LeBron James Might Live In NYC & Just Commute To Philly By Helicopter, Social Media Protests

LeBron James is a billionaire, the only active NBA player who can claim that distinction. That gives him a lot of choices, including how he’s going to get to work as the newest member of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Reports say that James is considering traveling by helicopter. That’s a bold move considering that there are 41 home games on the 76ers’ schedule, not including the playoffs. Not to mention, there’s the still resonating tragedy of Kobe Bryant.

Like Bryant, James is just trying to use his time efficiently. It takes 45 minutes to travel by helo from NYC to Philly, and once he’s in Philly, it’s about 15-20 minutes to either the Sixers’ practice facility or the Xfinity Mobile Arena.

If he chooses to live in New York City, he can live within shouting distance of the three main heliports, all of which are below 34th Street. The main one, the Downtown Skyport, logs the most traffic, but the East 34th Street heliport is the preferred one for executive travel.

As a billionaire, James can do what he wants. But some factors may change his mind. First of all, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani said during his campaign that he wants to limit, if not end, non-essential helicopter travel. The city’s heliport has had its fair share of crashes over the years and is one of the busiest in the nation, with 30,000 to 40,000 flights every year.

By contrast, Philly’s Delaware Avenue heliport has much less traffic and is used mostly by hospitals and news outlets. In the last ten years, there have been zero crashes. In New York City, there have been five crashes with 12 fatalities. The last, in 2025, killed five people on a sightseeing excursion.

Since then, organizations like Stop the Chop have advocated for a ban on helicopters, which attract thousands of noise complaints as well. Tourism flights have been banned completely on Sundays, and annual flights have been limited to 30,000.

“This is not the first crash; it’s another one in a long series. It’s predictable,” Andrew Rosenthal, the chair of Stop the Chop, told The Guardian in 2025. “It’s going to happen again; it’s just a matter of numbers. We’re OK with police, military, government, news, those are considered essential in our definition, but these non-essential flights are totally not needed.”

Another consideration for James is the finances of living in New York while working in Philadelphia. Mamdani recently announced the ‘pied à terre’ tax, which went into effect on July 1. It adds a 6.5% tax on individuals with second homes in the city above $5M. (Given the size of his family, we’d expect that James’ NYC place would be valued at that or above).

Add the cost of the commute, which comes to about $4000 – $8000 each way. Assuming James goes for the highest-end, since he’s rich, that’s $328,000 for the season.

Unless Zhuri, his 11-year-old daughter, is homeschooled, she’ll have some of the top private schools in the nation to choose from, but only if she lives in New York. According to Niche, six of the nation’s top K-12 private schools are in or near New York City. Tuition will be expensive – the number one school, Brearley, is almost $70,000 annually.

As for taxes, a New York City resident working in Philly pays not just Philly’s non-resident tax, but they also pay New York’s city and state taxes.

But this is small change to a King.

There is a precedent for the commute and its comeone that James is close to. Former Lakers coach J.J. Reddick famously drove from New York to Philly when he played for the Sixers, which is about a two-hour trip. He kept an apartment near 30th Street Station when he needed to stay over, but his family lived in Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood full-time.

James has not commented on where he and his family plan to live, nor has his wife, Savannah. Gilbert Arenas, who counts James as a buddy, says no way Savannah approved the move. Per Yahoo, he said, “This doesn’t look right, I’m sorry. I know Savannah didn’t approve this. Nobody approves of going to Philly.”