Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Apr 9, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) walks off the court after the game against the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center.
The Philadelphia 76ers officially announced the signing of LeBron James on a two-year, minimum contract on Monday after he chose to join them over several other suitors.
James’ former team, the Miami Heat, was among the list of teams vying for his services, and many believed they were the favorites to sign him after completing a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Noted Miami sports fan and Meadowlark Media founder Dan Le Batard is one of those people, and now he’s got some serious questions about why James chose to sign in Philadelphia instead.
Should we be have any concern about LeBron’s Topps deal? pic.twitter.com/0EYnWaJj4c
— The Dan Le Batard Show (@LeBatardShow) July 27, 2026
Dan Le Batard Questions LeBron James’ Deal With Topps After 76ers Signing
James first announced that he was signing with the 76ers in a string of posts on X that also included an exclusive deal with Topps trading cards.
Why does that matter?
Because Topps is currently owned by Fanatics, which is in turn owned by former Philadelphia 76ers minority owner Michael Rubin. That raised some red flags for Le Batard.
“I’m going to tell you as well that I am just now beginning to get the texts of, the Heat are curious how it is the Sixers did this. The texts I’m getting are, ‘Time for Pablo to see if he can find out,’” Le Batard said in reference to Meadowlark’s show, Pablo Torre Finds Out.
“Because $3.9 million is about half, I think, of what the Heat were offering. So to make this choice when the stuff around Fanatics, the stuff around Michael Rubin, Michael Rubin leaving the Sixers and his relationship with Joel Embiid because he didn’t love the fact that there were, sort of, limits on how it is he can interact with players when he was a minority owner. So he started an entity where he’s trying to build a giant empire.
“Nobody helps Fanatics more in the building of merch-selling than someone like LeBron James. So already some questions being asked about how this happened, just because I think a whole lot of people are surprised it happened at all, even though Philadelphia was always in the conversation. They were never considered by anybody but the group that chose them as the favorite. Nobody thought that he would trust Joel Embiid’s health as the punctuation on his career.”
Le Batard’s Argument Quickly Falls Apart Under Scrutiny
It’s easy to see why Le Batard would be mad. He’s a Miami Heat fan with significant connections to the organization, so James signing in Miami would’ve been great for him both personally and professionally.
And given the ongoing Kawhi Leonard situation, it’s also easy to see why people would be skeptical of James taking such a small contract.
But the moment you apply a little bit of critical thinking, the conspiracy theory falls apart.
As producer Mike Ruiz pointed out, the most Miami could have offered James is around $8 million. So it’s not as if he turned down a significant amount of money. And when you consider that James hit billionaire status in 2022, that $4 million or so difference is essentially pocket change.
On top of that, Ruiz points out that James would’ve had commercial appeal to Topps regardless of where he signed, considering he’s the biggest star in basketball.
Then you add the fact that Philadelphia likely gives him the best chance to win a fifth NBA championship, and the decision becomes simple.
In the end, it just comes across as sour grapes on the behalf of Le Batart, and Ryan deserves credit for pointing out as much.