The King has made his choice, and it took him almost a month to get there. LeBron James is joining the Philadelphia 76ers, ending the longest and most dramatic free agency saga of the NBA offseason. The 41-year-old is signing a two-year, $8 million deal with a player option, his agent Rich Paul confirmed, and James called it, in his own words, his “last decision.”
It very nearly wasn’t a decision at all. In a series of posts explaining the move, James admitted he seriously considered walking away from the game entirely after his Lakers career ended. “I thought I was done when the season ended,” he wrote. “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.” He described taking real time away, with the people closest to him, to work out what came next.
What came next is Philadelphia. James will now line up alongside Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown, giving the 76ers a starting five loaded enough to be considered genuine title contenders overnight. It’s James’s fourth NBA team and his 24th season, both records, and it comes after weeks of speculation that had the Warriors, Heat, Cavaliers and even the Timberwolves all in the mix. In the end, the King picked a roster already built to win now.
“I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team,” James said, “and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time.” For a league that had genuinely been waiting on him, commissioner Adam Silver included, the wait is finally over. The only question left is whether this really is the last stop.
