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PHILADELPHIA — 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.
When Harper earned his first chance at testing free agency, there was only one city, one contract that was right for him.
Philadelphia.
It took a few years, but Harper has some company on the short list of top elite athletes who have signed in Philadelphia.
Harper and the Phillies.
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 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 is Harper.
“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.
He’s LeBron James.
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, so his pay cut may not even be noticed in the ledger book. James has commercials and movie roles, and endorsement deals that alone would outearn every single player on the Sixers.
Joel Embiid, league MVP and two-time scoring champion. 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.”
Here are the CliffsNotes:
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 a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.
He also is coming off a season when he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he has averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.
“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 he 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.
But he’s 0-for-October.
Barkley rushed for more than 2,000 yards in his first season with the Eagles and led them to a Super Bowl championship.
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.
The 76ers have seemed to wait almost as long for a parade down Broad Street.
They have won titles in Philadelphia in 1967 and 1983 and have 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.”
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 stops – Cleveland, Miami and the Los Angeles Lakers – and could become the first player ever to win a title with four teams.
The countdown to opening night is on.
The stakes have really never been higher for the franchise. If the Sixers can’t win with the Beatles shirt – LeBron & Embiid & Brown & Maxey – can they ever?
Get ready, everyone.
And skip the advice.
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.”
LeBron James will continue his NBA career during the 2026-27 season but has informed the Lakers that the franchise can move on without him.
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