Year 2 is when LeBron James teams hit their championship stride. Here’s how they did it.

LeBron James chose the 76ers because he believes their new-look roster offers the best available option for him to push for a final NBA championship.

And the window is small, because James’ contract fits his age.

The 41-year-old signed a “one-plus-one” deal, aka a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option on the second season. That forced the Sixers to do some roster tinkering for salary-cap purposes, waiving guard Dalen Terry before officially signing James on Sunday.

It is fitting that James is likely to be in Philly for two seasons. At all three of his title-winning stops, he achieved that feat in the second year.

For those eager to proclaim that the Sixers are immediately championship or bust for the 2026-27 season, let that history serve as a reminder that it can take time even for a star-studded roster to figure things out.

Here is how James reached the NBA’s mountaintop at each previous stop:

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After “The Decision” teamed James with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to create the “Big Three” in Miami, the Heat turned an infamously shaky 9-8 start into 58 victories and the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed. James, Wade, and Bosh all made the All-Star team.

Miami advanced to the NBA Finals, beating the Sixers in the first round along the way. But the Heat lost to the Dirk Nowitzki-led Dallas Mavericks, falling short of a championship in the first season of the “Heatles.”

Following the NBA lockout, the Heat finished 46-20 and second in the East standings at the end of the shortened regular season. James won his third NBA Most Valuable Player award, and first with the Heat. James, Wade, and Bosh were All-Stars once again.

In the playoffs, Miami beat the Boston Celtics in a thrilling seven-game Eastern Conference finals series. Then they topped the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder — then led by a young Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden — to win James’ first NBA championship.

» READ MORE: After adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, how will the Sixers’ roster fit? It’s going to be a process.

Though that Heat team did not accomplish the “not five … not six … not seven …” declaration of James’ flashy Miami introduction, it did win back-to-back titles (and reached four consecutive Finals) before he returned home to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

James’ new “Big Three” with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love also got off to a slow start at 19-20. After trading for J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Tomofy Mozgov midseason, the Cavaliers finished second in the East standings with a 53-29 record. James and Irving both made All-NBA teams.

» READ MORE: David Murphy: LeBron James’ maddening process was everything the Sixers needed

Cleveland advanced to the NBA Finals but lost to the Golden State Warriors to begin that team’s dynasty.

The Cavaliers underwent a critical midseason shakeup when, despite holding the East’s best record at the time (30-11), they fired coach David Blatt in January. They elevated then-assistant Ty Lue, who has since become one of the NBA’s most-respected coaches. Cleveland went on to finish the regular season 57-25 and atop of the Eastern Conference.

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That playoff run then culminated in an unbelievable, storybook Finals against the Warriors. The Cavaliers became the first team to overcome a 3-1 Finals deficit, and won a dramatic Game 7 to deliver the franchise’s first NBA championship. James’ crunch-time block on Andre Iguodala, which preserved a tie before Irving’s go-ahead three-pointer, is considered a historic playoff moment.

James stayed with Cleveland for two more seasons — he reached the Finals each time to create a personal streak of eight in a row — but the Cavaliers lost again to Golden State both times.

James in free agency joined a Lakers team primarily with young players, including Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart. They slogged through an injury-riddled 2018-19 season — James only played 55 games — and missed the playoffs. It was the first time since 2006 that a James team had failed to reach the postseason.

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Team president Magic Johnson stepped down at the end of the season in an abrupt and now-famous “I’m not gonna be here” news conference, and coach Luke Walton and the team also parted ways.

Under promoted executive Rob Pelinka, the Lakers acquired star big man Anthony Davis in a blockbuster trade and added former Sixers Danny Green and Dwight Howard as veteran complements.

The Lakers recorded the Western Conference’s best record (52-19) during a regular season interrupted for more than four months and then shortened because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. James and Davis were both named first-team All-NBA.

The Lakers’ “bubble” playoff run at Disney World ended with topping the Heat to clinch the storied franchise’s first title since 2010. Some critics will put an imaginary asterisk next to it. But that will likely go down as the most bizarre circumstances under which any NBA team will win a championship.

The King Picks Philly

Purchase a front page reprint of The Philadelphia Inquirer from Saturday, July 25, 2026, featuring LeBron James following the news that he was joining the 76ers. Buy it here.