A Nike-commissioned LeBron James replaced the Phillies’ ‘Daycare’ mural at Garage Fishtown
The mural depicts LeBron's iconic chalk toss from the top of the Art Museum steps and replaces the mural depicting the Phillies' Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, and Brandon Marsh.
LeBron James signing in Philadelphia led to immediate citywide fervor, which hasn’t slowed down much since.
So, ahead of his regular-season debut on Tuesday, Nike wanted to capture that Philly energy and find a way to channel that excitement into an installation in the city.
“How do we do something that’s intrinsically a part of Philly, that isn’t just inserting ourselves into something that isn’t real?” John Starkweather, a copywriter at Wieden + Kennedy, said. “We landed on a mural. We floated around a bunch of different concepts and executions for different things, but I know that Philadelphia is a city of murals, and knew that this was something that could be a part of the city, as opposed to just a poster on top of the city.”
The iconic chalk toss was an obvious visual tentpole for the mural, and then they wanted it to include other bits of the skyline and local landmarks. The team then hired local artist Chuck Styles, a lifelong Sixers fan who said James was his all-time favorite player, to paint and fill out the design.
Styles took three days to hop around the city — and even into Camden — to take reference photos of the city’s skyline from the Sixers practice facility and other iconic viewpoints. He ultimately settled on orienting the mural around the Art Museum steps, with James doing the chalk toss at the top, overlooking the city.
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“We decided not to go too literal with the depiction of LeBron James in Philadelphia,” Styles said. “We wanted to keep things a little looser, a bit more painterly in style, so it could lean into the traditional way Philly does murals.”
It also featured the “Chosen 2-One-5″ tagline, in honor of Philadelphia’s local area code, which Nike also used at its pop-up store honoring James at the Fashion District and in a new ad campaign.
Styles, an Upper Darby native who attended the Art Institute of Philadelphia, said about 80% of the reception to the mural has been very positive. There’s a small contingent that’s wondering why there’s already a mural up of James, but “that’s a part of Philly, you know what I mean? It wouldn’t be Philly if you didn’t have a little bit of that resistance, so I love it.”
The new mural of James replaces the prior mural of Phillies Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, and Brandon Marsh outside of Garage in Fishtown. The “Daycare” mural was painted in 2024, replacing an earlier mural of former Sixer Matisse Thybulle.
Ever since James’ signing, there’s been an outpouring of art, from a mirrored mosaic just days after he signed to a Chinatown mural mimicking his iconic photo with Dwyane Wade, except with Ben Franklin.
“I was just super excited to be one of the artists representing this legendary roll-out of LeBron coming to the Sixers,” Styles said. “I’m Philly sports through and through, but LeBron James is definitely my favorite basketball player, so him coming to the Sixers is just the cherry on top.”
Beat reporters Gina Mizell and Chris Hine break down their most intriguing quotes from LeBron James and Tyrese Maxey during the preseason, along with what they most hope to learn about this revamped roster during the first month of the season. Watch here.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Sixers Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
