PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey is a popular man in the City of Brotherly Love. The new head man of Philadelphia's front office was able to first land Jaylen Brown in a big trade and then landed LeBron James in the offseason as he built a legitimate championship contender in his first offseason.
Gansey, a native of Olmstead, OH, is very familiar with James. Not only did Gansey spend time with him during his 15 years in Cleveland's front office, but the two also go way back to high school as a certain photo of James and Gansey was floating around Twitter throughout Philadelphia's chase of James.
"Yeah, I remember that day," James laughed after Monday'swin over the Chicago Bulls. "One, I didn't have
no recollection of, like, why was I there as a freshman. I've seen all those guys, all those seniors there. Maverick (Carter), now my business partner, but a brother of mine, he was there. Mike Gansey was there, obviously, and so many other like seniors."
— Steven Gansey (@SGAN30) July 2, 2026
The above photo was taken by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as the best high school basketball players in Ohio were highlighted. James, a freshman at the time, was shocked he was even in that same category.
"I watched a lot of those guys in the tournaments and AAU tournaments, and then through the high school ranking, so it was so surreal for me being a freshman, being part of that whole that—I think it was a Plain Dealer, I don't know what, the Plain Dealer something, but yeah, and I knew of Mike Gansey," James continued. "I knew how much he could hoop. We all knew about him in Akron, so that was pretty cool."
Now the President of Basketball Operations in Philadelphia, James is happy to see Gansey thriving. He and the other Cavaliers knew it was only a matter of time, but to see it happen is a sense of happiness for him as he and the Sixers move forward.
"He’s deserving," James finished. "Very deserving. Very deserving, and we always knew, you know, players, people running the organization in Cleveland knew that he had the makeup of that, you know? So, it's pretty cool to be able to work with him now again, and just got like a long history. I was a freshman in high school. I was 14 years old. I'll be 42, so a long history. Long history."
Gansey, James, and the Sixers will look to keep things moving in the right direction as they head into the rest of the season.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Star LeBron James gives thoughts on Sixers president Mike Gansey
