LeBron James sent shockwaves across the basketball world on Friday when he announced he was joining the Philadelphia 76ers. The news caught several WNBA players off guard, including Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham. Cunningham was asked during an interview with Complex about James’ announcement, and she couldn’t quite believe it.
“Which is insane,” Cunningham said. “Is it real? Is it actually real?”
It indeed is real. James is joining the 76ers on a two-year, $8 million deal with a player option for the second year. He is teaming up with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and VJ Edgecombe, and while there is a lot of buzz about that, Cunningham raised one concern.
“I mean, we were kind of talking about there’s only one ball amongst a lot of stars,” Cunningham said. “So I think that’ll be interesting. But like, how cool? I think that that team is going to draw a lot of attention. I’m curious to know how it’s going to pan out. But good for him.”
That is a fair point. The 76ers arguably have the best starting lineup in the NBA on paper, but the games are played on the court. There are players in that lineup who had the ball in their hands a lot last season.
Brown ranked third in the NBA in usage rate in 2025-26 at 35.1%, and Embiid ranked fourth at 33.6% (only considering players who played at least 20 games). Maxey was at 28.6% and James at 26.2%.
Adjustments will have to be made, and there will be growing pains. They will at least have a full training camp together, which helps matters. You’d expect these 76ers to figure things out eventually and be in the mix for the championship.
Caitlin Clark Wanted LeBron James To Go To The Warriors
While Cunningham had at least heard about James going to the 76ers, her Fever teammate Caitlin Clark had not. The news broke during Clark’s press conference at WNBA All-Star weekend, and she was stunned.
“No way,” Clark said, via USA Today Sports. “I just pitched him for the Pacers. It didn’t get to him fast enough… Selfishly, I wanted the Warriors because [Stephen Curry] and Bron would have been absolutely insane together, but they have some serious talent on the 76ers. Arguably maybe one of the favorites in the East now with the Knicks and obviously my Pacers, but wow.
“I thought he was either going to go Miami or Cleveland, so that’s really shocking, but I’ll be watching more 76ers games,” Clark added.
Tyrese Haliburton had tried to recruit James to the Indiana Pacers, but he hilariously made it clear he wasn’t going there. Clark was asked to make her own pitch earlier in the day, but she acknowledged he wasn’t going to come. She wanted to see James with Stephen Curry on the Golden State Warriors, and his agent, Rich Paul, revealed it was down to them and the 76ers. He chose Philadelphia.
Like Clark, most had assumed James, who averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2025-26, would go to the Miami Heat or the Cleveland Cavaliers. Reuniting with a former team made sense, but he felt the 76ers gave him the best chance of winning a title.
