LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er. Whatever you thought the NBA landscape looked like this summer, throw it out. This changes everything.
After 24 seasons in the league and years of speculation about how his career might end, LeBron finalized his free agent decision by choosing Philadelphia. He now joins a Sixers roster centered around Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George in what is essentially the most star-heavy trio in the Eastern Conference.
The move ends LeBron’s Lakers tenure just as the franchise is being sold and the Buss family drama is spilling into the courts. The timing is not a coincidence. LeBron has always preferred stability. The Lakers, right now, are the opposite of stable.
Philadelphia sold him on a very simple pitch. A ready-made contender in the Eastern Conference, a superstar center in Embiid who takes the load off the frontcourt, and a coach in Nick Nurse who has won a championship as a head coach and can figure out how to make three ball-dominant offensive players coexist.
The fit questions are real. Maxey and Embiid both need the ball. So does George. So does LeBron. Nurse is going to have to build the world’s most complicated shot-distribution chart, and role players like Kelly Oubre, Andre Drummond, and the Sixers’ new draft picks are going to have to accept spot-up duty and defense.
But the raw talent is undeniable. On paper, this is a team that could beat anyone in a seven-game series. LeBron is still averaging 24 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists at 40 years old. He is still one of the most impactful playmakers in the league when the games matter. Pairing him with Embiid in the pick-and-roll should generate some absolutely absurd offensive sequences.
The Eastern Conference just got a lot more interesting. Giannis is in Miami. The New York Knicks reloaded around Jalen Brunson. The Cleveland Cavaliers just added Peyton Watson. The Boston Celtics are still the Celtics. Now Philadelphia has LeBron.
Every playoff seed one through eight in the East now has a plausible path to the Finals. That has not been true in years.
For LeBron personally, the move is about title number five. He has three rings with the Miami Heat, one with the Cavaliers, and one with the Lakers. Adding a Philadelphia banner would tie him with Kobe Bryant on five and put him one behind Michael Jordan. It also, more subtly, gives him one more legitimate title contender to chase in the twilight of his career.
The concern is health. LeBron has been mostly durable, but 24 seasons of NBA basketball wear a body down. The 76ers cannot count on him for 82 games. What they can count on is a version of LeBron who ramps up in the spring and turns into a monster in the postseason.
Philadelphia has waited a long, long time to be the story again. On Sunday, they became exactly that. LeBron James in a Sixers jersey is one of the most surreal images in recent NBA memory.
Now the fun part starts. Every night this season is must-watch.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
