In order for the Philadelphia 76ers to sign LeBron James in free agency, they needed a lot to go their way, and it's truly been months in the making.
As LeBron James was wrapping up what became his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers, two teams contributed to the veteran forward deciding he needed to keep going after his two-year contract with the Lakers expired.
Send a thank you card to the Rockets and the Thunder
Entering the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, LeBron James was leading a severely undermanned Lakers team that would miss Austin Reaves for a chunk of the playoffs and Luka Doncic for the entire run. The entire NBA world believed they saw a sweep coming for the 41-year-old LeBron. Instead, the Lakers stunned the Rockets, thanks to James turning the clock back and leading his team to four victories. Recently, Rich Paul stated that he believes that series convinced LeBron to keep going.
On the contrary, the Oklahoma City Thunder issued LeBron and the Lakers the reality that everybody thought the Rockets would. The then-defending champs told the Lakers they simply weren't healthy or good enough to compete with them. A sweep didn't tell LeBron it was time to hang it up. He simply couldn't end his career on that note.
Enter NBA free agency
The Sixers can laugh at the Golden State Warriors, but they should be thanking the Washington Wizards. The day that LeBron informed the Lakers he wasn't coming back, every immediate follow-up rumor suggested that it was the Warriors' sweepstakes to lose. However, the Warriors were only going to land LeBron on a specific condition: trading for Anthony Davis. That was something the Wizards refused to do.
If the small-market Wizards sent the 10-time All-Star to the Warriors to jumpstart Golden State's final chase, then LeBron probably wouldn't have waited around to watch the Sixers trade for Jaylen Brown. Speaking of Brown, send a fruit basket to Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics, while we're at it.
That's the acquisition that moved the needle for the Sixers. They just wrapped up the 2026 playoffs by getting swept in the second round with a core of Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George. The Sixers were going to run it back, but the Celtics were willing to give up Jaylen Brown in a package headlined by George just a few months after LeBron James campaigned for Brown's MVP status. The Celtics contributed to a bitter rival landing one of their fan base's most despised players.
Lastly, the Sixers should be grateful for a move the Cleveland Cavaliers struck on February 4. Ironically, it included the movement of James Harden, whom the Sixers had for two seasons before trading him to the Los Angeles Clippers. It turns out that the absence of Darius Garland--who the Cavaliers sent to LA to land Harden--counted as a strike against the Cavs in the eyes of LeBron.
"Some will say Harden's role as Cleveland's point guard affected James' decision, but there is more nuance than that. It's not that the Cavs having Harden was a factor, sources said, but rather who the Cavs did not have," ESPN's Brian Windhorst wrote. "To get Harden from the LA Clippers in February, the Cavs traded Darius Garland, a Klutch-repped point guard with whom James has had a yearslong relationship."
Once favorites to win a third stint with LeBron, the Cavaliers must've been totally stunned to find out that all of that patience wouldn't pay off. Unfortunately for them, it seems a move from five months ago potentially had them doomed from the beginning.
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