The NBA's all-time leading scorer joins Philadelphia, spurning a potential Kyrie Irving reunion in Dallas after the Mavericks’ "whiteboard" dreams and trade rumors failed to materialize.
Act IV of The Decision is here: LeBron James is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The move was first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania before James confirmed the move himself on X.
The NBA's all-time leading scorer chose the 76ers over multiple other suitors, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves ... and the Dallas Mavericks.
While there was never any reporting of Dallas' brass officially meeting with James and his agent, Rich Paul, the Mavericks were linked to the 41-year-old due to Paul's inclusion of the franchise on his now-infamous "whiteboard," which laid out the possible destinations.
"Oil," "golf," "Masai," "Macau" and "Africa" were the reasons Paul initially cited that made Dallas a potential landing spot — however, the rumors only intensified over the last two days.
Before his decision, Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor revealed that James was apparently delaying any signing to see if any of his courters would be able to swing a trade for either Kyrie Irving or Anthony Davis.
Dallas, of course, had both Irving and Davis on its roster just over five months ago but traded the latter to the Washington Wizards for a package including Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Marvin Bagley and future draft capital.
Irving appears likely to stick around far longer than Davis did, especially considering the praise new Mavericks head coach Dusty May has bestowed upon the future Hall of Fame guard.
"Kyrie knows what it takes to win a championship, so as a first-time NBA coach, I'm going to lean on him in a lot of areas," May said via Ron Harrod Jr. "He's one of the greatest point guards to ever play our game. He's a jazz musician, so I can't wait to be around him every day and just help him on his journey."
O'Connor's report brought the Mavericks back into the picture, as a move to Dallas seemed far simpler ... and smarter, from a roster-construction perspective ... than an attempt to force a trade to Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia, Golden State or Minnesota.
Ultimately, that storyline ended up being inaccurate, as James decided on Philadelphia nearly 48 hours after it emerged without Irving or Davis joining him via trade.
Now that the James sweepstakes are over — as is the short-term threat of losing Irving — the Mavericks should turn their full focus to rounding out their 2026-27 roster, as they currently have 16 players on full standard contracts, one over the league's allowed limit.
