SO LEBRON JAMES IS “TAKING HIS TALENTS” TO… THE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS!

I guess that even I can be wrong every now and then. Since the saga of where LeBron James would go once he announced he was leaving the Lakers on June 30th, I was just about positive that he would go back to Cleveland because that’s where he’s from, the Cavaliers were his first NBA team, and it would be so poetic for him to end his career there.

And, when he didn’t announce his decision right away, it hit me that perhaps he would be going to the Miami Heat because that’s where he won his first championship, and that would have a symmetry of its own. But even though I love Giannis Antetokounmpo, I really didn’t think that LeBron would mesh with him as a winning duo down there. But I personally love Pat Riley because of meeting him back in the day, (which I’ll explain in a minute,) so I could see LeBron wanting to reunite with that man. But it just wasn’t sitting right for me.

Never for one second did I really consider that he would want to play on the geriatric Golden State Warriors, although the rest of the world seemed to. I’m sure that he really respects Steph Curry—who doesn’t—but even though Draymond Green always says that he and LeBron are such good friends, I did not think that LeBron would put up with Draymond’s terrible behavior on the court. LeBron wants to play the game the right way.

So then, when I read a statement from LeBron, true or not, (because I don’t trust anything on the internet these days,) saying that the decision would be up to his young daughter, I thought, “Uh-oh—he’s going back to Miami because what little girl would want to live in Cleveland instead of Miami?”

So I woke up this morning to a text from Mase, my new bestie in Arizona, saying, “Kinda wish he went back to the Cavs, to be honest.” I was more than half asleep, but I sat straight up and went, “Oh no!” So I looked up what was happening and the first thing I read was that his “storybook ending would take place in Miami instead of Cleveland.” Sad as I was, I still felt the need to contribute to this breaking news, so I jumped out of bed and wrote a whole article about him going to Miami Heat. My angle was that I believe that Giannis was getting them to put his two brothers on the team as part of his deal, and then I assumed that LeBron was going to get them to put his son on the team, as well. And then that would already be five people making up the Antetokounmpo-LeBron heat!

So, of course, as I always do, I checked my sources once again to make sure I had it all right, and what did I see? That LeBron himself says he’s going to the Philadelphia 76ers! Even though I know that people had written that that was a possibility all along, I had really never considered it could be a reality. He has no connection to the team, I don’t think that Joel Embiid wants to give up being the star, and I can’t imagine that LeBron’s daughter really wants to live in Philadelphia.

So I’m left scratching my head over this whole situation. Except for maybe that he wanted to play with the Sixers’ other new acquisition, Jaylen Brown, (previously the co-star of the Celtics, who sort-of screwed him, even though he was the Finals MVP just two yeas ago!) Perhaps that’s it.

But Zhuri is just eleven-years-old, so she won’t be a teenager for two more years, by which time LeBron will be forty-three and will supposedly finally stop playing. So maybe she really did not have a say about where her dad was going to go. Or maybe she’s just a fan of Philly cheesesteaks.

Here’s LeBron’s whole statement this morning:

“I thought I was done when the season ended. I wasn’t ready to announce it, and I knew I needed some time to really decide, but I was pretty sure I played my last game. I was honest at that last press conference when I said I needed to look at myself and deicide if I still love this game. I still truly love this game, and I have more to give.

“The last few weeks have really been special. I’ve never been able to have no clue what to do and take real time to just think. I’ve had an incredible few months with all the people I love trying to figure it all out. This is my last decision. I’m not going for money. I’m not going for family. 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 another championship.

“I 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. Thank you LA. Miami I’ll forever love and Northeast Ohio will always home!” [Note: I left his statement as is, as hard as it is for me to not correct his spelling and grammar mistakes!]

I have to say that the whole thing is very strange to me. Why would he choose a team he’s never been on, a city he’s never lived in, and players he’s never played with except maybe for a second in an All-Star Game? We’ve never heard that he’s friends with anyone connected to that team at all, and even if they offered more money, which I don’t think is the case, I just can’t imagine what was in his mind. I really can’t. (But perhaps they included a good deal for Bronny to join him. Just sayin’.)

So I’m rooting for the Cavaliers more than I already do because I feel bad that LeBron rejected them once again. He and Donovan Mitchell would have been perfect together because Donovan really needs someone who has equal skills to his own, and he seems so wonderful and down to earth that he wouldn’t have even minded if LeBron was actually the first star of that team. Donovan has been my favorite player for several years now, (well, trading off with Luka Dončić from time to time,) and he will stay that way. That would have been a match made in heaven, everyone would’ve rooted for LeBron even more for being so loyal to his hometown, and it would have been his third time on that team so there would’ve been some magic numerology to the situation, as well. Oh well.

One more thing about this whole LeBron James odyssey. On Tuesday night, a livestream link titled “LeBron James Introductory Press Conference | July 27, 2026” by the Miami Heat was leaked, which indicated that there would be a press conference to announce LeBron was coming to them. They said they released it by accident, but it does mean that they had it ready. So that was either because he really was going to them, or that they were setting it up just in case, as publications do for celebrities’ obituaries. They always want to have them ready at a moments notice. It wasn’t a major deal, either way.

Here’s one little personal note that I left till the end because I didn’t want my own Pat Riley story to muddle my thoughts on LeBron right now. Back when I was doing my TV show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue, grown-up celebrities Angie Dickinson and Jackie Collins invited Mr. X and me to this big charity dinner. Pat Riley was one of the people on the dais, and people at my table kept telling me that he was staring at me, which I had no idea what that meant. I have to admit that I was cute back in the day, so there was no shock if a male looked at me. And then about a year later, I was invited to the big dinner for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s retirement from the Lakers, and at the end of the night, I was speaking to Martin Mull’s wife, Wendy, when I felt an arm go around me, and Wendy’s face went white. So when I looked up to see who had his arm around me, it was none other than Pat Riley! I was so shocked that I really couldn’t form words. He knew I was struggling, so he offered by explanation, “You’re my favorite talk show person!” I almost passed out. And then we talked for a few minutes and said we’d see each other again soon. But it wasn’t soon. It was a year or two later when I was invited to be on the stage with him at some special honor he was receiving in LA. So that was special to me too. And then he was gone to Miami and all I’m left with is the memories. I’m kidding about that dramatic line, of course, but we will always have those three encounters.

The last thing I’m going to say about LeBron’s decision is this: I’ve never minded the Philadelphia 76ers. I actually used to root for them when they had first Dr. J and then Charles Barkley, of course. And ever since then, I just haven’t cared about them one way or the other. I want to say that I wish him luck there, but I sort-of really don’t, because I feel like he screwed Cleveland once again, as he did back in the day when he left them the first time. I’m thinking that maybe he still has a grudge against their owner, Dan Gilbert, because he talked very badly about LeBron when he left the first time, so maybe LeBron was just trying to do one last slap in Gilbert’s face. It’s just a thought.

So there you have it. I’m just kind-of sad about the whole thing. So I’ll leave it here. And by the way—I would have published this about an hour earlier if I hadn’t just put fake nails on last night, which is making it extremely difficult for me to type. Just being honest here, as always.