LeBron James is heading to Philadelphia. The 41-year-old announced Friday that he has agreed to a two-year, $8 million contract with the 76ers, ending months of speculation over where the NBA’s all-time leading scorer would play his 24th season. James called it his last decision.
He explained the move in a series of posts on X. “This is my last decision,” James wrote. “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.” He said he had believed his career was over after last season before deciding he still loves the game enough to keep playing.
The contract reflects how far down Philadelphia’s cap sheet James was willing to sit. He earned roughly $52.7 million with the Lakers last season; this deal, built on the 76ers’ veteran’s-minimum exception with a player option for year two, pays him a fraction of that. Philadelphia had little room left after committing big money to Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown, the All-Star forward it acquired from Boston in a trade that sent Paul George and four draft picks to the Celtics.
James arrives with a resume no other free agent could match: 43,440 regular-season points, four championships won with three different franchises, and a record 22 All-Star selections. The 76ers are his fourth NBA team, following stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers, where retirement speculation had followed him through his 23rd season.
Not everyone is convinced the fit works. NBA analyst Chris Broussard has pointed to a crowded perimeter rotation, Maxey, rookie VJ Edgecombe, Brown and now James, and to Joel Embiid’s injury history, noting the center has missed more than half of Philadelphia’s games since he arrived. James has reportedly voiced his own concerns about Embiid’s health. Even so, a 76ers team that hasn’t won a title since 1983 gains star power and box-office pull, even as pairing four ball-dominant scorers raises real questions about shots and roles.
James signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the 76ers, with a player option for the second season. He is 41 and enters his 24th NBA season with 43,440 career points, four championships and 22 All-Star selections. He joins Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown in Philadelphia after leaving the Lakers, where he earned about $52.7 million last season.