Part of the speculation about LeBron James’ next team — before he ended up choosing the Philadelphia 76ers — was about which landing spot best told a story that he could put into the documentary he was having made about his next (and potentially final) season.
That documentary is happening, with LeBron and ESPN close to a deal on a serialized documentary about the season — kind of in the “Last Dance” style — reports Andrew Marchand of The Athletic.
LeBron James and ESPN are closing in on an agreement for a behind-the-scenes documentary series that will be similar to Michael Jordan’s “The Last Dance,” according to industry sources granted anonymity as they were not authorized to talk about the deal that is not finalized.
One of the sources described the talks as being at the “1-yard line,” with the expectation that James, 41, will have a camera crew documenting his time with the Philadelphia 76ers, who James signed with this month.
There is no released timeline for when this would air, although it likely would have some lag time rather than be a “Hard Knocks”- style situation where episodes are finished less than a week after being filmed. The financial terms of the deal also remain unknown.
LeBron’s jump to Philadelphia — a team that also added Jalen Brown this offseason and has to be considered one of the top contenders in the East — has drawn tremendous interest from fans. As evidence, Fanatics announced that LeBron’s No. 23 76ers jersey has become the best-selling jersey for any player in any sport during the first 48 hours after their announcement, beating out the record set by Shohei Ohtani when he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers.
LeBron’s plans to make a documentary about his next season — his record 24th in the NBA — are well known, with his production company heading it up. The documentary makers would have special access to him and the 76ers during the season, and also would use historic footage from LeBron’s well-documented career.
ESPN had great success with The Last Dance, the documentary done with and about Michael Jordan during his final season and championship with the Bulls, which dropped during the pandemic, when people were home and starved for fresh content. ESPN can only hope LeBron would draw similar ratings and interest.
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