LeBron James leaves the Los Angeles Lakers and moves to the Philadelphia 76ers

Rather, he is driven by sporting ambition, as the most successful scorer in NBA history explained. «I want to continue to compete, win, and have the chance to experience once more what it feels like to win a championship,» James wrote on social media. «I'm convinced I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team, and I'm incredibly excited to inspire a new fan base and begin this incredible journey one last time,» the 41-year-old shared.

Star ensemble in Philadelphia

At the 76ers, James joins a team stacked with top talent: alongside Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Jaylen Brown, who was prised away from rivals the Boston Celtics only a few weeks ago, he will have three other exceptional players by his side. The 76ers had finished the regular season of the past campaign in seventh place in the Eastern Conference and were eliminated early in the playoffs. With the new quartet, the aim now is to pull off the feat that the Philadelphia 76ers have been denied for 43 years: an NBA title.

That James is still capable of peak performances even at an advanced basketball age is proven by his statistics from the previous season. The 41-year-old averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game in the regular season and achieved almost identical numbers in the playoffs. In March, he also surpassed Robert Parish's record for the most games in the regular NBA season – proof of his extraordinary longevity in a league in which no other player had previously played more than 22 seasons.

Record chaser at age 41

Beyond the statistics, James' mark on NBA history runs deep. In February 2023, he overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the league's all-time leading scorer and now stands at 43,440 points across 1,622 games. Added to that are four NBA championships: in 2012 and 2013 with the Miami Heat, in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers and in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers, the latter in the Finals series played in a bubble due to the coronavirus pandemic. He also won Olympic gold with the US team in 2008, 2012 and 2024.

His eight seasons with the Lakers were marked by great expectations and one title. After four years in Cleveland and four years in Miami, which made him one of the best-known athletes in the world, James moved to Los Angeles in 2018. The Lakers had won their seventeenth and so far last NBA title in 2020 – the fourth for James. In the years that followed, however, the Lakers were unable to achieve another triumph, which is why the superstar has now opted for a final push in Philadelphia.

Farewell from Los Angeles

The fact that James chose to make his decision public on a Friday was programmatic in character. Reports of dissatisfaction with the direction of the Lakers had been circulating for weeks. Now the break – and a look ahead. «I wasn't ready to announce it publicly yet, and I knew I needed some time to really decide, but I was pretty sure I had played my last game,» James said in retrospect.

The contract details are remarkable: with a two-year term, James holds a player option and can therefore enter free agency early. Industry observers view the contract as a classic win-win situation: the 76ers secure the services of one of the best players in history in the short term without taking on long-term salary commitments, and James gets the chance to chase his fifth ring without the pressure of enormous expectations tied to his salary.

Philadelphia was regarded before the move as one of the most tradition-rich but also title-poor clubs in recent NBA history. Besides the now-successful Philadelphia 76ers, the Miami Heat, the Golden State Warriors and even the New York Knicks had been mentioned in recent weeks as possible destinations. In the end, the star chose the East Coast metropolis, where, in his own words, he wants to «inspire a new fan base.»

A circle closes

The fact that the move is more than just a transfer is also made clear by the circumstance that James himself had staged Miami in 2010 as the starting point of a new era. Back then, the TV broadcast about his move to the Heat, marketed as «The Decision,» had generated unprecedented media attention. With the current move to Philadelphia and the programmatic emphasis on the word «decision,» a circle closes for James – toward a final great chapter in an unparalleled career.

Along the way, James also had painful experiences in the past. In the 2011 Finals, he lost surprisingly with Miami to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. Only afterwards came the two titles with the Heat. That setback, James later explained, led him to the determination to motivate himself anew time and again. «I still want to make sacrifices,» he said with a view to the coming season.

His new club is meanwhile preparing for the arrival of the star. The franchise around Embiid and Maxey boasts one of the most talented rosters in the league but has repeatedly suffered in recent years from injuries and a lack of consistency in the playoffs. With the signing of James and the spectacular acquisition of Jaylen Brown, who came from the Boston Celtics, the course now appears set on attack – even if sporting success still has to be proven.

Outlook on the new season

For the Lakers, the departure of the 41-year-old marks the end of an era. The franchise is losing its figurehead and must reorient itself in the coming seasons, not least with regard to the contractually bound son Bronny James, whose development in Los Angeles will continue to be a focus. The move shows once again that James uses his status as a free agent in the league to give priority to his own sporting plans – even at the cost of considerable financial sacrifices.

The coming season begins for James in October. It will then become clear whether the 76ers' calculation pays off and whether one of the most tradition-rich teams in the NBA, after 43 years without a title, can make its next push for James' sixth ring. The superstar himself has already announced that he will place himself fully at the service of the team – in his own words, for a final, a decisive stage.