Take a look at 8 memorable plays from LeBron James’ career!
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Unless you’re LeBron James, who soon will be playing a debut season for the fifth time in his 24-year career: He announced Friday he will sign to play for the Philadelphia 76ers on a reported two-year deal.
In macro terms, James has needed no introduction to sports fans since about the time he was a sophomore at St. Vincent-St. Mary High in Akron, Ohio. With a national TV spotlight already trained on him, the self-styled “King James” met and exceeded enormous expectations as a preps-to-pros phenom when he got to the NBA as the first pick in the 2003 Draft.
More than two decades later, James has four NBA championship rings, four Most Valuable Player trophies, four Finals MVP awards, the NBA’s career points record, 22 All-Star berths and name recognition worldwide. Forget trophy shelf or trophy room — the league’s most important player for most of his career could stock a trophy warehouse.
Across four stops with three franchises, though, James has introduced himself locally to fresh sets of home fans — or with his return from Miami to Cleveland in 2014, to familiar fans eyeing a more confident star with a new cast of teammates. Now he’ll make it five and four, dramatically flipping a Philadelphia fan base that had gotten used to rooting against him.
At 41, James’ first season with the Sixers will be unlike any of his previous debut stops. From Cleveland to Miami back to Cleveland and on to Los Angeles, there were variations in how James animated the fans, dominated the local media and altered the teams and locker rooms. He reaped plenty of individual honors each time, though none of his biggest ones (no rings or MVPs) in those first seasons.
The Sixers, with new teammates Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown, VJ Edgecombe and the rest, might have something to say about that in 2026-27.
For the record, LeBron’s combined statistics in his four debut years – 24.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 7.0 apg – are only a bit off from his numbers across 23 seasons overall (26.8, 7.5, 7.4). Given all the variables of age, experience, chemistry, and competition at each stop, that consistency is remarkable.
Here is a snapshot of James’ first season each time he has changed teams:
Relive LeBron James’ Top 10 plays from his first stint with the Cavs.
Season: 2003-04
New team: Cleveland Cavaliers
Stats: 20.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.9 apg | 41.7% FGs/29% 3PT/75.4% FT
This was James’ rookie season, of course. His arrival as the No. 1 pick in the loaded 2003 Draft helped the Cavaliers go 35-47. Not impressive? It was an improvement of 18 victories over their previous season. And it was the last time James’ team would finish below .500 for another 15 years. He beat out Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony for Kia Rookie of the Year and finished ninth in MVP balloting.
Relive some of LeBron James’ best plays from his time with the Miami Heat.
Season: 2010-11
New team: Miami Heat
Stats: 26.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 7 apg | 51/33/75.9
James has described his move to Miami as “going to college to learn to win.” His instincts in making “The Decision” proved correct, with the Heat reaching the NBA Finals all four seasons he played in Miami and winning championships in 2012 and ’13. But his “freshman year” after teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh was bumpy. Lofty expectations of “not four, not five, not six” rings and trial-and-error role adjustments didn’t derail a 58-24 regular season or a march through three playoff rounds. But in the 2011 Finals, superstar Dirk Nowitzki, coach Rick Carlisle and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks upset the Heat in six games. Individually, this was a gap year in James’ stretch of four MVP awards in five years (the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose won the narrative). James finished third but made the All-NBA First Team, was an All-Star and an All-Defensive First Team selection.
Relive LeBron James’ Top 10 plays with the Cavs during his second stint with them.
Season: 2014-15
New team: Cleveland Cavaliers
Stats: 25.3 ppg, 6 rpg, 7.4 apg | 48.8/35.4/71
How much did the Cavs miss LeBron? They fell into the lottery all four seasons he was in Miami, finishing a collective 118 games under .500. But after James surprised many folks again by returning to Cleveland, that advanced degree in winning he picked up in South Florida paid off immediately. Teaming with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in a new trio of All-Stars, he helped Cleveland improve by 20 games to 53-29. They went 12-2 against the Celtics, Bulls and Hawks before falling to the Golden State Warriors in six games in the 2015 NBA Finals. The usual accolades — third in MVP voting, All-NBA First Team — went to the 30-year-old local hero.
LeBron James made history with the Lakers as the first player with 50,000 career points (regular season and playoffs combined).
Season: 2018-19
New team: Los Angeles Lakers
Stats: 27.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 8.3 apg | 51/33.9/66.5
After leading Cleveland to four Finals and its first NBA title (2016), James moved again as a free agent, seemingly as much for himself, his family and his business interests. The season failed to launch for the team, however, with injuries a major impediment. James played 55 games, the fewest of his 16 seasons to that point, and he had 20 teammates due to others’ absences. The Lakers went 28-27 when James played but 9-18 without him. It was his first time missing the playoffs since his second season and first sub-.500 finish since he was a rookie. He did land 11th in MVP balloting and made the All-NBA Third Team at 34. He also passed Michael Jordan (32,292) on the all-time points list on March 6. He said then that the achievement “ranks right up there at the top with winning a championship.”
New team: Philadelphia 76ers
Stats: TBD
The Sixers won 45 games last season and bumped off Boston in the playoffs before getting swept by the eventual champion Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Their new starting lineup, if healthy, is formidable. Plus, James has the know-how to lead the way and Philadelphia hasn’t reached a conference final since 2001. James has been to 12 of them since then.
Individually, sure, he’ll be 42 by season’s end. He appeared in 60 games and averaged his fewest minutes yet (33.2). But if you take his career lows in the major categories — 20.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.9 apg, 41.7% shooting, all from his rookie season — there were only six players last season who matched or beat those across the board. All six — Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Johnson, Deni Advija and James — were All-Stars in 2025-26.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
