LeBron James and Philly’s sportswear story is 25 years in the making

LeBron James spoke to reporters and posed for photos at his home arena Monday wearing his jersey, something he’s done thousands of times over the course of his basketball career.

Never before, though, was that arena Xfinity Mobile in Philadelphia — and never before was that jersey the 76ers’ red, white and blue.

Yet his new No. 23 Philadelphia 76ers jersey — which sparked a 617% year-over-year spike in offseason arena apparel sales, according to the team — was already steeped in lore, even though he has yet to wear it in a game.

See, James had been traveling to the City of Brotherly Love for decades in the pursuit of new jerseys — or rather, old ones.

“I’ve known him since he was 16,” Reuben “Big Rube” Harley, who helped popularize throwback jerseys as a former vice president of Philadelphia-based Mitchell & Ness, told Andscape. “He spent his first three offseasons hanging out in Philly with me, driving him around and taking him to clubs as a young man.”

Before he joined the 76ers, or even became an NBA player, James was a regular in Philadelphia.

The city’s rich sportswear culture — a blend of fandom, fashion, nostalgia and hip-hop, grittiness and luxury — played a pivotal role in influencing the baller-turned-businessman we know today.

“I’m the reason [sports agent] Rich Paul met LeBron,” said Harley, referring to a chance encounter at Akron-Canton (Ohio) Airport when a young James asked Paul about his Warren Moon throwback. “I gave him some jerseys at the 2002 NBA All-Star Game in Philly.”

Harley is a key figure in James’ Philadelphia sportswear history. He supplied the young basketball talent and his eventual agent with coveted Mitchell & Ness throwback jerseys—items that were high-end cultural status symbols.

It all took place in the early 2000s, when James transitioned from an Ohio high school standout to a nationally known star.

By James’ junior season, shoe companies sent boxes of size-15 rarities to his Akron address, hoping to sign him to an eight- or even nine-figure contract.

When James was a senior, NBA general managers began trading talent and tanking games to improve lottery odds long before James even declared his intention to skip college.

The only sportswear brand or major market the teenage talent was 100% sold on was the one with a shop at 1229 Walnut Street, just a few blocks from Philadelphia City Hall.

In fact, James was so enamored by the Philadelphia uniform company that a Cleveland carrier of the brand gifted him $845 worth of throwbacks and almost cost him his final season of high school eligibility.

Suddenly, James and Mitchell & Ness were nationally and culturally connected.

The jersey-collecting bug began with a Barry Sanders Detroit Lions throwback jersey James received from Harley in the early 2000s. The jersey was tied to the team’s 75th anniversary in 1996. James held onto the oversized, Honolulu blue heirloom and wore it for his first appearance on MTV’s Total Request Live on June 18, 2003, eight days before he was selected No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA draft.

By the draft, James was so synonymous with the Philadelphia flagship shop that Harley created custom No. 23 Cleveland Cavaliers throwback jerseys for James and his crew.

“I made it for him, Maverick [Carter], Randy [Mims] and Rich,” Harley said. “I made about 30. I gave one to Jay-Z, one to Puff [Daddy], and one to Fabolous. I said, ‘This ain’t ever going to be in stores, so you have an exclusive.’”

The incredibly rare James jersey — an autographed version of which recently sold at auction for more than $4,000 — was perhaps his last hard-to-get piece.

That is, until this summer, when he brought his four-time NBA champion résumé to the city he visited as a teenager to refresh his retro sportswear collection.

“I don’t think anybody expected Philly [to sign him],” Matt Powell, a longtime adviser and analyst in the sportswear industry, told Andscape. “So there was just no way in hell anybody could plan.”

Since James signed with the 76ers on July 24, his new No. 23 jersey has been largely unavailable. Adult sizes of the Nike Swingman version are sold out on Fanatics.

Within 48 hours, sales of James’ new No. 23 76ers jersey broke the Fanatics record for any athlete joining a new team.

Powell notes that even Fanatics couldn’t have had enough blank 76ers jerseys on hand to meet demand after James’ unexpected arrival.

“We’ve felt the growing excitement from our fans this offseason,” Philadelphia 76ers vice president of partnership solutions Victoria Isley told Andscape. “We wanted to make sure they could be among the first to purchase the new jerseys and merchandise.”

In turn, the Xfinity Mobile Arena Store opened for 48 hours in August to sell James jerseys and team-related gear.

“Philly fans are crazy about their teams and sports,” Powell said. “It’s religious level, if you will.”

Fanatics claims it sold more LeBron Philadelphia merchandise on his first day with the 76ers than in his entire first week with the Los Angeles Lakers. The No. 23 James jersey outsold all other jerseys during the two-day sale at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Still, the storybook return to Philadelphia centers on the nostalgia brand that first drew James to the city as a teenager.

Dexter Childs, a native Philadelphian and marketing manager of cultural partnerships for Mitchell & Ness, has seen the retail rush in real time.

“The energy is insane,” Childs told Andscape. “They’re ordering products like the last time the Eagles won the Super Bowl.”

Childs and downtown Philly’s new Mitchell & Ness flagship store were better prepared than Xfinity Mobile Arena or even parent company, Fanatics. Within hours of the announcement, T-shirts and sweatshirts celebrating James’ signing with the 76ers were available in stores and online.

“We pre-designed to be ready for the moment,” Childs said before hinting that the brand was similarly prepared for James to sign with the Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors or Cleveland Cavaliers, suggesting a treasure trove of unreleased Mitchell & Ness merchandise.

“For him to sign here, it made the perfect storm to move quickly to market,” Childs said.

Within roughly five hours, all newly printed 76ers James apparel sold out at Mitchell & Ness’ Philadelphia flagship.

“It feels surreal,” Childs said. “The economy of LeBron coming to your city, whether he’s 41 or not, the excitement here is on another level.”

While Nike and Fanatics will see the lion’s share of new 76ers jerseys, James — an equity partner at Mitchell & Ness since 2022 — will be boosting the economy around everything Sixers-related, including the throwback styles he once shopped as a teenager.

“We’re anticipating that the old throwbacks will sell well,” Childs said. “People are chomping at the bit for the Joe Bryant jersey.”

Like James, the elder Bryant wore No. 23 as a 76er. In 2002, his jersey became a throwback favorite when his All-NBA son, Kobe, wore it on the cover of Philadelphia Magazine.

In the early 2000s, Harley had made a run of roughly 100 Joe “Jellybean” Bryant throwbacks, gifting the rare jersey to the younger Bryant and his mentor, DJ Clark Kent.

“If Mitchell & Ness is smart, they’ll release the Jellybean jersey,“ Harley said. “If the Sixers are smart and dedicated to Kobe, they should wear that 1976 jersey [on court].”

James’ arrival has implications beyond jerseys and throwbacks.

JD Sports was already looking to expand its footprint in Philadelphia before James’ arrival.

“We were already trying to grow Philly,” Travonne Edwards, senior cultural partnership strategist at JD Sports, told Andscape. “Wherever LeBron goes is an economy.”

“The key market is the I-95,” Edwards said. “They’re all sneaker lovers who move to the beat of the same drum. It’s a huge market for us.”

In storybook fashion, the James marketplace has set up shop in a city that’s seen him go from buyer to owner.

Fans too young to watch him win a title in Miami or Los Angeles are now buying the jersey worn by the veteran star.

Those who remember James as a teenager shopping Philadelphia’s sportswear scene are around to watch the relationship come full circle.

“I was with him at his draft day party,” Harley said. “Here in Philly, people are loyal and pre-ordering his Sixers jersey.”

“Your boy is coming to the city,” a friend told Harley moments after the announcement.

Just like in the old days, that meant it was time to move some jerseys.

But James is no longer the customer — he’s the name on the back.

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