July 24, 2026
LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er, and the city is losing its mind, along with the rest of the collective basketball world.
The 41-year-old superstar announced his latest decision Friday morning, coinciding with the confirmation of a two-year deal, and after the Sixers already pulled off the summer's biggest blockbuster to get Jaylen Brown from Boston, they just went and pulled off another.
The Sixers, who have been getting rapidly repaired by new front office lead Mike Gansey, will now boast a starting five of James, Brown, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Joel Embiid.
On paper, that looks like a championship winner, and sportsbooks have taken notice.
Here's the latest look at the Sixers' odds to win the NBA title across several sportsbooks after word broke that James was coming to Philly:
| Sportsbook | Sixers Title Odds (Rk) | Title Favorite |
| DraftKings | +900 (3) | Spurs/Thunder, +270 |
| FanDuel | +1000 (4) | Thunder, +260 |
| BetMGM | +1000 (4) | Spurs/Thunder, +275 |
| Casesars | +800 (4) | Spurs, +240 |
| BetRivers | +1000 (4) | Spurs/Thunder, +275 |
| Hard Rock Bet | +750 (3) | Spurs/Thunder, +275 |
The Sixers winning the title with James is already looking like the hot bet, too.
Per DraftKings' live updates as of this writing, more than 11,000 people put in a bet on Friday for the Sixers to win the NBA Championship now that they have James.
They're not the true favorites, as the Spurs, Thunder, and depending on where you look, the defending champion Knicks have better title odds above them.
But James, even at 41 years old, is still good enough to suddenly – and seriously – bring them into the conversation, whereas a year ago, this would've seemed impossible.
MORE: LeBron James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, is signing with the Sixers
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