July 27, 2026
Michael Tanenbaum/PhillyVoice
Philly street artist irregular installed a mirror in the shape of LeBron James dunking on the side of a building near the intersection of Eighth and Market streets over the weekend. The Sixers signed the NBA's all-time leading scorer on Friday.
Sixers fans have been on cloud nine since Friday afternoon when LeBron James revealed he's headed to Philadelphia for his 24th NBA season. Already, the local landscape is showing signs of the four-time MVP's gravitational pull.
Street artist Sean Hassett, better known as irregular, installed one of his distinctive mirror art pieces depicting LeBron mid-dunk on the side of a building over the weekend. The former Burger King on Eighth Street, just south of Market Street, has been crowned with a new king.
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"There's a new king and it's you," irregular wrote in an Instagram post showing off the new piece.
James, 41, is projected to be an economic force in Philly. The Boyd Company, an economic consulting firm, estimates LeBron's arrival in the city will generate $250-$430 million in total regional economic activity during his first full year in the city.
Ticket prices for Sixers preseason games have skyrocketed in a matter of days on the secondary market. The lowest ticket price on StubHub for the team's Oct. 16 preseason game against the Boston Celtics was $239 on Monday morning, and some seats were listed as high as $1,816. Heading into last season, a preseason ticket could be purchased for well under $100.
Irregular is most often recognized for his hundreds of scribbled tags on street barriers, traffic poles, dumpsters and underpasses. The tags have been polarizing over the years, but Hassett's Instagram shows off a wide range of his artwork, including mirror pieces made for other Philly athletes. He put up a Jalen Hurts mirror at Broad and Pine streets a few years ago and added another of Saquon Barkley's famed backwards hurdle near 18th and Walnut streets after the Eagles won the 2025 Super Bowl.
For all the fanfare in Philly, there are questions swirling about whether James will even live in the region while playing for the Sixers. ESPN insider Shams Charania, appearing Friday on "The Pat McAfee Show," suggested the Ohio native could opt to live in New York City. James spent his last eight seasons in Los Angeles.
"Will he live in Philly? Will he live in New Jersey? Will he live in New York? Will he take a chopper back and forth? We don't know those answers yet," Charania said. "But we do know he's going to the East Coast, and that's a big lifestyle change for James at this point in his career."
ESPN's Brian Windhorst echoed the belief that James may not reside in or around Philly, possibly relying on helicopters to get in and out of the city for home games.
"He doesn't seem like he's going to live in Philadelphia full-time," Windhorst said Monday morning. "It seems like he's going to live, at least part-time, in New York."
Whether James spends his free time in Philly, it looks like the city will be doing some decorating for his presence.
