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Smiling Through It All: The Most Iconic Internet Reactions, Memes to LeBron James Joining 76ers

The biggest winner of LeBron James signing with the 76ers? The internet.
Kristen Wong|
76ers’ VJ Edgecombe was among the Philly players who joyously reacted to news of LeBron James signing with the Sixers.
76ers’ VJ Edgecombe was among the Philly players who joyously reacted to news of LeBron James signing with the Sixers. | Screengrab on Instagram/@vj.edgecombe

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Philadelphia 76ers

LeBron James is officially a 76er. The NBA great will be continuing his esteemed legacy in Philadelphia alongside Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid to hopefully win his fifth championship in the twilight years of his career. Plenty of Sixers fans are very happy about that. As for the rest of the NBA—you know what they say: Laughter is the best medicine.

James, who signed a two-year, $8 million vet minimum deal, chose Philly over other rumored top suitors including the Cavaliers, Heat, Warriors and Timberwolves. The fans of those franchises coped by sharing some really great online content reacting to the news, and the rest of the sports world got in on the fun, too.

Without any further ado, here are our favorite reactions and memes from the internet on James’s Decision to join the 76ers.

Merriam-Webster reminds 76ers fans to “trust the process”

Merriam-Webster kicked things off with a cheeky definition of the “process.” James notably referred to “trusting the process” during his appearance at NYC’s Fanatics Fest earlier this month, but everyone brushed it off as a red herring.

VJ Edgecombe takes a page out of LeBron’s meme book

76ers’ VJ Edgecombe didn’t take long to react to the news, and what he did was instantly iconic. The starting guard shared a pic on Instagram Stories of him recreating LeBron’s viral swimming pool meme that he captioned, “Smiling through it all! Can’t believe this is my life”.

The Sixers haven’t been to the NBA Finals since 2001. James, meanwhile, has reached the Finals on 10 separate occasions since with the Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers. So you can imagine why Edgecombe truly can’t believe that this is his life.

76ers fans rejoice by unearthing old Philly Twitter gold

Former Sports Illustrated editor and big-time Philly fan Tyler Lauletta reshared the perfect meme on how James fulfilled his “prophecy” by coming to the 76ers.

The late beloved Philadelphia Twitter personality, Tom Bro Dude, submitted this piece of art directed at “Lerbon Janes” to the Internet Hall of Fame over a decade ago. RIP.

The infamous domino meme quickly takes over the internet after LeBron’s Decision

What led to LeBron choosing the 76ers over other competing teams? Mainly, he wanted to win another chip, and he believed Philly gave him the best opportunity to do so.

But a few wry sports media members suggested it was a butterfly effect of several things falling into place:

Jon Rothstein is as Jon Rothstein does

Most of the sports media world was left stunned when James announced he was signing with the 76ers, except for college hoops reporter Jon Rothstein.

In typical Rothstein fashion, he elected to share a bit of breaking news in college basketball at the same time LeBron’s decision dropped.

“Source: UConn will host Rider on November 30th as part of its 2026-27 non-conference schedule,” Rothstein wrote on X.

LeBron’s odyssey to Philly gets immortalized in Odyssey meme history

If you haven’t yet seen this Robert Pattinson beggars meme, what are you even doing on the internet?

Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg is far from impressed

Now we’re starting to get into the side of Twitter where fans are distraught over LeBron’s decision to sign with the 76ers. For one, Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg shared this telling reaction of how he felt seeing the ex-Lakers star snub Golden State and the chance to team up with Steph Curry:

Curry hasn’t yet publicly reacted to LeBron’s 76ers decision, but he did have this to say about his Olympic basketball buddy a few weeks back.

“I’m sure we would obviously love to play together,” Curry said. “Hopefully it happens. But he’s deserved the opportunity and the right to take his time with the decision.”

Warriors fans can still dream about the superstar pairing. They just won’t ever get to see it in action.

Cavs fan are... going through it

Right up until the finish line, the Cavaliers appeared to be the top suitor for LeBron given how it would have been a satisfying full circle loop for the NBA great’s career. But they, too, were left inconsolable after LeBron decided he did not, in fact, want to go home.

LeBron is attempting to become the first player in NBA history to win a ring with four different teams following his cumulative 11 year stint in Cleveland, four-year stint in Miami and latest eight-year stint in Los Angeles.

Pour one out for the poor Heat employee who leaked the LeBron presser

The Heat also had decent chances of landing LeBron, who played in Miami for four seasons from 2010 to ‘14. In his first and grandest “Decision”, which arguably generated the most fanfare, James announced on live television that he was leaving Cleveland to sign with the Heat back in ‘10.

Rumors swirled after the Heat accidentally leaked a LeBron James press conference live stream on their YouTube channel last week. It turns out whoever made the viral snafu was just trying to manifest it, and you really can’t blame them for trying.

What about Bronny?

What’s going to happen to Bronny James now that his dad is leaving him to ring-chase with the 76ers? ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported Friday that Rich Paul, who served as both LeBron and Bronny’s agent, says “they are not a package deal,” and there’s no current plan for Bronny to join his father.

76ers star, and LeBron’s new teammate, Jaylen Brown once disrespected Bronny with a viral comment about the USC product not being a pro during 2024 NBA Summer League, but that’s probably all water under the bridge, now.

The internet had a field day with Bronny-related memes in the wake of LeBron’s formalized exit out of L.A.:

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020 and has a bachelor’s in English and linguistics from Columbia University. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. She is a lifelong Liverpool fan who enjoys solving crossword puzzles and hanging out at her neighborhood dive bar in NYC.

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