The Philadelphia 76ers' pursuit of LeBron James sounds, in Harris' telling, like the kind of idea that starts as a joke and then turns into a full-scale attempt to change a franchise. That shift matters, because it says Philadelphia did not simply admire James from a distance. It tried to get involved once the opening was there.
Speaking with CNBC, Josh Harris said the process began after James opted out, when a casual thought became something the team took seriously. “We had joked, LeBron had opted out, and we thought well maybe we’ll go after him, ha ha ha. Then we got a really competitive team. We took it really seriously after that,” Harris said. In other words, once the opportunity looked real, the Philadelphia 76ers moved from curiosity to action.
What Harris said about the chase
Harris added that the organization started working the phones and trying to get into the conversation. The goal, as he described it, was not just to add a famous name, but to identify the place James believed was best for the final chapter of his career. “We all started really hitting the phones trying to get in the game…at the end of the day it came down to where he wanted to win, where he thought it would be right to spend the last chapter of his career,” Harris said.
That framing tells you a lot about how Philadelphia viewed the opportunity. This was not a token pitch. It was a serious attempt to land a player Harris clearly saw as a major difference maker, especially for a team that needed him to get through the playoffs. The logic is simple enough: if you believe you are close, you do not leave a player like James on the board without trying.
The larger context matters too. Philadelphia has been missing a new era of excitement since Allen Iverson, and that makes any serious pursuit of a star like James feel bigger than a normal roster move. It is about competitive ambition, yes, but also about energy, relevance and the chance to reset the mood around a franchise.
James is now in his 24th NBA season, and Harris' comments underline why he still commands that kind of attention. Even late in his career, he remains the sort of player teams believe can tilt a season. For Philadelphia, the pursuit itself is a reminder of how aggressively the organization was willing to chase that possibility.
The signing did not happen, but the story still says something useful about the Sixers. They were willing to make a serious run at a player who could have changed the shape of their postseason outlook, and Harris made clear that once the idea became realistic, they treated it like a real mission.
