LeBron Is a 76er Now. Here Are the 5 Biggest Free-Agent Signings in NBA History

LeBron James is 41 years old, and this summer he picked a new team one more time. He announced it on July 24: 2 years with the Philadelphia 76ers, for about $3.9 million this season. He made about $53 million with the Lakers last year.

“This is my last decision,” he said. “I’m not going for money. I’m not going for family.”

It might be the last one, but it’s nowhere near his biggest. LeBron already owns 2 of the 5 entries on this list. Here are the 5 free-agent moves that changed the NBA the most.

5. Moses Malone to Philadelphia (1982)

6 years, $13.2 million. One championship, 12-1 in the playoffs.

This one comes with an asterisk, and it’s the reason Philly fans are allowed to dream about LeBron. Moses Malone was a restricted free agent in 1982, which meant the Houston Rockets could match any offer. On Sept. 2, the 76ers gave him an offer sheet worth $13.2 million over 6 years, a record at the time. Houston matched it, then traded him to Philadelphia 2 weeks later for Caldwell Jones and a first-round pick.

Philly already had Julius Erving. What it didn’t have was a center who could beat Kareem. Before the playoffs, Malone was asked how they’d go. His answer: “Fo’, fo’, fo’.” 3 sweeps.

He was nearly right. The 76ers went 12-1, losing only one game to Milwaukee. Malone was the league MVP and the Finals MVP, and the championship rings were engraved “Fo’ Fi’ Fo’.”

That was 1983. Philadelphia hasn’t won an NBA title since.

4. LeBron James back to Cleveland (2014)

”I’m coming home.” 2 years, $42.1 million.

Four years after he left Cleveland on live television, LeBron came back with a letter. On July 11, 2014, Sports Illustrated published a first-person essay, as told to Lee Jenkins, under the headline “I’m Coming Home.”

The Cavaliers made the Finals in each of his next 4 seasons. In 2016 they fell behind the 73-9 Golden State Warriors, 3 games to 1, and came back to win the title. It was Cleveland’s first major pro championship since the 1964 Browns.

3. Kevin Durant to Golden State (2016)

2 years, about $54.3 million. 2 titles, 2 Finals MVPs.

In the 2016 Western Conference finals, Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder led the Warriors 3 games to 1 and lost the series. About 5 weeks later, Durant joined them.

He announced it on July 4, 2016, in a Players’ Tribune post titled “My Next Chapter.” “This has been by far the most challenging few weeks in my professional life,” he wrote.

Golden State had just won 73 games without him. With him, the Warriors won the championship in 2017 and 2018, and Durant was the Finals MVP both times. No free agent has ever made a great team that much greater.

2. LeBron James to Miami (2010)

”I’m going to take my talents to South Beach.”

On July 8, 2010, ESPN aired a live hour-long special from a Boys & Girls Club in Greenwich, Conn. Jim Gray finally asked the question, and LeBron gave the answer that turned Cleveland against him overnight.

Technically, it was a sign-and-trade. LeBron signed a 6-year deal worth about $110 million and Cleveland got 2 first-round picks and 2 second-round picks in the trade. The next night, at a welcome party in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, he promised titles: “Not 2, not 3, not 4...”

It turned into 4 straight Finals and 2 titles, in 2012 and 2013. And it changed the league. Before The Decision, stars mostly went where they were drafted or traded. After it, they started choosing their own teammates.

1. Shaquille O’Neal to the Lakers (1996)

7 years, $120 million. 3 straight championships.

Shaq was 24 and had already taken the Orlando Magic to the Finals. In the summer of 1996 he was also playing for the U.S. Olympic team in Atlanta, which is where he was when he signed with Los Angeles on July 18.

Jerry West had spent weeks clearing the room to pay him. The Lakers traded center Vlade Divac to Charlotte for the draft rights to the 13th pick, a 17-year-old high schooler named Kobe Bryant. They dumped 2 more contracts on Vancouver to finish the job. Orlando’s final offer was $115 million. LA’s was $120 million, then the richest contract in team sports.

2 days before he signed, the Orlando Sentinel ran a reader poll asking whether Shaq was worth $115 million. More than 91% said no.

The Lakers won 3 straight titles from 2000 to 2002, and Shaq was the Finals MVP all 3 times. One free agent and one teenager, both acquired the same summer. That’s a dynasty built in 3 weeks.

Honorable mentions

Tom Chambers to Phoenix (1988). The first unrestricted free agent under the NBA’s new labor deal. He signed with the Suns for $9 million over 5 years, and free agency as we know it started here.

Steve Nash to Phoenix (2004). Dallas let him walk. He won the next 2 MVP awards.

LeBron James to the Lakers (2018). 4 years, $153 million, and the 2020 championship in the bubble. It only misses the list because LeBron is already on it twice.

And 2 that went sideways

Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to Brooklyn (2019). They agreed to terms on the same night, June 30, 2019. Durant missed the entire first season with a torn Achilles, and the pair won 1 playoff series together.

Kawhi Leonard to the Clippers (2019). Kawhi had just won the title in Toronto. To get Paul George to join him, the Clippers gave up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, 5 first-round picks and 2 pick swaps. Gilgeous-Alexander has since won an MVP and a championship in Oklahoma City. The Clippers are still waiting.

Now LeBron is in Philadelphia, a city that’s been waiting since Moses. Does he get them there? Tell us in the comments.