The LeBron James documentary that basketball fans have speculated about for years may finally be taking shape. According to The Athletic, James and ESPN are closing in on a deal for a behind the scenes documentary series with clear similarities to Michael Jordan’s “The Last Dance,” and one industry source described the negotiations as being at the “1 yard line.”
That wording matters because nothing is official yet. The Athletic reports that the agreement has not been finalized, ESPN and a representative for James declined to comment, and there is currently no announced title, episode count, director, production schedule, release date or confirmed financial figure attached to the project.
What is taking shape is the scope. Per The Athletic, a camera crew is expected to document James during his time with the Philadelphia 76ers while the series also pulls from footage collected much earlier in his career. The report says NBA crews have filmed James since his rookie season and that the archive includes material that has never been publicly seen.
The Philadelphia cameras would not be the beginning of the story either.
Earlier this month, Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor reported that multiple league sources said James had discussed filming the entire 2026 to 2027 season, with live streaming potentially becoming part of the final product. That report came weeks before James chose Philadelphia, meaning discussion of a documentary was already active while teams were still making their pitches for his next chapter.
There is an even longer paper trail.
In May 2023, Lakers radio voice John Ireland told the Awful Announcing Podcast that Andy Thompson had spent significant time around the Lakers that season. Thompson was an executive producer and key videographer on “The Last Dance.” Ireland said he believed Thompson was “stockpiling” footage in case James eventually wanted his story told, adding that Thompson was potentially working toward “a story about the end of LeBron’s run.”
That revelation is important now because it suggests the potential ESPN series would have years of recent behind the scenes material before James ever put on a Sixers uniform.
The archive could stretch even deeper. Back in 2018, ESPN reported that James was being followed through practices, shootarounds, games and road trips during his first Lakers season by crews connected to a SpringHill Productions and NBA Entertainment venture. ESPN reported at the time that the footage was being collected and banked even though its ultimate purpose was unclear.
There is no confirmation that every piece of previously filmed material will appear in this new project. Still, paired with The Athletic’s reporting about footage dating to James’ rookie year, the history makes one thing clear: the film would not have to manufacture an archive after the fact. The cameras have been around him for a long time.
Philadelphia now gives all of that footage a possible present day frame.
James officially joined the 76ers after announcing the move on July 24. The deal is worth roughly $8 million over two years, while James framed the choice as his final major basketball move after seriously considering retirement.
“This is my last decision,” James wrote while explaining his choice. He also made his motivation clear, writing, “I still truly love this game, and I have more to give.”
That is almost too clean of an opening scene, but there is an important distinction. James said this is his last decision. He has not publicly declared that the 2026 to 2027 season will definitely be his last season. NBA reporting says the contract includes another year, while The Athletic describes Philadelphia as the expected final home of his career. Until James says otherwise, those are not the same thing.
That uncertainty could actually give the LeBron James documentary more to work with. A crew would not simply be filming a farewell tour with a predetermined ending. It could be capturing James deciding in real time how much basketball he has left, whether Philadelphia can deliver the championship opportunity he wants and how he handles the final stage of a career that has been documented almost from the beginning.
The “Last Dance” comparison also comes with a massive standard.
The Jordan series used his final championship season with the Chicago Bulls as the central timeline while moving through the larger story of the dynasty. The ten part series averaged 5.6 million viewers during its original ESPN broadcasts and became the network’s most watched documentary content. The Television Academy later awarded it the 2020 Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.
James understood the impact of that project while it was happening. After winning the 2020 championship with the Lakers, he posted that he was watching “The Last Dance” again and called it “doing my homework.” That hits differently now that a similar career defining project could be built around him.
But copying Jordan scene for scene would undersell what makes LeBron’s story different. Jordan’s final Bulls season created a rare archive because the public did not have constant access to athletes in 1998. James has played his entire NBA career under increasingly intense digital coverage while also building media platforms that allowed him to speak directly to audiences.
The challenge is not finding enough footage. It is finding moments viewers have not already seen and conversations they have not already heard.
ESPN has already been part of James’ longform storytelling. The network carried “More Than An Athlete,” the eight episode UNINTERRUPTED series about James and his inner circle. In that project, James explained what the 2016 championship in Cleveland meant to his own place in basketball history. James said that comeback left him thinking, “that one right there made you the greatest player of all time.”
That quote is why the Jordan comparison surrounding this project is bigger than marketing. James and Jordan have been placed on opposite sides of basketball’s defining greatest player debate for years, and James has already said where he believes he stands. A major ESPN series would give him the opportunity to tell the full story behind that belief while the final chapter is still being written.
For now, the confirmed picture remains tighter than the hype. ESPN and James are reportedly near a deal, Philadelphia is expected to be filmed, years of archival material could be available, and previous reporting shows cameras have already been collecting footage around James long before this season. The financial terms, finished format, release date and exact creative approach remain unknown.
