Rumor: LeBron James visited Philadelphia schools over All-Star break

Are the Philadelphia 76ers the top contenders for the best free agent of 2018? The most recent news out of the city of Brotherly Love could bolster that opinion.

As if the LeBron James-to-Philadelphia hype wasn’t already ramping up, now we have a report that James visited some private schools for his children over the All-Star break in Philadelphia.

The news comes to us from NBC Sports Philadelphia where former NBAer and current commentator Alaa Abdelnaby dropped his knowledge on the subject.

Via NBC Sports Philadelphia:

“I’ve told this to a few other people, and I have no problem saying this, my brother lives in the Philadelphia area and he told me that LeBron, last week through a superintendent, was in the area checking out some private schools during the All-Star break,” Abdelnaby said.

Philly has looked good this season after years of being bottom feeders in the East. Players like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Robert Covington, and Dario Saric form a young core that will be with the team for years. Health has been good for the Sixers this year -- Markelle Fultz notwithstanding -- and they currently sit seventh in the playoff race. LeBron has complimented Simmons in the past, and James has been gracious about the city trying to recruit him.

Even with all of that, this isn’t necessarily some kind of guarantee that LeBron would head to his Eastern Conference rival. Part of a free agent decision for a player of LeBron’s caliber would be doing things like vetting private schools in the area he might relocate his family. We’ve also had lots of stories about how LeBron has taken up residence in Los Angeles, buying and selling houses and whatnot.

Take this one with a grain of salt, but if it is true that LeBron has looked at private schools in the Philadelphia area that could mean that the Sixers are perhaps more seriously in the running to land James than previously thought.