Like Harper, James wants to win Philly a title

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 to fight with him on the short list of top elite athletes who have signed in Philadelphia.

Harper and the Phillies in MLB.

Pete Rose and Kyle Schwarber and the Phillies.

Saquon Barkley and Reggie White and the Eagles in the NFL.

With perhaps the most significant signature to be scrawled in Philadelphia in any July since 1776, James has followed Harper from free agency to Philly, rocking the NBA and signing a two-year deal for the bargain-basement price of $8 million — only a smidge more per season than the 76ers' 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 much-hyped deal, Harper noted: "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."

"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 far beyond the court — from fame around the globe and his bank account, to the cash register and pop culture — that there is no fair comparison. He is No 4 on Forbes' real-time list of wealthiest athletes at $1.4 billion, 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 out-earn every single player on the Sixers.

Joel Embiid, league MVP and two-time scoring champ. 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."

Who those people might be is anyone's guess. 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 was a member of the NBA's 75th anniversary team.

He's also coming off a season where he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he's 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 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, but came away empty-handed, won the National League's MVP award in 2021 and helped win back-to-back NL East titles.

Barkley rushed for more than 2,000 yards in his first season with the Eagles and led them to a Super Bowl championship, and Rose was the missing piece to help Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton win the Phillies a World Series in 1980 — the first MLB title in the franchise's history.

The 76ers have almost seemed to wait as long for a parade down Broad Street.

They have won titles in Philadelphia in only 1967 and 1983 and have improbably 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 in America today decided he wanted to play in Philadelphia.

"I'm not going for money. I'm not going for family," James posted on social media on July 24. "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 the city's teams that is blasted ad nauseam throughout Philly's respective sports complexes.

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 NBA stops in Cleveland, Miami and the Los Angeles Lakers and could be the first player to ever win a title with four teams.

The countdown to opening night is on.

The stakes have really never been higher for the franchise. If they can't win with LeBron, Embiid, Brown and 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."

AP