Sixers add longtime LeBron James confidant Randy Mims to front office
To help with LeBron James' acclimation to the Sixers, the team hired Randy Mims, a longtime friend and confidant of James dating back to the NBA star's high school days in Ohio.
To help ease LeBron James’ transition to the 76ers, the team has added one of his most trusted confidants and longtime friends to their organization: Randy Mims.
According to the team’s website, Mims is now a part of the team’s basketball operations with the title “executive administrator, player programs and logistics.”
But Mims’ biggest role will be making sure James feels comfortable in Philadelphia with the Sixers. That’s what he has done ever since he met James when the two were living in Akron, Ohio, while James was in high school, according to a 2025 ESPN profile of Mims.
“Randy has been his co-pilot for 22 years,” Rich Paul, James’ agent and friend, is quoted as saying in the piece.
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Mims held positions with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers similar to the one he will have with the Sixers. James’ camp, according to ESPN, did not react favorably to a decision from Miami Heat president Pat Riley to deny Mims a job with the franchise when James joined in 2010.
The ESPN profile also recounts a time early in James’ tenure with the Heat when the team was struggling, and James was doubting his decision to join the franchise. He drove to Mims’ house and had a late-night conversation with him that put his mind at ease.
“I needed him in that moment and he came through for me,” James told ESPN.
Mims will handle a lot of logistics in James’ life, such as cultivating and developing relationships with companies interested in doing business with him to making sure James has his favorite foods on the road. He’s also a truth teller in situations where others might just be yes men.
“He’s there to be a rock,” Paul said in the ESPN profile. “He’s there to be a sounding board. He’s also there to give pushback when LeBron’s wrong.”
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When Mims was with the Lakers, he was one of multiple employees who cooperated with a federal illegal gambling investigation that ended with arrests for former Heat guard Terry Rozier and Damon Jones, a former teammate of James in Cleveland.
Mims’ hiring isn’t the only one the Sixers have made to acclimate James to the team. The team also recently brought in Phil Handy, a well-respected player development coach who worked with James on the Cavaliers and the Lakers.