LeBron James picks 76ers on two-year, $8 million contract

LeBron James is headed to Philadelphia, with the LeBron 76ers contract set at two years and $8 million, including a player option, Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul told ESPN's Shams Charania on Friday.

The move sends James to the fourth franchise of his NBA career as he chases a fifth championship entering what ESPN described as a record 24th season. At 41, James may have just made his final free-agency choice.

Philadelphia is trying to end a title wait that goes back to 1983. ESPN noted the parallel with James' 2016 championship in Cleveland, where he helped the Cavaliers end a 52-year drought for that city.

Why did LeBron James choose the 76ers?

Paul had said James was focused on “basketball happiness” as he looked beyond the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN. The 76ers treated that as an opening to sell him on winning in Philadelphia.

Bob Myers, president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the group that owns the Sixers, made part of that pitch during an appearance on Paul's “Game Over” podcast with Max Kellerman.

“If he was here, I'd say, 'I honestly believe this is your best chance to win. You have to decide all the other things that are equally important,'” Myers said on the podcast, according to ESPN. “What I would just say is, if it's about winning, let's talk about this team. Because you can win here in Philadelphia.”

ESPN reported that Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey stayed in steady contact with Paul during the recruitment. Gansey has ties to James from Cleveland, including James' second Cavaliers run, and the two also competed as high school players in Northeast Ohio, according to ESPN.

Players got involved, too. ESPN reported that Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and newly added Jaylen Brown all made direct efforts with James, with Maxey leading that push. Maxey, another Klutch client, has previously called James a “big brother,” ESPN reported.

What does this mean for the Sixers?

The 76ers are adding James to a team that went 45-37 last season and was swept by the eventual champion New York Knicks in the second round, according to ESPN. Since the 1983 championship, Philadelphia has reached the NBA Finals once and the conference finals twice.

The deepest postseason run of the Embiid era remains the 2019 conference semifinals, when the Toronto Raptors eliminated Philadelphia in Game 7 on Kawhi Leonard's famous bouncing shot, ESPN noted.

James also returns to an Eastern Conference featuring two former teams that ESPN said pursued him: the Cavaliers, led by Donovan Mitchell, and the Miami Heat, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Philadelphia has been part of James' basketball map for years. ESPN reported that he played at the Palestra as a high school junior with St. Vincent-St. Mary against Strawberry Mansion.

He also praised the city's fans after scoring 29 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, in a 112-108 Lakers win in Philadelphia in December. “One thing you know about Philly fans, they don't care about anybody besides their home teams, and I respect and I love that,” James said after that game, according to ESPN.

How did LeBron's Lakers run end?

James leaves Los Angeles after eight seasons, his longest continuous stint with any team, according to ESPN. His Lakers years included the 2020 championship.

ESPN reported that late last season, James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves powered a 16-2 Lakers surge from late February through the end of March, with James taking on a supporting role at coach JJ Redick's request.

The decision closes weeks of free-agency noise around James. ESPN reported that Paul discussed James' options publicly, including a podcast segment in which he sketched potential teams on a whiteboard, while social media users treated sightings of James around the country as clues about his next stop.

This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.