The long wait is over and LeBron James has reportedly chosen to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers for his 24th NBA season. James sent out a a message on X on Friday morning, saying that he thought he’d played his final game after the end of last season and that he needed time to decide “if I still love this game.”
James apparently found the answers he was looking for and the announcement that he would be heading to the 76ers surprised bettors and bookmakers alike.
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Over $226 million was traded on the prediction market Kalshi on where James would pick as his next team, and the Miami Heat were the clear favorite on Friday morning at nearly 45%. The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers had also spent time as the favorite to land LeBron at various points since the market opened back in late January.
Philadelphia briefly had the second-best odds (18% to Cleveland’s 43%) late in the evening on July 3, but that was the high-water mark for the 76ers. There was no indication in the market that James was going to Philadelphia, as on Friday morning at 11 a.m. ET the 76ers still had the fourth-best odds — behind Miami, Cleveland and Golden State) at only 8.9%.
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The 76ers moved from 20-1 to win the NBA title to 10-1 after the announcement at BetMGM sportsbooks, giving Philadelphia the fourth-best odds to win next season’s championship. The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs (+275) are clear co-favorites, followed by the New York Knicks at +850.
“It puts them in the 1-1A conversation with the Knicks in the East,” one veteran oddsmaker told Yahoo Sports via text message on Friday. “Sixers will go as far as Joel Embiid’s health will take them, though.”
To that point, the 76ers now have the second-best odds to win the Eastern Conference (+400), just behind the Knicks (+350) and ahead of the Boston Celtics (+500). BetMGM reported that Philadelphia (23%) has the most wagers of any team to win the East.
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“There is going to be an overreaction locally, but we moved from 17-1 to 10-1 [to win the title],” Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata in Atlantic City said via text. “I thought the Sixers were in the mix, but not one of the favorites as I wasn’t sure how he would mesh with Jaylen Brown, [Tyrese] Maxey and especially Embiid. It’s going to be interesting to see how many games both him and Embiid play together.”
That’s a problem for Philadelphia to figure out another day. Today, the 76ers celebrate winning the LeBron James sweepstakes.
