Philadelphia Started Celebrating LeBron James Before He Played a Game
LeBron James has not played a game for the Philadelphia 76ers. The city has thrown him a party anyway. Murals have gone up, and the governor named a day after him.
43 years without a title
Philadelphia has gone 43 years without an NBA championship. On July 24, James announced he was joining the Sixers. The deal is two years and $8 million, a veterans’ minimum contract with a player option. James is 41.
Reports differ on when the contract was signed, with some saying July 24 and others July 26.
The wall at Javelin
Albert Zheng, a lifelong Sixers fan, owns the restaurant Javelin. As soon as the news broke, he commissioned artist Bill Strobel to paint a mural of James on the side of the building. In the painting, James wears a retro Allen Iverson jersey.
Zheng says foot traffic has jumped. The restaurant’s Instagram page also picked up an extra half million views.
Strobel says people told him it was too soon. He disagreed: “it’s never too soon.” He puts James’s arrival alongside Julius “Dr. J” Erving, who joined the Sixers in 1976 and won the team’s last title seven years later. For fans, Strobel said, this feels about as big.
Chinatown’s version
Artist Chenlin Cai painted James next to William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. The mural copies the dunk photo from James’s Miami Heat years and adds cresting waves and Chinese elements. It made headlines.
Cai came to the United States from China in 2014 and has followed James since high school. He wants James to help the city move forward, and he hopes the mural brings people to Chinatown.
Bars, tickets and media day
McGillin’s Olde Ale House, the city’s oldest continuously operating tavern, unveiled a cocktail called Crown the King the day James announced. Governor Josh Shapiro declared July 24 “LeBron James Day.” Manager Gaby Rubery said people left work early and showed up in Sixers jerseys. Iverson was the last star the city had, she said.
The home opener is October 22 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Resale tickets were around $300 on TickPick.
On September 28, media day, James spoke as a Sixer for the first time. Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid were in the room. Asked about expectations, James said he did not leave his family to lose in the second round.
