staff,” Richter said. “It’s different when you’re speaking to the players as an assistant coach than when you’re the one making the final decision of who plays on the weekend. Learning that communication piece and learning how to lead people forces you to be honest with yourself every day.
“But, really, it comes down to how you communicate to your players and realizing that everyone’s different. Getting them to do what’s required to be successful is great, and when it all comes together, that’s when you realize that the goals you have for yourself, for them, and for the club are attainable. So, yeah, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m excited to see how far we can take this.”
The hills of the 18th hole at Seaview Golf Club in Galloway, N.J., were filled with young golfers clad in blue and gray golf shirts as the final strokes of this latest stop on the Underrated Golf Tour wrapped up Thursday.
Underrated Golf, founded in 2022 by Steph and Ayesha Curry, is an organization focused on lowering the barrier of entry to golf for individuals across all backgrounds by offering more access to competitive opportunities.
With its history as a sport that’s predominantly white, male, and typically played by the wealthy, Underrated’s pillars of equity, access, and opportunity offer experiences for young golfers “regardless of socio-economic status, personal adversity or characteristics protected by law such as ethnic background or gender,” according to its website.
Final round is live at Seaview. 🌊⛳
Yesterday's leaders are back on the course — including two local qualifiers sitting at the top of their respective fields.
— Underrated Golf Tour (@UnderratedGolf) July 23, 2026
“You can’t be what you don’t see,” said former golfer and broadcaster Will Lowery, who has been involved with the organization since its inception. “So when you have young men and women who come from a different clubhouse, various backgrounds, that kid that is at home, desires to play golf, desires to compete in golf, they can see what’s happening in real time. They can get a sniff of what’s going on either via social media or come out here and be on the property, and that may want to inspire them to come out here and compete.”
The number of golfers since 2022 when Underrated began has increased as the organization gains popularity, said Hampton Clark, Underrated’s athletics operations manager.
Clark said that the Currys’ vision for Underrated and what it can do in the junior golf space “sold itself.” It’s become a tour once searching for golfers a few years ago, that today receives outreach from people who want to get involved.
“It’s kind of been kind of cool to see all the interest from the kids and the families,” Clark said. “So, it’s really great to see we’re getting some great golfers, especially kind of the background that we’re looking for. And it’s been kind of great to see from year one to right now.”
Underrated Golf offers experiences for young golfers “regardless of socioeconomic status, personal adversity or characteristics protected by law such as ethnic background or gender,” according to its website. Mia Messina / Staff
Liam Eyer, from San Jose, Calif., has been part of the Underrated tours for four years. On Thursday, Eyer won his first tournament with the tour, going 6-under-par to secure the boys victory.
Eyer, who struggled Wednesday, received a lesson and a few pointers from Lowry following the round, which helped his performance Thursday with advice that Eyer joked “changed [his] life.”
Myra Tomer, from Newtown, also shot 6-under to secure the win on the girls side, in her first Underrated tournament.
Tomer came in as a local qualifier, making her the second female golfer in Underrated to come in with that distinction and go on to win the tournament. She also qualified to play for the Curry Cup at Bethpage Black Golf Course in New York in September, and then the next and final stop of the tour in Los Angeles at Hillcrest Country Club. Tomer also received full status for the tour next year.
“I grew up playing [Seaview’s course], I know it very well, and it was just so special to come and win here,” Tomer said. “It’s somewhere I came as a little kid and I dreamed one day I’m gonna win here.”
The number of golfers who have taken part in the Underrated program has increased exponentially since it began in 2022. Mia Messina / Staff
As a first-time golfer with Underrated, Tomer said everyone instantly made her feel included in what Tomer said was a “special week.” It also contributed to providing her tournament experience, which is part of Underrated’s mission.
Lowery said that part of Curry’s vision includes helping golfers get 10,000 hours of tournament time so they can grow accustomed to playing competitively. It was a mission Lowery said he saw succeed during the three days Underrated was at Seaview.
“I saw the kids have stick-to-itiveness,” Lowery said. “The course is not easy, the conditions aren’t easy, and these kids all said, ‘I played better today.’ ‘I had a rough first round or a first nine,’ and they came back, and that’s what it’s all about. Something they can leave and learn from something.”
It’s time to talk about every baseball diehard’s favorite topic.
The little things.
They are often overlooked, and often deservedly so. The little things are the last bastion of managers, players, and fans when a team doesn’t do the big things very well. They are a coping mechanism. Often. But not always.
We can’t ignore the little things anymore when it comes to the Phillies. The little things cost them dearly in losing two out of three to the Dodgers. You might write that off as happenstance, except that the Phillies are less than a year removed from a playoff loss to the Dodgers where the little things proved decisive.
Last October, we saw Nick Castellanos get thrown out at third with no outs in the top of the ninth inning while representing the game-tying run. We saw Orion Kerkering react to a routine ground ball like he was an iPhone that had just been dropped in a toilet.
These weren’t your average, everyday bad bounces and tough breaks. They were the kind of plays that leave you trembling at the heavens. You don’t expect to see something like that in a baseball game. You certainly don’t expect to see it again.
And yet …
The most disconcerting thing about the Phillies’ series loss to the Dodgers wasn’t the mistakes. It was that the mistakes looked remarkably similar to the ones they made while losing last year’s National League Division Series to the Dodgers.
The lasting image from October was J.T. Realmuto with his mask off pointing toward first base as Kerkering’s brain prepares to betray him.
J.T. Realmuto in action during the Phillies series against the Los Angeles Dodgers this week. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The lasting image from this week’s series was Realmuto running from third base back to second base as everyone else stares in disbelief.
Realmuto’s game-ending gaffe on the basepaths in the ninth inning on Tuesday was only the most iconic moment. Other consequential miscues included:
Bryson Stott running into a non-forceout at third base on a ground ball hit in front of him in Wednesday’s 9-5 loss.
Rafael Marchán popping up a sacrifice bunt attempt earlier in Wednesday’s game.
Trea Turner misplaying four balls in the series opener.
Turner made up for his rough defensive showing by driving in five runs during the Phillies’ 10-7 win on Tuesday. But even that victory ended in inglorious fashion, with closer Jhoan Duran scrambling to get warm after the Dodgers halved a six-run deficit against Chase Shugart.
It’s bad enough to fail at the little things. It’s devastating when your opponent does the exact opposite. For all the bellyaching about the Dodgers’ payroll and the competitive behemoth that Andrew Friedman has built, the reality is they’d be an enviable organization even without their limitless capital.
It’s true in the front office, where LA has made a habit of finding pitching like lefty Justin Wrobleski and is currently paying Max Muncy the same amount as the Phillies are paying Adolis Garcia. It’s also true in between the white lines.
Trea Turner looks on as the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman goes into second base on a double in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Baserunning? The Dodgers entered Thursday tied for second in the majors in extra bases taken and ranked fifth in efficiency. They also had the second-fewest outs on the basepaths. The Phillies rank 11th in extra bases but 24th in efficiency (credit where it’s due: They have the eighth-fewest outs on the basepaths).
Situational hitting? The Dodgers rank 12th in productive out percentage (Phillies: 21st). They have 19 pinch hits compared with the Phillies’ nine.
Fielding? The Dodgers have committed just 37 errors, tied for the fewest in the majors. Advanced metrics rank them even further as one of the better fielding teams in the majors. Not so for the Phillies. The Phillies have committed 50, which ranks 14th.
“If we play well, we’re capable of beating anybody,” manager Don Mattingly said after Wednesday’s 9-5 loss.
That’s less of a boast than it probably reads on paper. The “if” is the point.
The bigger the games, the bigger the little things become. It’s hard to blame Mattingly for a problem that predates him. That said, he is the one who needs to figure out a fix before another October arrives.
It’s fitting to see Sam Mills’ face on the cover of a book, seeing as he was the personification of the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Mills, the Pro Football Hall of Fame member and Long Branch, N.J., native who began his pro career with the USFL Philadelphia Stars, is the subject of a new biography written by former Inquirer and Daily News columnist Paul Domowitch. Just Give Me a Chance To Fail: The Life of NFL Linebacker Sam Mills chronicles the late linebacker’s improbable rise from Long Branch High School and Montclair State to the New Orleans Saints’ “Dome Patrol” defense and the expansion Carolina Panthers, despite being undersized at 5-foot-9.
Domowitch details the impact that Mills made — on and off the field — on the people around him until his death from cancer in 2005. Ahead of the book’s on-sale date on July 28, Domowitch spoke to The Inquirer for a Q&A about Mills’ legacy and the writing process.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Paul Domowitch’s book about Sam Mills is available July 28.provided by Ames Sports Literary
When did you decide that you wanted to write a book about Mills?
When I still worked at The Inquirer, I kind of figured I wanted to write books after I, quote, “retired.” I was going to work till 70 initially. Ended up taking the buyout at 67 and shortly after that, I knew Sam was what I wanted to write about. I had known him since 1983 and his life was just so fascinating. Everybody roots for the underdog, and Sam’s the ultimate underdog. So he was the guy I wanted to write about first. I took the buyout October of 2021. Started on the book, and then ended up doing some freelance for The 33rd Team that took up a lot of my time. So it kind of slowed down the progress on the book. But I kind of started it in earnest again a couple of years ago, and finally finished it.
How important were those years with the Stars in setting up the rest of his pro career?
Without the Stars, I’m not sure he would have had a career because he’d been cut by the Browns. He’d been cut by the [CFL’s Toronto] Argonauts at that point. He was pretty much accepting the fact that he was going to go back to teach and coach some high school football. And … he had to kind of be talked into even going for the tryout with the Stars and then signing a contract with them, so I don’t know that he would have ever gotten another chance without the USFL. He signed with them and was probably, with the possible exception of Reggie White, the best defensive player in that league in the three years he played there. So that probably would have been the end of his career without the USFL. So it was very important to him.
Sam Mills (51) played for Jim Mora both as a member of the USFL Philadelphia Stars and the NFL New Orleans Saints. ELLIS LUCIA / AP
The irony there, which I point out in the book, is Jim Mora, his coach with the Stars and later with the Saints, wanted to cut him the first time he saw him at training camp in Philly because he, like everybody else, refused to believe his eyes that somebody that could be 5-9 could play linebacker in professional football. He finally became convinced, and even then, when he goes to New Orleans and takes the head coaching job there and signs Sam, he’s still not sure he’s going to have an impact in the NFL like he did in the USFL. It wasn’t until he got there in that first practice in a 9-on-7 drill when he just dominated and stoned running backs and got off blocks against guys that were 60, 70 pounds bigger than him that Jim was convinced that he’d survive in the NFL. So without the USFL, I don’t think the guy ever plays pro football.
You got to see him up close in those early days. Did you ever think that he would be able to overcome his height, first at the USFL level, and then ultimately in the NFL, where he built a Hall of Fame career?
It was pretty clear early on in training camp that he was probably the best defensive player they had. The USFL that first year, it was basically a lot of rejects, guys who were on their second and third and fourth chances that had been cut by at least one or two NFL teams. So there were a lot of guys like him. You didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to his size at that point, because I didn’t even know that first year early on what the caliber of the league was going to be. And then as the season went on, you saw both that this was a pretty good league, and that he was a pretty good player. Now, to transfer that and wonder whether he could do that in the NFL, I never doubted he could, because I watched him for two years before that last year when [the Stars] played in [Maryland], and I wasn’t covering them. Size never seemed to be a problem for him. He was able to get under people’s pads. He was the best tackler I’ve ever seen. He was the smartest defensive player I’ve ever covered because he learned early on how to watch film and just knew the game so well that he anticipated what was going to happen and that gave him an advantage that maybe his height might have shortchanged him. So did I think he was going to be a Hall of Famer? I mean, no. Who knows when a guy goes to the NFL, regardless of whether he’s a first-round pick or an undrafted guy like Sam from another league?
Sam Mills (front) played his final three NFL seasons as a member of the Carolina Panthers (1995-97), leading the team to its first-ever playoff berth in 1996. CHUCK BURTON / AP
But it was pretty quick. After he got to New Orleans, you knew he was going to be a great player in that league. He just took off. [Vic] Fangio was his position coach, and he was surrounded by some pretty good players on that defense in New Orleans the first couple years. But he became their leader, and you just watch them. The one shame there is that they weren’t better offensively in New Orleans. It’s what kind of held that team back the entire time Sam was there. You look at his numbers and the defense’s numbers in the years he played there, and they were a phenomenal defense, but they didn’t have a particularly good quarterback. They had a guy [Bobby Hebert] that was OK, but not good enough to get them over the top. Jim Mora was a very conservative coach. He felt that if you had a good defense and a good running game, that’s all you needed back then. And he found out that wasn’t quite enough and ended up losing all four times they were in the playoffs and in the wild-card round.
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio built his reputation during the era when Sam Mills played for him in Philadelphia and New Orleans. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
You mentioned Fangio, and his career very much mirrored Mills’ career early on. How impactful was Mills on Fangio, and not only his philosophy on linebacker play and what makes a good linebacker, but also as a person, too?
I think he was very impactful on Vic early on in New Orleans, because Vic, he was a year older than Sam. Sam was 27, I think, when he went to New Orleans. Vic’s 28. First time he’s coaching a position after two years as an entry-level coach with the Stars. Sam quickly became the leader of that defense, leader of those linebackers, and he basically let it be known that you need to trust this guy and believe in him. Not that Vic was struggling. Jim [Mora] believed in him, but even [former Saints general manager] Jim Finks had some reservations about whether Vic was ready for that job. Jim [Mora] said he is, and Vic never made him regret it. But Sam believing in Vic, I think, made it easier for [fellow linebackers] Rickey Jackson, Pat Swilling, Vaughan Johnson to also believe in him, and bring that whole unit together. I think after that, Vic’s knowledge of defense and linebackers and understanding of what Sam could do, and the intelligence he brought … I think there’s a quote in the book somewhere in his foreword where [Fangio] says [Mills] was the leader of that team on the field spiritually and schematically, I think is the way he put the quote. So when he understood what Sam meant to that defense, and especially when he got to Carolina, when he was teaching younger guys, Sam was so important to his career after that.
So they were really good for each other, and as you see in the book, he just loved the guy. He has a picture of Sam on his [office] wall ever since Sam died. I gave him a picture a few weeks ago. I dropped by the [Jefferson Health Training] Complex and gave him a picture of him and Sam standing on the sideline. He’s talking to Sam back when he was playing with the Panthers, and I could tell he was really touched to get it. The picture is in the book, but I gave it to him in a frame, and I think it really meant a lot to him, because that’s just how much he loved the guy. He was in Houston when Sam got cancer, and he went up to Carolina a couple times when he was getting chemo during the 20 months after he was diagnosed, and sat with him and spent time with him while he was getting his chemo and after that. He loved him.
Sam Mills served as an assistant coach with the Carolina Panthers before intestinal cancer took his life at age 45 in 2005. JOHN BYRUM/STAFF / AP
A lot of people loved Mills, and you spoke to so many people for the book. But why Fangio? Why did you want Fangio to write the foreword for the book?
For one, he had spent 15 years with the guy. And I knew how close they were. The story, I think it’s in his foreword, about when he was the head coach in Denver. They start out 0-4 that first year, and he puts together a video for the Saturday night meeting before their fifth game about Sam. Video of Sam playing, video of … ‘Keep Pounding’ speech, not the speech itself, but the impact he had, the statue, just all that inspirational stuff that he put together on a team that none of these guys ever played against Sam. It was in 2019. Sam died in 2005. But that’s how important Sam was to him that he even thought to do that.
So the only other guy I thought about for the foreword was Jim Mora, but Jim had presented Sam at the Hall of Fame when he was inducted. I just felt Vic was probably … aside from Jim, there was nobody else I even thought about. I mean, family, guys he played with. There were so many people that he was close to, but Vic just struck a chord, I guess maybe because he also happened to be coaching in Philly, and I knew him pretty well. All the pieces kind of fell together.
Sam Mills was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame posthumously in 2022. Nick Cammett / MCT
You mentioned the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You’re a voter and you were there for those meetings, notably the one in 2022 where he ultimately got voted in. What were those meetings like, and what really put him over the top at the buzzer?
It was his third year as a finalist. The previous two years, I think I put this in the book, he never even made the reduction vote from 15 to 10. He was eliminated quickly both times. And you get to that last year, I didn’t have a sense for what was going to happen. I couldn’t tell you I was optimistic because it didn’t seem like the rest of the people in the room were hearing what we were saying when we would talk about him. I think the fact that it was his last year was what ultimately rang a bell with people. They realized there was myself and [reporter] Jeff Duncan from New Orleans and Darin Gantt from the Panthers website who spoke up for him. Then some other people that followed after that. It just seemed like everybody realized this was his last chance, because if he became a senior candidate, you can wait forever and never get in. And so when he made it from 15 to 10, I just had a feeling, and then when he made it from 10 to five, and went in on the yes-no vote, it was just really gratifying because there aren’t too many guys that wait that long and get in.
What lessons do you hope people take away from reading about Mills?
As much as this book is about him as a football player, him as a person, I think I mentioned in the book, no one that I interviewed had a bad word to say about this guy. The way he lived his life, when you consider what he went through, there was a lot of reasons along the way for him to be bitter, starting with the fact that nobody believed he could play football, to the fact that he’s diagnosed with this incurable cancer at an age when he’s just starting his coaching career and probably would have been a head coach very quickly.
And he was never bitter. He was just kind of like, “OK, this is just something else I have to deal with,” and he knew he wasn’t going to beat it, but he wasn’t going to surrender. He never took pity on himself the entire time, right up till the time he died. Even when it became clear to him that time was running out, he’s planning his funeral. He’s planning the menu for his funeral. He’s getting the speakers. He’s saying his goodbyes to longtime friends. That’s the kind of stuff that you just don’t see. People that read this book, I hope, look at it beyond football and see a guy that they should emulate as a person, as well as everything else that he overcame.
Long Beach Island recently hosted the 18th annual Coquina Jam at Brant Beach, an all-women surfing event that raises funds for the David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation and the Jetty Rock Foundation. With summer in full swing, there are many opportunities to catch waves down the shore: for example, on Aug. 22, people ages 5 to 60 can compete at Ocean City’s 7th street at the Eastern Surfing Association competition. Kids and adults alike can book a lesson up and down the shore.
Surfing might be a part of the shore experience today, but it was not always a staple of the East Coast. In fact, surfing was once seen as the domain of the countercultural West Coast. But during the 1960s, fanatics brought their boards to New Jersey in the hope of disassociating surfing with its rebellious and countercultural image—and instead promote it as a purposeful pursuit and competitive sport. Positioning surfing as no different than playing basketball, baseball, and football helped entrench it in New Jersey seaside life, while also reinforcing ideas about conformity and respectability.
Surfing’s image has evolved greatly over the years, with its roots tracing back to Hawaii. Since about the 12th century, Hawaiians of all classes and genders took to the waves. They steered large, finless, wooden boards known as alaia and olo boards.
However, by the late 19th century, an influx of American Christian missionaries into the islands pushed the “lustful” sport to the margins, casting it as incompatible with the aims of settlers and businesses. Nevertheless, Hawaiians continued to find ways to surf, and soon white settlers began to appropriate Indigenous beach culture for their own purposes.
In the early 20th century, tourism-minded opportunists including Alexander Ford Hume, Tom Blake, and writer Jack London promoted surfing to draw white American settlers and vacationers to the pristine warm waters of Hawaii. In his book chapter “A Royal Sport,” published in 1907 and 1911, London remarked, “I was chiefly conscious of ecstatic bliss at having caught the wave.” Local surfing legends Duke Kahanamoku and George Freeth then spread surfing to the mainland United States. Freeth brought lifeguarding and beach culture to Southern California, while Kahanamoku traveled the globe, showcasing his Olympic-level swimming and extraordinary surfing skills.
In 1912, after the Stockholm Olympics where he won the gold in the 100-meter freestyle event, Kahanamoku visited Atlantic City, exposing the shore resort to “the sport of kings” for the first time. In the early 1930s, Tom Blake, an innovator who manufactured surfboards for U.S surfers in the first half of the 20th century, introduced his 13-foot wooden longboards to Ocean City. But despite these early exposures, surfing did not catch on in the Garden State until the 1960s.
Movies and music were instrumental to surfing fever at the Jersey Shore. Viewers were drawn to Gidget’s (1959) Cliff Robertson as “the Big Kahuna,” a youthful nonconforming rebel who valued the hedonism of the beach and consistent access to surf over responsibilities. Young people were captivated by the carefree lifestyle found in the Beach Party (1963) franchise. These movies were fictional but spoke to growing white affluence and greater access to leisure in real-life postwar America. Teenagers flocked to local theaters to watch the globe-trotting adventures of surfers Robert August and Mike Hynson in 1966’s TheEndless Summer.
Some New Jersey teenagers embraced the fad, perhaps hoping to foster the freedom and youthful expression associated with surfing in their own waters.
Soon, surf shops popped up and down the coast, sponsoring new surf teams and providing locals with access to equipment. Ron Jon Surf Shop was founded in Ship Bottom in 1961, while Surfer Supplies in Ocean City, and Heritage Surf Shop in Sea Isle both opened in 1962. The New Jersey Hobie team was hosted by the Manatee Surf Shop, founded in Belmar in the early 1960s.
Yet as surfing proliferated along the shore, initial community reactions were sour. Young surfers were seen as troublesome, an unpredictable hazard on crowded beaches. Police, concerned parents, and hotel owners all spoke out against surfers, viewing them as vandals with unkempt, long hair, huge unwieldy surfboards, and worst of all, they used profanity and disobeyed authority figures. The presence of surfers threatened to disrupt the peace of beachside resort towns, places for respectable families who followed the rules.
In 1966, for example, authorities in Bradley Beach curtailed surfers’ access to the Kent Avenue Beach, with Police Chief Harvey Gaunt reporting that surfing was a safety hazard. He claimed that surfers “set fires in trash barrels, illegally exchanged beach badges, are often injured, are often poor swimmers, leave their boards where bathers may walk into them, use foul language, create a danger when they carry their boards, and use the beach instead of a toilet.” The litany of charges revealed an almost visceral disgust at people who surfed, evoking an ongoing moral panic about juvenile delinquency and the erosion of middle-class norms.
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To overcome such associations and convince the broader community that surfing deserved a place down the shore, surfers organized, hoping to show how surfing might channel young people’s energy and coexist with other popular shore activities and sports. They formed surfing associations and clubs.
In 1963, Cecil Lear, a schoolteacher from Belmar, along with eight other members, founded the Jersey Surfing Association (JSA), aiming to garner respect for surfing as a growing American sport. In his fight to establish designated surfing beaches in New Jersey, the schoolteacher touted the positive health benefits of surfing: it provided quality exercise, and what’s more, morning surfing sessions could promote earlier bedtimes—keeping young surfers out of late-night trouble. The association hosted successful competitions during the 1960s, such as the Greater Point Pleasant Jaycee Contest and the Jersey State Open State Surfing Championships in Belmar.
In 1965, John “Bull” Carey, a real estate developer and former lifeguard and surfer, and Don Pileggi, Ocean City’s Recreational Director, founded the Ocean City Surfing Association (OCSA). They instituted a yearlong tournament schedule that operated around school breaks.
The summer season featured contests every Tuesday, where bronze, silver, and gold medals were awarded, culminating in early September with a final event, the Ocean City Open Surfing Championship. During the school year, a contest was held each school break: the Turkey Trot over Thanksgiving, the Polar Bear over winter break, and the Spring Fling over spring break.
By the middle of the decade, the surfing association was strengthening relationships with the city and local businesses. For example, in preparing for the Polar Bear Championship on Dec. 28, 1966, the OCSA worked closely with the city, the Port-O-Call Hotel, and Bob Harbaugh’s oceanside restaurant, providing free hot showers and changing rooms for frozen contestants, drum fires along the contest beaches at 14th and 15th streets, hot coffee and soup on standby, and a catered lunch for the winners.
Treating surfing as a competitive sport and potential money-maker for local businesses helped reposition surfing as a purposeful pursuit, not just teenage trouble.
However, this reframing also solidified a surfing demographic that was solidly middle class, mostly white, and mostly male—thereby marginalizing people of other identities who wished to surf. In this small way, surfing culture reinforced a history of segregation at the Jersey Shore, fortifying the beach and the ocean as mostly white spaces. Events like the Coquina Jam, an all-women surfing competition, may be eroding such boundaries today—but due to the history of how surfing came to the Jersey Shore, there is still a long way to go.
Thomas DiGiovanni is a graduate student at Rutgers-Camden interested in the intersections of race and class within sporting cultures, with a concentration on surfing history.
Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of The Inquirer.
