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LeBron James joining the Philadelphia 76ers is one of the biggest free agency successes in franchise history, but the NBA played a huge part in it.
The 76ers managed to lure LeBron James to the franchise this summer after he left the Los Angeles Lakers at the end of his eight-year stint with the team.
While the push to land The King may have taken place over the last year, the NBA actually helped create the conditions for his return years prior.
How Michael Rubin selling the Philadelphia 76ers allowed him to bring LeBron James years later
In 2022, Michael Rubin sold his 10% minority stake in Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment (HBSE) to focus on his sports apparel brand, Fanatics, and to avoid a conflict of interest.
Around that time, Fanatics had struck a deal with the NBA as the official merchandise partner of the league, and there were concerns about the deal given his ties to the 76ers.
”If you look through the rules of the leagues, it didn’t work for me to own part of a team,” Rubin told attendees at the MIT Sloan Conference back in 2024 (via the Inquirer).
“It was holding back Fanatics. It was a great privilege and honour to be a part of. … I learned a lot. I got a lot of great experience, and it was definitely time for me to move on.
”Now, I feel like I sit at the centre of sports, technology, and business. I have the funnest job on the planet (sic). I love doing it. I wake up every morning excited to jump out of bed.”
According to a report from Fox Sports at the time, Rubin was concerned about not getting to help the 76ers in a non-ownership capacity, but multiple league officials told him that wouldn’t be the case.
“To that point, according to multiple sources, the league office recently told Harris that Rubin, freed from the constraints of the league’s collective bargaining agreement and anti-tampering laws, will be able to help the Sixers more than ever.”
Interestingly enough, once Rubin began focusing more on Fanatics, one of the relationships that he forged that has stood the test of time is with none other than LeBron James.
James initially invested in the company in 2022, purchasing a minority stake in Mitchell & Ness, their subsidiary brand that focused on creating throwback sports apparel.
This relationship only grew further in January 2024, when he signed a trading card deal with Fanatics. And apparently, this deal helped play a part in bringing James to the 76ers.
Despite signing with the 76ers, James decided not to reside in Philadelphia. Rather, he moved to New York City and planned on commuting to practice via private helicopter.
The helicopter James was seen taking from the 76ers’ training facility back to New York was branded with Fanatics’ logo, which led many to rightfully assume that Michael Rubin was paying for his commute.
A spokesperson for James confirmed this to Front Office Sports, stating that use of the company helicopter was one of the perks in James’ trading card deal signed back in 2024.
“The deal we signed with Fanatics almost three years ago includes access to their corporate aviation. It’s a feature in many of their deals with their largest athletes, and we appreciate their partnership as LeBron splits his time between New York and Philadelphia.”
In a way, the NBA’s reported comments to Rubin about being able to help the 76ers even more after selling his ownership stake proved to be right.
One could make the case that without Rubin and Fanatics funding James’ helicopter commutes between New York and Philadelphia, the 76ers wouldn’t have been able to land LeBron James.
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