New LeBron James mural in Chinatown — featuring Billy Penn as Dwyane Wade — is about more than celebrating the Sixers star
As residents and tourists stopped to take photos, artist Chenlin Cai encouraged them to share his work in the hopes that it brings more visitors to Chinatown.
When it was announced that LeBron James was heading to Philly, artist Chenlin Cai immediately told social media he knew what his next project would be.
On Wednesday, just two and a half weeks later, Cai was putting the finishing touches on his mural, which has already created a scene at 10th and Arch Streets in Chinatown, with residents and tourists alike stopping to take pictures and chat with the artist.
The purpose of the mural, Cai says, isn’t just to celebrate the Sixers’ big signing, it’s also to bring people to his community.
“I know this mural can bring positive interest to Chinatown,” Cai said. “There’s a lot of controversy about Chinatown, a lot, so I wanted to show some of the Asian elements in the art and bring business to this area, to this community — my community.”
When sketching out his plan for the mural, which is painted on the side of a Vietnamese restaurant across from the Chinatown Friendship Gate, the famous photo of James and Dwyane Wade combining for an alley-oop in Miami immediately came to mind. From there, Cai (蔡陈林) — who asked that we print his Chinese name so his mom, who can’t read English, could see her son’s name in print — was inspired by Philadelphia and his heritage to make it his own.
He replaced Wade with a bronze William Penn, a nod to Penn’s statue atop City Hall, and included a wave reminiscent of The Great Wave off Kanagawa, a famous piece of Asian art, that crests into a dragon image. Cai explained that the dragon represents an ancient Chinese legend known as the “Dragon’s Gate,” which symbolizes hard work, bravery, and good fortune.
“Just as in the legend, where a fish that leaps over the Dragon’s Gate transforms into a dragon, LeBron’s arrival in Philadelphia portends that his career will reach new peaks. As LeBron soared through the air, the waves rose up and transformed into a dragon,” Cai wrote in the description of his mural.
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No detail was too small. He even matched LeBron’s sneakers to his own favorite pair, which was a Christmas gift from his wife, Xingzi: the Nike LeBron Soldier 14 EP “Sisterhood.”
“Philadelphia is The City of Brotherly Love, and I wanted to include it for everybody, and because these shoes are called the ‘Sisterhood,’ the whole city is welcoming him,” Cai said, beaming as he took pictures with fans.
This is not Cai’s first Chinatown mural. He painted the crane mural that went up in 2022 and, more recently, a collection of 20 different World Cup murals celebrating some of the countries that played in the tournament. The U.S. installment is located right next to his LeBron mural.
Among all his works, this one is extra special for Cai, who isn’t just a lifelong 76ers fan — he’s also been a LeBron fan since before he entered the league.
“We are the same age. He is like my bro,” Cai said. “I watched him when he was in high school, even in 2002, when he was called ‘The Chosen One.’”
As people passed by and fist bumped Cai on Wednesday, some stopped to chat about their shared love for the game and excitement over the upcoming season, while others hit the Wade pose for a meme of their own. Each time someone took a picture, Cai encouraged them to post on social media and continue to spread his message.
“I am just so happy with the attention this has been getting,” Cai said. “It means so much for me and my family, and this is the true purpose of my art, to bring more traffic to Chinatown and help the small businesses here.”
Purchase a front page reprint of The Philadelphia Inquirer from Saturday, July 25, 2026, featuring LeBron James following the news that he was joining the 76ers. Buy it here.