Sixers higher ups react, discuss landing LeBron James in free agency

[ASFN Admin]

The Philadelphia 76ers are the clear winners of the 2026 offseason. The team's front office trio of President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey, HBSE President of Sports Bob Myers, and Executive VP of Basketball Operations Jameer Nelson has had a helluva summer as they have landed some huge names to build a championship-contending roster.

The first big domino was landing 2024 finals MVP Jaylen Brown in the trade from the Boston Celtics while also landing solid free agents such as Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons, and Ariel Hukporti. Even those moves right there would qualify as a successful offseason.

However, the Sixers weren't done as they waited and waited and eventually were able to land the biggest free agent of them all: LeBron James. They then landed 2-time champion Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency.

In an interview with ESPN, Gansey and Myers gave their reactions to Philadelphia landing James. Starting with Gansey, who of course, is a native of Olmsted Falls, OH and worked for the Cleveland Cavaliers for 15 years before joining the Sixers:

He walked upstairs to tell his wife, Amy, first. "I'm like, 'Babe, we just got LeBron,'" Gansey told ESPN. "She's like, 'What?!' I'll never forget that. And just seeing Rich's texts and being like, 'Oh my gosh, here we go.'"

"I walked around the block probably for two hours," Gansey said. "Some of my neighbors were coming out looking at me like, 'What the hell? You took him!'

"Being in Cleveland, obviously, a little bittersweet, I guess."

Myers, of course, hopped on the "Game Over" podcast and gave his pitch to James to join Philadelphia as he stated the Sixers were his best chance at winning another championship. He didn't back down from that claim with ESPN:

"When I went on the podcast, that's what I meant," Myers told ESPN. "You can disagree, anybody can. And you could argue Embiid -- and what I would say is sure, there's always health risks -- but I would take the chance of a healthy Embiid over you go somewhere else, other guys can get hurt, too."

Joel Embiid has worked his tail off to be ready for the challenges to come and be helpful for the Sixers. With James joining Philadelphia, it's no secret that the expectation is a championship in the upcoming season. This franchise hasn't seen a title since 1983 and it hasn't been past Round 2 since 2001. The moves made in this offseason by Gansey, Myers, Nelson, and Co. have Philadelphia ready to end those long droughts.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers higher ups react, discuss landing LeBron James in free agency

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