LeBron James’ tenure with the Lakers concluded at the end of June without certainty about where he’ll play next.
Now, his next destination is known.
The league’s all-time leading scorer is leaving the Lakers to sign with the 76ers after spending eight years in Southern California.
He reportedly is signing a two-year, $8 million deal that also features player option, per ESPN.
“I thought I was done when the season ended. I wasn’t ready to announce it, and I knew I needed some time to really decide, but 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 deicide if I still love this game,” James tweeted Friday morning. “I still truly love this game, and I have more to give. The last few weeks have really been special. I’ve never been able to have no clue what to do and take real time to just think.
“I’ve had an incredible few months with all the people I love trying to figure it all out.This is my last decision. 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. 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. Thank you LA. Miami I’ll forever love and Northeast Ohio will always home! 🙏🏾🫡👑.”
James’ decision as an unrestricted free agent ends his longest consecutive tenure with a franchise, with his eight straight seasons with the Lakers outlasting the first seven seasons of his NBA career he spent with the Cavaliers.
He’ll join a Sixers team that acquired 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown earlier in July, bolstering a roster that already featured All-NBA guard Tyrese Maxey, 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid and All-Rookie first team honoree V.J. Edgecombe.
The 41-year-old James averaged 25.9 points, 7.9 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals since joining the Lakers as a free agent in 2018.
James, who’ll turn 42 in December, averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals during an unprecedented 23rd NBA season that featured twists and turns he hadn’t dealt with before: Missing the first 14 games because of sciatica and being a third option late in the season before Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves during the Lakers’ best stretch of the season.
And when Doncic and Reaves were sidelined to end the regular season and at the start of the playoffs, James stepped back into being the No. 1 option and led the Lakers to a six-game first round playoff series victory over the Rockets.
James had a Hall-of-Fame worthy run with the Lakers: Eight-time All-Star; seven-time All-NBA honoree, NBA champion and NBA Finals MVP in 2020 and NBA Cup champion in 2023.
He also surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time regular season scoring record (38,387) on Feb. 7, 2023, now sitting at 43,440 regular-season points scored.
James ended his second tenure with the Cavaliers and signed a four-year, $154 million deal with the Lakers during the 2018 offseason.
The first season didn’t go as hoped, with James suffering a groin injury on Dec. 25, 20218 that sidelined him for 17 straight games, marking the first major injury of his career, with the Lakers missing the 2018-19 season.
After an offseason retooling, which included trading for star big man Anthony Davis and replacing Luke Walton with Frank Vogel as the head coach, James and the Lakers bounced back in 2019-20, winning the 2020 NBA title.
The relationship between James and the Lakers has had its rifts throughout the decade. But at each pivotal turn, the two sides came back to each other.
But not this time.
The Lakers wanted to bring James back, but it wasn’t their No. 1 priority as they looked to build the ideal roster around Doncic, who supplanted James as the face of the franchise after he was traded to Los Angeles in February 2025.
The Lakers made several moves in free agency after James shared he wouldn’t return to the Lakers: Reaves (four years, $180 million), Walker Kessler (four years, $130 million), Quentin Grimes (four years, $60 million), Sandro Mamukelashvili (four years, $52 million), Collin Sexton (two years, $19 million), Kevon Looney (one year, $3.9 million) and Ziaire Williams (one year, $2.8 million).
And James, after helping restore the Lakers to relevancy, will end his career elsewhere.
