FILE – Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James throws chalk in the air before an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, April 9, 2026.
Jeff Chiu/AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
FILE – Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James stands on the court in the closing minutes of Game 4 in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, May 11, 2026, in Los Angeles.
Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
The Philadelphia Phillies’ mascot, the Phillie Phanatic performs a skit inspired by new Philadelphia 76ers LeBron James during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Friday, July 24, 2026, in Philadelphia.
Matt Slocum/AP Photo/Matt Slocum
FILE – Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, left, talks with Philadelphia 76ers’ VJ Edgecombe, right, following an NBA basketball game, Dec. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia.
Chris Szagola/AP Photo/Chris Szagola
FILE – Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, left, talks with Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, right, of Cameroon, after the second half of an NBA basketball game, April 6, 2018, in Philadelphia.
Chris Szagola/AP Photo/Chris Szagola
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — LeBron James and Bryce Harper spent their careers on a parallel path toward stardom.
They were teenage phenoms who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated (back when magazines were cool) and both prodigies were No. 1 overall draft picks straight out of high school.
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When Harper earned his first chance at testing free agency, there was only one city, one contract that was right for him.
It took a few years, but Harper has some company to fight with him on the short list of top elite athletes who have signed in Philadelphia.
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Pete Rose and Kyle Schwarber and the Phillies.
Saquon Barkley and Reggie White and the Eagles.
In the greatest July signature in Philadelphia since 1776, James has followed Harper from free agency to Philly when he rocked the NBA world and signed a two-year deal for the bargain-basement price of $8 million total — only a smidge more per season than first-round pick Labaron Philon Jr. will earn — that stamped the Sixers as the most compelling team in the league this season.
Keeping tabs on the ballyhooed deal, Bryce Harper.
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“He’s going to have a great couple of years here, and obviously everyone’s going to expect him to win a championship here like everywhere else,” Harper said. “So nothing new for him. He’s had all the pressure since he was in high school or younger than that.”
Here’s the difference between James and all the superstars in the city that played before him.
Meaning, his reach is so beyond the court — from fame around the globe to his bank account to the cash register to pop culture — that there is no fair comparison. He is No. 4 on Forbes’ real-time list of wealthiest athletes at $1.4 billon that his pay cut may not even be noticed in the ledger book. James has commercials and movie roles, and endorsement deals that alone would out-earn every single player on the Sixers.
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Joel Embiid, league MVP and two-time scoring champ. He’s not LeBron.
Jaylen Brown, NBA Finals MVP and champion, He’s not LeBron.
Tyrese Maxey, an All-Star and the real franchise player in Philly. He’s not LeBron.
“I think it’s pretty cool to have one of the greatest basketball players ever to play, in the same city,” Phillies shortstop Trea Turner said. “So I’m excited for those who haven’t gotten a chance to see him play.”
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Those people might live on Pluto.
James is a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, and was a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.
He’s also coming off a season where he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he’s averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.
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“He’s played in big markets before,” Harper said. “He knows exactly what he needs to do.”
Harper has largely lived up to the 13-year, $330 million contract signed ahead of the 2019 season when he spurned the Washington Nationals for the Phillies and owned the richest contract in baseball history. He led the Phillies to the 2022 World Series, won the NL MVP in 2021 and helped win back-to-back NL East titles.
Barkley rushed for more than 2,000 yards in his first season with the Eagles and led them to a Super Bowl championship and Rose was the missing piece to help Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton win the World Series in 1980. It was the first World Series title in franchise history.
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The 76ers have almost seemed to wait as long for a parade down Broad Street.
They have won titles in Philadelphia in only 1967 and 1983 and have improbably failed to advance out of the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs since 2001.
And yet somehow, one of the most famous athletes — strike that, people! — walking and dunking on the face of the Earth decided he wanted to play in Philadelphia.
“I’m not going for money. I’m not going for family,” James wrote Friday on social media. “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.”
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James celebrated his decision on Instagram with a career highlight reel set to Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares,” the adopted sports anthem of city teams blasted ad nauseam throughout the sports complex.
The video ends with the lyric, “hold up, wait a minute. Y’all thought I was finished?” and cuts to a 76ers’ logo.
James isn’t finished — even if his best isn’t yet to come.
He won NBA titles at each of his three previous NBA stops in Cleveland, Miami and the Los Angeles Lakers and could be the first player to ever win a title with four teams.
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The countdown to opening night is on.
The stakes have really never been higher for the franchise. If they can’t win with the Beatles shirt — LeBron & Embiid & Brown & Maxey — can they ever?
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James doesn’t need any tips on surviving the deep fryer of fandom in Philly.
“He can do whatever the hell he wants,” Harper said. “But the city loves a winner. So win.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba