It was another Hochul airball.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s team gleefully mocked LeBron James as they salivated over the possibility of slapping the NBA megastar with a controversial new New York City tax — but they may have trolled too soon.
The Hochul press office celebrated that James might be planning to move to the Big Apple with a cringeworthy X post that threatened him with a pied-a-terre tax on luxury second homes in the city.
“LePied-a-Terre,” Hochul said in an apparent attempt at a burn.
The Hochul press account was replying and quoting a previous post by NBA reporter Evan Sidery, who claimed James — who left the Los Angeles Lakers via free agency — might move to the Big Apple instead of the City of Brotherly Love.
“LeBron James will be a resident of New York City while playing for the Sixers,” Sidery said. “LeBron is officially set to commute daily from NYC to Philadelphia, potentially via helicopter.”
James signed a two-year, $8 million contract with Philly, which Sixers fans hope will make him a thorn in the side of the rival New York Knicks, who are coming off their first NBA championship in 53 years.
But even if James moves to the city despite Hochul’s tax welcome mat, it’s not clear he’d have to pay the tax, which applies homeowners whose property is not their primary residence.
The polarizing new tax was passed earlier this month in the fiscal year 2027 budget. It will implement a tax of 4% on condos and co-ops valued at $1 million to $3 million, 5.25% for those priced at $3 million to $5 million, and 6.5% for those upwards of $5 million.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration drew backlash Monday when it published a searchable database of properties that could be eligible for the charge — with critics saying it amounted to doxxing a trove of New Yorkers.
Meanwhile, Hochul’s cringe post on James is just her latest technical foul in what could have been a dad joke layup.
In May, the Democratic governor tried to take a dig at President Trump’s claim that he was a lifelong Knicks fan, but her quip completely backfired.
“I’d ask him to name the starting lineup from the 1993 championship team and see how he does,” Hochul told reporters at a Big Apple press conference.
But the Knicks hadn’t won the championship since 1973. The team made the NBA Finals in 1994 but lost to the Houston Rockets.
New York guard Tyler Kolek was later spotted wearing a Knicks “1993 champions” t-shirt during the team’s June victory parade in Manhattan.
