{"id":5381,"date":"2026-07-25T07:36:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T07:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381"},"modified":"2026-07-25T07:36:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T07:36:23","slug":"lebron-james-spurns-warriors-for-76ers-in-free-agency-saga-heres-what-it-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means."},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><span>SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The face of the NBA and arguably its greatest player ever spurned the idea of playing with his<\/span> <span>biggest rival in the Bay Area<\/span><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5379\">Vehicle fire sparks 10-acre blaze near I-680<\/a><\/p>\n<p>LeBron James, 41, agreed to an two-year, $8 million contract with the 76ers on Friday, James and his agency Klutch Sports announced on social media on Friday.<span> James had publicly split with the Lakers after eight seasons in late June, and Philadelphia beat out teams such as the Warriors, Heat and his hometown Cavaliers to sign him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI 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,\u201d James posted on X. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Former Warriors GM Bob Myers is an executive in the 76ers organization.<\/p>\n<p><span>James is still one of the top players in the game and averaged 20.9 points and 7.2 assists while playing solid defense last season, his 23rd in the NBA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He had an opportunity to team up with onetime nemeses Steph Curry and Draymond Green,\u00a0and play for the same organization that beat him and the Cavaliers in three out of four consecutive Finals matchups between 2015 and 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Of course, the one victory came in 2016, when James authored Cleveland\u2019s comeback from down 3-1 to vanquish the 73-9 Warriors on the precipice of becoming the unquestioned greatest team in NBA history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That summer, the Warriors responded by signing Kevin Durant and morphing from juggernaut to invincible.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>But a decade later, the Warriors could not pull off another monumental move for an all-time great in James. Even though Steph Curry and Draymond Green made their individual pitches to James, their words were not convincing enough to bring him to the Bay Area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And this time around, the circumstances surrounding their offseason pursuit of a star are far different than when they went after Durant in 2016.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5377\">Bay FC\u2019s franchise-tying unbeaten streak snapped by deflection in stoppage time<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>The Warriors have long fallen off their lofty perch above the rest of the league since winning the 2022 title, and recently suffered through a 37-45 season riddled with injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>James joins a veteran-laden team that is poised to return almost the entire roster and<\/span> <span>most of the same questions it had last season<\/span><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Curry, while still one of the best scorers in the league, is 38 with a sore knee that will require management and supervision. He played in only 43 games last season. Green is 36 and showed signs of regression on both sides of the ball. He is currently unsigned after declining his player option for next season, although he is expected to re-sign on a team-friendly deal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Warriors brought back centers Al Horford (age 40) and Kristaps Porzingis, as well as guard De\u2019Anthony Melton, all on two-year contracts. Though Porzingis is only 31 and Melton just turned 28, the trio combined to play exactly one back-to-back set while the team remained highly cautious with their workload due to their injury histories.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Starting forwards Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody sustained serious knee injuries earlier this year, and are expected to be out most of next season. Even the team\u2019s prized rookie, Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg, was one of the oldest in the draft class and will be 24 by the time training camp starts.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>Despite his advanced age, James could have still filled gaps in a rotation with his well-rounded skillset. But asking him to carry a flawed roster to championship contention would have likely been too much to ask of any player over 40.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With his new team in the 76ers, James will be able to take more of a backseat role beside co-stars in Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Meanwhile, the Warriors are staring down another long season where the team will ask its rapidly aging core to remain healthy deep enough into the season to mount one last playoff push.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5375\">Fudd wins WNBA 3-point shootout, then sets sights on Warriors\u2019 Steph Curry: \u2018if you\u2019re listening, I\u2019m asking for a rematch\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James turns down Team USA teammate, longtime NBA rival Curry and the Warriors for Philadelphia after free agency saga<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means. - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means. - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"James turns down Team USA teammate, longtime NBA rival Curry and the Warriors for Philadelphia after free agency saga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-25T07:36:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-25T07:36:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381\"},\"wordCount\":726,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/456a887f5fd8402447281708ca318fcd-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381\",\"name\":\"LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means. - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/456a887f5fd8402447281708ca318fcd-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-25T07:36:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/456a887f5fd8402447281708ca318fcd-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/456a887f5fd8402447281708ca318fcd-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5381#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means. - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means. - Next City Digest","og_description":"James turns down Team USA teammate, longtime NBA rival Curry and the Warriors for Philadelphia after free agency saga","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-25T07:36:23+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means.","datePublished":"2026-07-25T07:36:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381"},"wordCount":726,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/456a887f5fd8402447281708ca318fcd-scaled.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381","name":"LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means. - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/456a887f5fd8402447281708ca318fcd-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-25T07:36:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/456a887f5fd8402447281708ca318fcd-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/456a887f5fd8402447281708ca318fcd-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5381#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"LeBron James spurns Warriors for 76ers in free agency saga. Here\u2019s what it means."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}