LeBron James showed up at the 76ers’ annual intersquad scrimmage on Saturday looking very much like LeBron James - the high-flying dunk, the easy playmaking, the whole package. The setting was Xfinity Mobile Arena, where thousands of Philadelphia fans got an early look at him alongside Tyrese Maxey and the rest of a roster that’s built to draw attention.
The one wrinkle was the number on his chest. James wore No. 9 in the scrimmage, not the No. 6 practice jersey he usually uses and not the No. 23 he’ll wear during the season for the 76ers. That switch was deliberate, not a case of the wrong jersey ending up in the locker room.
Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported that James changed from his usual No. 6 practice number to No. 9 as a sign of respect for Julius Erving’s retired No. 6 jersey in the Xfinity Mobile Arena rafters. James has been wearing No. 9 throughout training camp.
The choice carried another layer, too. No. 9 is the number Bronny James has worn since his rookie season in 2024-25.
It’s also a number LeBron has used before, during his high school football days at St. Vincent-St.
Mary and for his Olympic debut with Team USA in 2004.
Erving’s No. 6 is one of 10 numbers retired by the 76ers.
James, though, has always treated No. 23 as his basketball number. In 2019, he put it plainly: “I wear No. 23 for the great Michael Jordan,” LeBron said in 2019.
“When I started playing basketball, I was like, ah man, that No. 23 looks good. I want to be able to fly like [Jordan]; I want to be able to shoot like him; I want to be able to dunk on somebody like him. ...
Ever since I started playing ball, I wore No. 23.”
That number followed him through both Cleveland stints and most of his run with the Lakers. After #TheDecision sent him to Miami, he switched to No. 6 because the Heat had already retired No. 23 in honor of Michael Jordan (even though MJ didn’t play a single minute for Miami).
When James returned to Cleveland, he went back to No. 23.
He took it to Los Angeles as well before changing to No. 6 ahead of the 2021-22 season. He stayed with No. 6 until 2023, when he switched back to No. 23 to honor the late Bill Russell, whose No. 6 is retired across the league by all 30 franchises.
No. 6 also became familiar in another setting: James wore it at the 2008, ’12 and ’24 Olympic Games, winning three gold medals in that jersey. And beyond this training camp, he has frequently used No. 6 as a practice jersey over the years.
No. 9, meanwhile, has turned up only in specific spots. Along with this year’s 76ers camp, James wore it in high school football and again at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, where Team USA lost to Argentina in the semifinals before settling for a gold medal.
In high school basketball, James wore No. 23 in every season except his freshman year, when he had to use No. 32 because No. 23 was unavailable.
If everything goes right in Philadelphia and the 76ers end up lifting the Larry O’Brien Trophy on a LeBron-led team, his No. 23 could one day join the retired jerseys hanging in the rafters. No. 9, as the story goes, probably won’t.
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The defensive end may be where the pressure really gathers. Philadelphia wants Edgecombe taking on the opponents toughest backcourt assignment, which says plenty about how quickly the team believes he can matter. Even with other All-NBA talent on the roster, the 76ers seem to view his energy and all-around skill as a swing factor, and how he handles that responsibility could tell a lot about how smoothly this group comes together. [Read more 🡒]