Mike Gansey explains how Sixers were able to land LeBron James

The Philadelphia 76ers have had the best offseason in the NBA as they have completely retooled a roster that was swept out of Round 2 of the playoffs in 2026. The Sixers had a very good start to free agency, but then swung a huge deal to acquire Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics, which would have been a great offseason for anybody if Philadelphia had stopped right there,

However, President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey wanted more. He had his eyes on an even bigger name: LeBron James.

The Sixers waited weeks and weeks on his decision before James chose Philadelphia on a 2-year deal. Gansey threw out the first pitch before Tuesday’s Philadelphia Phillies matchup against the Washington Nationals, but then hopped in the booth with NBC Sports Philadelphia and discussed landing James:

I called Rich (Paul) right away and said, ‘Hey, we got Jaylen. Is there a chance LeBron wants to come to us?’ And, obviously, he said, ‘Yeah, this changes some things’. They talked about it, and obviously, this whole process of, whatever, three weeks or whatever it went. They were doing their due diligence with LeBron and talking to all our players and other teams and their representation and stuff. So, it was a long process, but we don’t get LeBron without Jaylen. That’s for sure.

I called Rich (Paul) right away and said, ‘Hey, we got Jaylen. Is there a chance LeBron wants to come to us?’ And, obviously, he said, ‘Yeah, this changes some things’. They talked about it, and obviously, this whole process of, whatever, three weeks or whatever it went. They were doing their due diligence with LeBron and talking to all our players and other teams and their representation and stuff. So, it was a long process, but we don’t get LeBron without Jaylen. That’s for sure.

James changes things for Gansey and the Sixers. Obviously, even if they didn’t land James, they would have been in the mix for the title in the upcoming 2026-27 season, but adding a player like James is the ultimate chess piece. He is the Queen on the chessboard as he can do anything and play any position out on the floor. Basketball should be fun in the City of Brotherly Love in the upcoming season.