LeBron James announced Friday that he is joining the Philadelphia 76ers, calling it the “last decision” of his playing career and ending his eight-season tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers.
James, who turns 42 in December, agreed to a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option, according to USA Today Sports — a steep drop from the nearly $53 million he earned in 2025-26. He told the Lakers on June 30 that he would not return, and said he strongly considered retirement before choosing Philadelphia.
“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,” James wrote on social media.
The signing completes a roster overhaul that already included the acquisition of Jaylen Brown — the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, five-time All-Star, and the league’s fourth-leading scorer last season — from the Boston Celtics. Brown’s arrival was orchestrated by new team president Mike Gansey, who played high school basketball alongside James in Northeast Ohio.
Bleacher Report ranked the 76ers’ projected starting five — Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Brown, James, and Joel Embiid — as the best in the NBA entering the 2026-27 season, ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks.
The numbers make the case. Maxey carried an outsized offensive load last season while Embiid and Paul George battled availability issues. James, even at 41, averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists in 2025-26. Adding a primary playmaker of his caliber to a core that already includes three All-Stars and a Rookie of the Year finalist in Edgecombe gives Philadelphia a starting unit with no obvious weak link — on paper.
The 76ers went 45-37 last season and were swept in the second round by the Knicks, who went on to win their first championship in 53 years. Most betting sites installed Philadelphia at 9-1 to win the 2026-27 title, behind the Thunder, Spurs, and Knicks.
James’s decision resonated beyond the basketball world. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro proclaimed Friday “LeBron James Day” in the state. Fanatics listed his No. 23 jersey at $125 within hours of the announcement. And Asher Raphael, a Pennsylvania businessman who placed three billboards near Cleveland in 2018 urging James to come to Philadelphia, finally saw his investment pay off.
“I was in the middle of a board meeting and my phone was going off like something was on fire,” Raphael told Yahoo Sports. “It was people from all walks of life being like: ‘It worked. Process completed.'”
James celebrated the announcement with an Instagram video set to Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares,” ending on the lyric “hold up, wait a minute. Y’all thought I was finished?” before cutting to a 76ers logo.
The Lakers’ season ended with a sweep at the hands of the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals, a series Los Angeles played without Luka Dončić, who suffered a hamstring injury in early April. James was instrumental in the Lakers’ first-round win over Houston, but he and agent Rich Paul acknowledged in June 2025 that the Lakers were building for a future that might not include him.
Now that future is in Philadelphia, where a franchise that hasn’t won a championship since 1983 is betting that one more year of LeBron James — at any price — is worth everything.