In a lot of ways, LeBron James picking the Philadelphia 76ers is a storybook ending.
On Saturday morning, fans of the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers are feeling scorned by their former hero. James brought two championships to Miami and broke Cleveland’s 52-year professional sports title drought. Both teams were in contention for James, who joined his fourth franchise in the Sixers for what he says is his final decision.
Fans in Miami thought LeBron would return to close that chapter the right way. Others in Cleveland believed that LeBron’s hometown deserved the farewell tour, and the chance for another ring.
But the documentary will end with LeBron in Philadelphia. Seriously. A film crew has been following LeBron for nearly a decade. It’ll have footage of LeBron playing with Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia uniforms.
Certainly it’ll take some getting used to. But by the end of the season? LeBron could be facing his former teams, the Cavaliers and the Heat, in the NBA postseason. In pursuit of a fifth championship, LeBron decided that bringing a title to a fourth organization would be more powerful to his legacy than winning another one in Cleveland or Miami.
And that’s what makes this decision so polarizing. The Cavs and the Heat are both contenders in the Eastern Conference.
Cleveland was on the doorstep of making it back to the NBA Finals without LeBron for the first time in the history of the Cavs. The New York Knicks swept them out of the conference finals, but the Cavs showed signs of improvement in Kenny Atkinson’s second year coaching the team.
The Heat have remained consistent playoff contenders even after LeBron left South Beach. LeBron’s Los Angeles Lakers beat the Heat in the bubble to win the 2020 NBA Championship. So there’s a complicated history. But a return to Miami to team up with Giannis Antetokounmpo would’ve improved the Heats’ title odds in this improved Eastern Conference.
Yet LeBron chose Philly, a team that traded for Brown just a few weeks ago. They’ll hope Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe continues to develop. They’ll really hope Joel Embiid can stay healthy.
But it’s a storybook ending for LeBron because he picked the most stacked roster. It’s something he’s done in every decision since he left the Cavs the first time back in 2010.
The Heat assembled a super team with LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. He returned to Cleveland as Kyrie Irving emerged as one of the best young guards in the sport, and the Cavs lucked into the No. 1 overall draft pick, something that could be traded for Kevin Love, who was an MVP candidate the year before.
Many fans were quick to assume that LeBron’s move to Los Angeles was about establishing his business ventures off the court. In Cleveland, some reporters discussed the likelihood of LeBron leaving for Hollywood during the 2016 championship parade. It felt like an inevitability.
But it was also a spot for LeBron to have plenty of control over a young roster of moveable assets. Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart were packaged with three first-round draft picks (including No. 4 overall in 2019) so LeBron could team up with Anthony Davis.
The Sixers have floated the idea of trading Embiid, who has struggled to stay healthy, for the last few years. Also, if their objective is to win a title with Brown and LeBron in these next two seasons, a young star like Edgecombe could become available if the pressure cooker gets really hot to land another proven commodity.
LeBron’s deal with the Sixers is a two-year minimum deal with a player option. There’s no promise when the end of his career will be. There’s no certainty the Sixers will win a ring, or do enough in Year 1 to prove to LeBron to return to Philadelphia for another year.
