{"id":2062512,"date":"2026-07-26T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T09:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2062512"},"modified":"2026-07-26T12:00:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T09:00:44","slug":"lebron-james-for-his-final-act-will-try-to-find-fulfillment-in-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2062512","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James, for his final act, will try to find fulfillment in Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The questions were getting louder.<\/p>\n

LeBron James had played a half dozen games after missing the start of the season with sciatica.\u00a0He was undoubtedly rusty as his offseason routine was disrupted by the nerve injury. He\u2019d even logged a G League practice to try and accelerate a pathway back to basketball rhythm. But by the time the Los Angeles Lakers got to Philadelphia on Dec. 7, James was mostly moving with two left feet.<\/p>\n

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The last time he was on the court, in Toronto three days earlier, James\u2019 streak of 1,297 straight games with at least 10 points had ended. And even though James had the game-winning assist, it looked like age \u2014 finally \u2014 had caught up to him.<\/p>\n

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Why LeBron James couldn’t retire<\/div>\n
Shakeia Taylor and Jeshua Kidd<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/wzGtQBjQ47rSplM\/”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/wzGtQBjQ47rSplM\/”,”name”:”Why LeBron James couldn’t retire”,”description”:”Sometimes it’s hard to step away from the game you love. LeBron contemplated retirement, before ultimately deciding to join the Philadelphia 76ers. “,”uploadDate”:”2026-07-25T01:11:26.054Z”,”duration”:”PT59S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/cdn-media.theathletic.com\/video-stream\/auto-thumbnail\/wzGtQBjQ47rSplM\/aCW3UliHl7it.0000000.jpg”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/video.nyt.com\/athletic\/streams\/wzGtQBjQ47rSplM\/aCW3UliHl7it\/aCW3UliHl7it.m3u8″,”transcript”:”Why is it so hard for great players to leave the game? Tom Brady, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and now LeBron James. When James, age 41, explained his decision on his X account, he said, I thought I was done when the season ended, before adding, I still truly love this game and I have more to give. Ending a career with a championship is a legacy defining moment. For most of James’s career, he’s been compared to Michael Jordan. With this latest move to join the Sixers, James adds a new layer to the discussion. Is this move weirder than MJ to the Wizards? He isn’t ready to walk away. Jordan didn’t win another ring while with the Wizards. And while we don’t know when James will decide to leave the NBA, we’ve got at least 2 years to see him try to win 1 more and end his career on top. Will his final chapter be more like Brady? Or Jordan”,”ineligibleRegion”:[“BI”,”BY”,”CD”,”CF”,”CU”,”IQ”,”IR”,”KP”,”LB”,”LY”,”ML”,”NI”,”RU”,”SD”,”SO”,”SS”,”SY”,”UA”,”VE”,”YE”,”ZW”],”publisher”:{“@type”:”NewsMediaOrganization”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/#publisher”,”name”:”The Athletic”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/”,”foundingDate”:”2016-01-25″,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”@id”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”url”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”creditText”:”The Athletic”,”height”:”60″,”width”:”435″},”publishingPrinciples”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/edit-guidelines\/”,”sameAs”:”https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Athletic”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Shakeia Taylor and Jeshua Kidd”}]}<\/p>\n
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