--- title: "LeBron James calls his New York-to-Philadelphia helicopter commute ‘just another way of transportation’" url: https://badiyaa.com/lebron-james-helicopter-commute-philadelphia/ published: 2026-10-19T17:08:00+01:00 modified: 2026-10-19T17:08:00+01:00 section: Entertainment publisher: Badiyaa --- # LeBron James calls his New York-to-Philadelphia helicopter commute ‘just another way of transportation’ The Fanatics-branded AW139 he rides logged 18 trips between Manhattan and Philadelphia in the first six days of October. At charter prices, that would cost about $108,000. LeBron James has a short answer for anyone puzzled by his flights between Manhattan and Philadelphia. Asked on Friday, October 16, whether he had flown to work by helicopter before this season, the 41-year-old said, “I’ve done it before.” Then he added: “Just another way of transportation, that’s all.” He said it on the night the Philadelphia 76ers closed out their preseason at home, four days before his first regular-season game for the club, a road opener against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, October 20. It will be the 24th NBA season of his career, a league record, and the first in which he lives in one city and clocks in at another. ## The aircraft and the sponsor behind it James, a four-time champion and 22-time All-Star, left the Los Angeles Lakers and signed with Philadelphia on July 26 for two years and $8 million, the second year a player option. He kept his home in New York. In July he explained why he had not retired: “I still truly love this game, and I have more to give.” The ride he uses is a Leonardo AW139, a twin-engine model in production since 2001 that can seat as many as 15 passengers, and it is painted with the branding of Fanatics, the sports merchandise and trading-card company. Public flight-tracking data showed the helicopter, call sign N6FN, making 18 trips between Northeast Philadelphia Airport and the West 30th Street Heliport in Manhattan in the first six days of October. Someone who works for James said the use of Fanatics’ corporate aircraft is part of his sponsorship agreement with the company: “It’s a feature in many of their deals with their largest athletes and we appreciate their partnership as LeBron splits his time between New York and Philadelphia.” Fanatics was founded by Michael Rubin, who grew up in Philadelphia and once held a minority stake in the company that owns the 76ers. Rubin sold that stake in 2022, and James signed his current Fanatics contract in 2024, two years before he became a Sixer. ## What the flight replaces, and what it would cost On the road, the run between the two cities can stretch to about two hours. By air, it takes roughly 40 to 50 minutes, weather permitting. The Sixers practice in Camden, New Jersey, and play home games at Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philadelphia, where 10,000 fans filled the building for the team’s open scrimmage on October 3. James took the helicopter back to New York afterward. For anyone without a sponsor, the same hop is a charter purchase. A New York operator, Wings Air Helicopters, quoted one-way flights starting at $6,000 for five or six passengers, with round trips at about double that. Badiyaa ran the numbers on the October flight log. At that starting fare, 18 one-way legs would cost $108,000 (18 x $6,000). James’s base salary this season is about $3.9 million, so six days of flying at charter prices would equal about 2.8% of it ($108,000 divided by $3.9 million). Across a full regular season of 41 home games and a typical 26 home practices, he would need 67 round trips, or $804,000 at $12,000 each, roughly a fifth of his pay. Buying outright is an option too. The same operator put common models at about $600,000 for a Robinson R44 and $2 million or more for an Airbus H125, before pilots, maintenance and insurance. ## Not the first Sixer to live in New York James is not the first 76ers player to commute from New York. JJ Redick, who coached him with the Lakers last season, lived with his family in Brooklyn during his Philadelphia years and drove to practices in Camden and games in South Philadelphia. The difference is altitude, and noise: a “stop the chop” movement in New York has been pushing to ban helicopters for nonessential trips over the city. His New York ties go beyond the commute. On October 14, one of his two custom Mercedes-Maybach sedans was [listed for a New York charity auction for his Akron foundation](https://badiyaa.com/?p=21750), with the sale set for November. His first regular-season commute is the easy one. Tuesday’s opener is in Manhattan, and two nights later the Sixers host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, October 22. ## Further reading - [Wikipedia: 2026–27 Philadelphia 76ers season](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Philadelphia_76ers_season) *Image: Clément Bardot, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons* *This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. [How we work](https://badiyaa.com/editorial-policy/).*