LeBron James: Four NBA Titles, the Scoring Record and His Move to the 76ers

Ninety-eight to ninety-three. That was the final score in Philadelphia on Friday night, and the man who decided it is 41 years old.

LeBron James, in a blue No. 23 shirt that still looks odd in photographs, hit a late fadeaway to put the 76ers in front of the New York Knicks, then closed the game out with a tip-in. The Associated Press had him at 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the NBA Cup game. Tyrese Maxey led Philadelphia with 27. It was the Sixers’ second win over the defending champions this season, and the AP described the building as having “a lively playoff feel”.

In Ghana, “76ers vs Knicks” climbed Google Trends overnight. Most of the headlines attached to it had James’s name in them. Some things don’t change.

“This is my last decision”

Start with how he got here, because it was not the plan anyone had in mind a year ago.

On 30 June 2026, according to NBA.com, James told the Los Angeles Lakers he would not be coming back. He had spent eight seasons there and played into the second round of the playoffs that May. For several weeks he was the most talked-about free agent in the league. Then, on 24 July, he posted his answer on social media. NBC News quoted it: “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?” He wrote that he had seriously thought about retiring before realising he still loved the game.

It became official on 27 July. The AP and CBS Sports reported a two-year deal at the veteran’s minimum, with a player option on the second year. Reuters noted he kept No. 23. Fourth team. Twenty-fourth season, which extends his own record for most seasons played, a mark he took from Vince Carter.

Philadelphia has not won a title since 1983. This summer it also added Jaylen Brown from Boston, to go with Joel Embiid and Maxey.

Quick facts

• Full name: LeBron Raymone James
• Born: 30 December 1984, Akron, Ohio, United States
• Position: Forward
• Drafted: No. 1 overall, 2003, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Teams: Cleveland (2003-10, 2014-18), Miami (2010-14), LA Lakers (2018-26), Philadelphia (2026-)
• NBA titles: 2012, 2013, 2016, 2020
• MVP awards: four regular-season, four Finals
• Olympics: bronze 2004; gold 2008, 2012, 2024
• Record: NBA all-time leading scorer since 7 February 2023

Friday, up close

The AP called it perhaps his best game as a Sixer so far. Two moments stood out in its account: a first-half bucket over Mikal Bridges and a block on OG Anunoby. Neither is a highlight you’d expect from the oldest player in the league. Both are the sort of thing he has been doing for two decades.

Editor’s view: the stat line is fine, not spectacular. What matters is who had the ball when it was close. Philadelphia built this roster around stars with long injury histories, and it needed someone who could make the right call in the last two minutes. On Friday, that was James. Whether a 41-year-old body allows it in March and April is another question entirely, and nobody, including the Sixers, knows the answer yet.

Three cities, four rings

The short version of his career is a list of zip codes.

Cleveland, the first time. The Cavaliers took him first overall in June 2003, straight out of high school. Rookie of the Year for 2003-04. All-Star the next season. In 2007 he dragged a thin roster to the Finals, where San Antonio swept them. MVP in 2009 and again in 2010. No ring.

Miami. He announced his move in a live television special in the summer of 2010, which went down badly in Ohio and which he later said he would have handled differently. With Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the Heat made four straight Finals. They lost to Dallas in 2011, beat Oklahoma City in 2012, beat San Antonio in 2013, and lost the rematch to the Spurs in 2014. He was regular-season and Finals MVP in both title years.

Cleveland again. He went home in 2014. Four Finals in a row followed, all against Golden State. The one people remember is 2016, when the Cavaliers came back from 3-1 down to win the city’s first major professional championship in more than half a century. Finals MVP again. The chase-down block late in Game 7 is still replayed constantly.

Los Angeles. He signed with the Lakers in 2018. In 2019-20 the season was finished inside the NBA’s pandemic “bubble” in Florida, and the Lakers won it, his fourth Finals MVP with it. He also won the first NBA Cup in 2023.

The record

On 7 February 2023 he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most points in NBA history. Abdul-Jabbar’s mark had stood for nearly four decades. In March 2024 James became the first player to reach 40,000 career points.

It is worth saying plainly: that is a longevity record as much as a scoring one. He has talked often about the time and money he spends on recovery and conditioning. The payoff is a player still starting games in his 24th season.

Akron first

Before any of this, he was a kid from Akron, about an hour south of Cleveland, who played both basketball and American football. At St. Vincent-St. Mary High School his games were shown on national television, and Sports Illustrated put him on its cover when he was a junior. He led the school to state championships. College was never seriously on the table.

Akron is also where his best-known project outside basketball sits. His foundation opened the I Promise School there in 2018, a public school run with the local district for children who need extra support. He has built a large business and media portfolio as well, including the production company SpringHill, and he has been an outspoken voice on social issues, which has earned him both praise and criticism.

Team USA

Four Olympic Games. Bronze in Athens in 2004, a result American basketball still winces at. Gold in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. Then a long gap, and a return for Paris 2024, where the United States won again and he was named the tournament’s most valuable player. The photograph on this page is from those Games.

How the game changed with him

Early on, scouts talked about his body. Built like a forward, handled like a guard, finished through contact. That description hasn’t aged especially well. In his thirties he became a far more reliable outside shooter, and coaches and analysts have long pointed to his passing and his reading of the floor as the parts of his game that held up best.

That fits Friday. He wasn’t the leading scorer. He made the decisions.

It also suggests how Philadelphia might get the most out of him. He doesn’t need to carry the scoring load with Maxey, Brown and Embiid around him. A season of 30-plus minutes a night, every night, seems unlikely at 41. A season of being the calmest head on the floor in the fourth quarter looks far more realistic, and on the evidence so far, that is the role he has picked for himself.

Career timeline

• 1984: Born in Akron, Ohio.
• 2003: First overall pick, Cleveland.
• 2004: Rookie of the Year; Olympic bronze.
• 2008: Olympic gold, Beijing.
• 2010: Joins Miami.
• 2012-13: Back-to-back titles; Olympic gold in London.
• 2014: Returns to Cleveland.
• 2016: Title from 3-1 down.
• 2018: Signs with the Lakers; I Promise School opens.
• 2020: Fourth title.
• 2023: All-time leading scorer; first NBA Cup.
• 2024: 40,000 points; third Olympic gold.
• 2026: Leaves the Lakers, signs with Philadelphia.

What we could not verify

• Whether 2026-27 will be his last season. His deal includes an option for another year and he has not said when he will retire.
• His full season statistics so far. They change nightly, so we quote only the AP’s figures for Friday’s game.
• Reports of his personal wealth or business valuations, which we do not publish.

Sources

• Associated Press
• ESPN
• NBA.com
• NBC News
• CBS Sports
• Reuters
• Marca