LeBron James, against all odds, trusts the process -- and he's exactly what the title-starved 76ers need

It didn't seem real. How could it be? How could nearly a month of waiting for LeBron James to make up his mind conclude with a Friday news dump? How could it be that he decided against finally teaming up with Steph Curry in Golden State, or that he didn't take his talents back to South Beach to join forces with Giannis Antetokounmpo, or that he would opt against returning to Cleveland one last time for an easy storybook ending? Above all, how could it be that he picked the Philadelphia 76ers when no one ever does?

Except that's exactly what he did. On Friday, LeBron announced that he was headed to Philly, where he signed a two-year deal for $8 million with a player option on the back end. Even at 41 years old, that's one of the great values in NBA history. It's also one of the more shocking events that has ever unfolded when it comes to Philly sports history, specifically the title-starved Sixers. 

This is the franchise that bumbled its way through the Process era and dismissed multiple general managers during that period, one of whom was kicked to the curb in the wake of a scandal heretofore known as BurnerGate. This is the franchise that drafted not one but two first overall picks in Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz, who immediately forgot how to shoot before giving up on both of them. This is a franchise that hasn't made it out of the second round since Allen Iverson, now in his 50s (bless all of our aging hearts), was in uniform. This is the franchise that wanted to land LeBron back in 2018 before he went to the Lakers and couldn't even get a meeting. 

This is not the franchise that gets the greatest player of all time (debate that statement somewhere else; this is not the place or time) because he wants one more shot at a title before retiring.

Except that is exactly what happened. It is almost impossible to, well, process. 

For much of my life, being from Philadelphia -- and, as a consequence, following the Sixers -- has been something to endure rather than relish. No one from there really believed deep down that James would pick the Sixers, because given everything we've all witnessed with that franchise over the last quarter century, why would he? And then he did. Friends and family were texting me in all caps with exclamation points as though everyone had just hit the lottery. Of course, that came with caveats and the usual Philly fatalism about how the Sixers will eventually find new and depressing ways to screw it all up, because the Sixers have demonstrated an endless capacity for such things, but all that is for later. Right now is the time to be positively floored by the news.

That has been the nearly universal reaction -- from the governor of Pennsylvania, who declared Friday LeBron James Day, to Caitlin Clark, who was asked about it in Chicago during WNBA All-Star festivities and said, just like everyone else, she was "blown away." For his part, James posted that he came close to retiring before ultimately deciding to give it another go. The calculus for continuing his career, according to James, was making another run at a title. 

"I believe I can make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team," James wrote, "and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time."

He ostensibly wrote that with a straight face. About the Philadelphia 76ers. A team that hasn't reached the NBA Finals since 2001 and hasn't hosted a parade down Broad Street since 1983. (LeBron, who is about to play his record-extending 24th season in the NBA, was still a year from being born at that point.) If he brings a title to Philly, it will be one of the great accomplishments in any sport by any player and would make him the first person in NBA history to win it all with four different organizations. 

If the odds of that happening sounded long before Friday, they just got shorter. The Sixers were +7500 to win it all on June 30, the day before they pulled off a Jaylen Brown heist from the Celtics.  They're now +1000. 

LeBron James picks the 76ers: Grading his 'last decision' as Philly beats out Heat, Cavaliers, Warriors

Sam Quinn

From an on-paper basketball perspective, James' decision makes sense. The Warriors with LeBron would have been talented and entertaining but also old (and in the West). The Wolves could have used him, but it's hard to imagine him putting up with LaMelo Ball when the Hornets didn't want to any longer. Even after trading for Giannis, Pat Riley still has work to do in Miami. And while the Cavs could have offered one more feel-good homecoming, their roster was evidently less enticing than what the Sixers will provide. 

James joins a team with a fast, young, exciting backcourt in Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, along with newly acquired Jaylen Brown and former MVP Joel Embiid. On any given night, all five of those starters are capable of being the best player on the court -- and it should come as some relief to head coach Nick Nurse that he won't need Embiid (who has a well-chronicaled injury history) or James (who will be 42 in December) to regularly fill that role in order for the Sixers to have success. How much they squeeze out of Embiid during the regular season will go a long way toward determining Philadelphia's playoff seed, but that's ultimately less important than making sure he and James are healthy for a postseason push. If they are, the Sixers figure to be a dangerous opponent that no one will want to draw. 

As we survey the East in late July, the defending champion Knicks deserve to be the favorites. But as James seems to have concluded with his decision, the Sixers have assembled a team that should be firmly in the mix of top-tier conference contenders, right there with their longtime rivals in New York and the ever-capable Celtics. (Your mileage may vary on the Raptors with or without Kawhi, as well as the Cavs, Heat and Pistons.) At the very least, LeBron has set this whole thing up to be a classic clash between three cities and fan bases that are rarely good all at once and have never hidden their disdain for each other. From a purely entertainment perspective, it should make for a wild ride -- one made possible by James doing the wholly unexpected. 

As recently as last week, James was dropping little breadcrumbs about trusting the process. It seemed silly to believe any of that was real. But now it is. And now, for the first time in a long time, there's cause for the Sixers and Philadelphia to be genuinely excited. As LeBron's new teammate Jaylen Brown posted, there's only one thing left to do.