LeBron to Philly...But This Could Get Complicated

ET, we, we've just got to, like, for, for context here, we had been recording this episode, uh, for the last 45 minutes or so.

Midway through the episode, the news breaks that LeBron James is signing with the 76ers.

So the first part of this episode is totally out, totally gone.

We are starting from scratch and we are starting right here with LeBron going.

To Philadelphia.

Uh, I, I'm, I'm accumulating my thoughts on this, ET, but give me yours off the top.

Your reaction to LeBron signing a two-year, $8 million deal with the 76ers, second year of this deal is a player option.

Man, I'm, I'm, I'm really shocked.

I'm really, uh, I'm really shocked.

Shout out Mike Rubin for getting it done.

Um, that's the only thing I can really see.

Um.

Obviously, the, the Sixers had a great, you know, they got great young pieces in the backcourt.

I wasn't too sure if they would go that way because, uh, you, you know, even though they had a good year this year, they're still, uh, I think they're still developing and trying to get their feet under them now that they got the Jalen Brown trade.

It's firepower, it's legit, but, you know, uh, I mean, I, he's gonna be a great foreman for sure.

He's gonna be a great foreman.

I think he's gonna fit in well.

I think, um, you know, with the mindset of what Nick Nurse is able to do with a good team, good, uh, set, it's been cool.

I think the number one thing is just making sure the atmosphere and, you know, chemistry and camaraderie is at that right type of level, you know, especially being in Philadelphia.

Uh, there's expectations of win and, uh, you know, it's a city of brotherly love.

So sometimes when it goes up and down and you kind of have those LeBron weeks where, you know, he had a bad 9 days, which weren't a bad 9 days.

You gotta be able to weather that storm and keep that team together.

But, um, I'm shocked.

I didn't, I didn't see that coming.

I , I, I, uh, I didn't have, uh, any real uh Words to really go around it, but hey, I'm, I'm, I'm looking forward to seeing, I, I, this was not on my bingo card, like, you know what I mean?

What do you think?

I, I did not have Philadelphia high on my list of potential LeBron landing spots for a few reasons.

One, Um, there, there's no connection, right?

Like LeBron going back to Miami would make some sense because of his history.

LeBron going to Cleveland would make some sense because of his history.

LeBron going to Golden State would make some sense because of his connection to Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and the proximity it has to Los Angeles where, you know, his daughter is still living and growing up.

None of those things.

seemed to be applicable to LeBron James in making this decision.

It goes to show that I think Rich Paul said this, nobody knows anything.

Nobody knows anything.

Everyone, I don't think anybody out there was predicting the seventy-Sixers.

Like after that Miami Heat video leaked, everybody was like, well, it's got to be Miami.

Like that's, that's obviously the case.

Miami, they, they made a mistake.

They released the video link to LeBron's press conference, but it's got to be the Heat.

Cleveland still obviously an opportunity.

Opportunity.

Draymond Greenopted out for a reason in Golden State.

There's got to be a reason for that.

Now he turns around and goes to play in Philadelphia.

So the, the, the basketball reason that I didn't think of it or didn't put them high on my list is that I just couldn't see LeBron James going to Philadelphia to being like a 3rd, 4th, or 5th option on that team.

We, we just saw LeBron.

Uh, chafe for a long time at being the 3rd option in Los Angeles.

He eventually embraced it and the brief time they played with Luca, Reeves, and LeBron, actually played pretty well.

LeBron was pretty good as the 3rd option.

Now he's going to Philadelphia, where on paper, you're talking about him being at least the 3rd option behind Tyrese Maxey and Jalen Brown.

Maybe a 4th option.

When Joel Embiid is healthy and out there on the floor.

Maybe if VJ Edgecombe takes another leap in year two, which guys tend to do, he could be 1/5 option out there.

He's just being kind of a de facto point guard on the floor, like for basketball reasons.

It didn't make a ton of sense to me.

At least not as much sense as Miami, where he could be, you know, kind of the lead playmaker down there with the Heat.

Cleveland, they need wings.

He could step in, be, uh, be one of their wings on a team that could compete for at least the conference championship next year.

Now he's in Philadelphia on one of the most, Interesting rosters I've seen in a while.

Like I, I, I just didn't, I didn't see this one coming.

So let me ask you about the roster.

I would like, you look at this.

Let me, let me give you what their likely rotation is going to be their starting line.

You got Maxine Edgecombe in the backcourt, Jalen Brown, LeBron in the front court, Joel Embiid on that front line, um.

What do you think of that mix?

I mean, it's a sexy lineup, you know, for sure.

I just wanna see how it's going to work.

You know what I'm saying?

I believe Maxi's gonna show up at a high level.

I believe JB is gonna show up at a high level.

And Edgecombe, you just got to see what's left in the tank for Joelen B, how many games he's realistically going to play, and how they're going to be able to build that, that camaraderie.

We said in the playoffs, it was lit when they beat the Celtics, but they kind of ran down.

In a sense of trying to figure out how to play together because Joel was never available, you know.

So I just want to see how that's gonna work out.

I think it's going to be a tough front line.

I think, um, you know, a 4 out, 1 in situation would make everything look ugly, but shoot, even LeBron playing out the post as a championship big, I believe that he could He could be able to to um orchestrate from all over the court, in my personal opinion.

So, I, I'm looking at some of the numbers here with the Sixers.

You got Maxie and Edgecombe who are both pretty good 3-point shooters.

Edge, uh, Maxie shot 37% last year from 3, Edgecombe, 35, 36% from 3.

the front line though now is not Not a high efficiency three-point front line.

Joel Embiid, 33% from 3.

He's much better suited to playing in the post even though his legs probably forced him out on the perimeter a lot more than they used to.

Jalen Brown, uh, he can shoot 3s, uh, but he is more of an inside the three-point line type of player as well.

LeBron James last year shot around 32% from 3.

Is that a concern with this group?

Um, you know, when we were talking about Miami and the fit for LeBron in Miami, we said that LeBron didn't solve the Heat's three-point shooting problem because Bam, Giannis, both non-three-point shooters.

LeBron does not solve any shooting problems in Philadelphia, and Paul George, for all of his weaknesses, is a pretty good three-point shooter, was a pretty good three-point shooter last year for the Seventy-Sixers.

How do you see that kind of front court mix, uh, mixing together?

I think uh you have to rely on them, what type of shots they get in the open shots.

Sometimes when you sit there, LeBron and, and Joel, a lot of their, their shots are contested threes, no open catch and shoots all the time, even though, you know, you play with Luca.

I believe what Tyrese Maxey is able to do and the pace that he has, if they're able to get stops, Tyrese Maxey's able to go downhill.

I believe he's going to continue to keep enough pressure on the defense to be able to, uh, you know, to open up enough shots and get the defense on their heels.

Where they have to rotate, rotate, rotate.

And I believe Jalen Brown and LeBron are much better 3-point shooters when they have 3 other options, viable options you have to actually worry about and they have a split second to get the shot off.

So I, I believe they, if they take the right type of shots, cool.

Sometimes dudes take NBA shots mixed in with their 28 shots per night, and, you know, by, by the time the season ends, they're like damn, I ended up shooting 33 when I was at 35, you know.

You know, it's for people listening, we're really unpacking this in real-time.

Like it just happened as we were recording this episode.

I, I do, I'm surprised in another way that like, I didn't know what the relationship was like with LeBron and Jalen Brown.

Um, they have certainly not been as close as LeBron and Jayson Tatum have been over the years.

Jalen Brown has been out of the Olympic cycle for the last few years and there was that famous video clip from a couple of years ago when Jalen Brown, uh, effectively said that Bronnie James was not an NBA player.

This is something LeBron actually brought up late last season when he was asked about Jalen Brown.

He said, outside of, like, I'm paraphrasing, but said outside of the thing that he said about Bronnie, uh, we're cool.

Uh, that's interesting.

That's another.

It's an interesting dynamic there in that locker room.

Like Jalen Brown is a unique guy, as you know.

Um, LeBron is a big person.

They got a lot of big personalities.

Joel Embiid is a big personality.

Like Nick Nurse.

I'm sure if you're Nick Nurse, you're waking up going, wow, we got LeBron James.

But if I'm Nick Nurse.

I'm telling my wife, my family, my kids, no vacations anymore.

No, we're, we're done.

I, I gotta get in the lab.

I gotta get to work and I gotta figure out a way to make this offense something functional.

And even the defense too, like Embiid, not the defensive player that he used to be.

Still can be a force when he's out there protecting the rim, but certainly not as mobile as he used to be.

LeBron, I guess you're talking about him playing the 4, which is, I mean, I, I, I don't know about that either.

Like, I don't know, I think he loved playing the 4 when he was in Los Angeles.

Uh, It it's just gonna be interesting.

It's gonna be real interesting.

Yeah, I just don't want the ball taken on Tyrese Maxey's hands.

He's, he's proven it the past couple of years.

I think when it comes down to how you play.

You gotta, with, with Edge Cone, with uh, with, with, with LeBron, with Joel EMB, they can play at a pace, but sometimes the ball stops with them.

You know what I mean?

I believe Maxi has a better chance of going north and south, switching the pace up, but, you know, the new, the new cheat code now is a point forward, the 4 man.

I believe LeBron is going to age in that spot gracefully and, and just start the game, but, you know, After he gets done pounding, even when you were in LA, he was like, you know what, my basketball mind is saying I would be the perfect 3 man.

I would be the perfect 3rd option, which is basically a second option.

It's just giving Austin Reeves the keys to be able to do what he does well at a high level because I can do a lot of other things great.

So I believe LeBron is gonna figure it out.

I believe that with the other 4 players and guys going downhill and how he wants to play, it will be advantageous for him to use his mind.

And Nick Nurse is a good basketball mind, good championship mind.

Obviously, uh, he's had a lot of, you know, great recognition because he took over for Dwayne Casey after Dwayne Casey won, you know, Coach of the Year that one year and took him to a championship, so.

I believe uh the number one thing for with nurse is not even camaraderie cause he's already seen craziness enough.

I just think it's like, man, let's just make sure we figure out how to keep these guys healthy, how to make a plan to get there, how to make sure when we hit the playoffs, we're, we're going downhill and making sure we know what we're doing.

Last year in the playoffs, Joel literally told him, hey, y'all get down court and run.

I'm gonna catch up.

Like.

And you're trying to win the first week of the playoffs and it worked, but it was just like, hey, that's, that's not a great way to be.

Like you understand what I'm saying?

Even when you're sitting there and being like when a ball goes into the post, people need to know how to play off one of the, the, the biggest magnets in the game when it comes to Joelel or even LeBron.

You can't just wing it so, so many times, especially with young groups in those situations where you, you're, you're in an environment where there's a lot of experience, not so much in the east, but if you're trying to get to championship aspirations.

OKC, the Thunder, I mean, uh, the Spurs, they're not going for that.

You know, the, the other part of this is like, is there a risk to, uh, look, LeBron's legacy is secure.

Like he's either the 1st or 2nd best player of all time.

Um, No debate there that is, that he's in the top two.

but is there the potential that this could have like some like, Iverson in Memphis kind of vibes if it doesn't work.

Shaq in Boston if it doesn't work like it's just because like it's like if it didn't work, what the game ain't that crazy nowadays.

Like, like people are laughing, bro, and I, I thought he was crazy when he said it like the game has switched up and, and not even saying that I'm saying the talent's a little different.

And you know what I mean?

Like for the next 3 or 4 years, Brown might go on the court.

He's like, I think at my size, weight, and skill set, I'm probably good for the next 5 years in regards to being on the court.

I don't think there's anybody out there, like the game is so filled with stats and numbers and legacy.

When , when, when, when, when Iverson went to Memphis, like he went to the wild, wild west and they were still only putting up 80 points, 90 points a night and you need to make sure you're physically and mentally ready.

I don't see that happening here.

I don't, I think LeBron's body is too great in general.

I think he still has maybe 3 more years of being able to play at a high, high level.

I, I just think this is legacy.

Shout out to Michael Rubin.

I think he's somehow tied into getting this done and uh it was a chess move, man.

It's, it's a chess move, all right, and I'm just, uh, again, we're, we're kind of like, I wanna read some of the, uh, LeBron had a tweet just moments ago as we're recording this.

I wanna read, uh, some of this.

He said, quote, I thought I was done when the season ended.

I wasn't ready to announce it, and I knew I needed some time to really decide, but I was pretty sure I played my last game.

I was honest at that last press conference when I said I needed to look at myself and decide if I still love this game.

Period.

I still, I still truly love this game and I have more to give.

The last few weeks have been really special.

I've been able to have no clue what to do and take real time just to think.

I've had an incredible few months with all the people I love trying to figure it all out.

This is my last decision.

I'm not going for the money.

I'm not going for family.

What am I really playing for at this point?

I still want to sacrifice.

I still want to work.

I still want to grind.

I still want to compete to win, to have a chance at the feeling of winning another championship.

I believe I can help make the seventy-Sixers a championship team, and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time.

Thank you, LA.

Miami, I'll forever love and Northeast Ohio will always be home.

End quote.

Uh, so there's kind of your answer, ET on the why.

Like he made this decision, obviously not for money cause it's never gonna be about the money.

Not for family either, which is what a lot of people were speculating on over the last couple of weeks.

He made it because he wants to pursue another championship and he saw all the teams out there.

That wanted him, that Philadelphia offered him the best chance to win that championship.

And I think he's right because I think if you go to Golden State, you're still in the West, you still got to deal with Wambayama and Oklahoma City and all those guys.

Cleveland, you're pretty good, but Harden, Mitchell, LeBron, definitely some flaws in that rotation.

Miami, Miami's got great frontcour players, but they cannot shoot the basketball and LeBron does not help them shoot the basketball.

So, Uh, I, I just, I, I think this, this makes sense from a basketball perspective.

Like, what do you think of what he said there, that he is going to win a championship.

He's trying, the, the primary reason to continue playing was to go to a place they could win a championship.

Yeah, he knows something I don't, bro.

I don't wanna say anything like too, I, I, I don't.

This is a buzz kill, like, like I don't even, I'm trying to understand it, so I, I don't, I don't see championship, man.

I, I don't, I, I.

I don't see it unless there's a crazy healthy Joe Allen beat.

Well, let me ask you this, where, if it wasn't Philadelphia, Where would his best chance of winning a championship be?

In my personal opinion, you have to go back to the east and you have to try to make it work with Cleveland, or, I mean, it sounds crazy, bro, this sounds dumb as hell, bro, Boston.

Like, no, I'm just, I'm just saying in general , like what are we Uh, uh, how do you feel, bro?

Did your, did your shit go down?

I pause.

Like , you know what I mean?

Like, I look, I, I, I'm, again, I'm surprised that it was Philadelphia for all the reasons that we laid out.

But if it's just about finding a way to win another championship, which we were kind of told, like going into this, that it really wasn't about that he wasn't chasing, you know, Jordan or chasing Kobe or chasing some of these guys with more championships than him.

But if it's about winning a championship, Philadelphia, Cleveland, right around maybe the same level.

Like, I guess you could have come to Boston, but I don't know if Boston was interested.

Like, I don't know what the Celtics were, were feeling about LeBron James.

Same thing like I had said weeks ago I thought San Antonio made the most sense.

Go to San Antonio, be kind of the veteran leader in that locker room, help these guys learn.

What it takes to get over the hump, they're right there.

I mean, if they had LeBron James last year, they beat New York in the finals.

Like LeBron ain't going out the way the, the Spurs went out, giving up double-digit leads game after game after game.

He ain't going out like that.

They probably win that series in 4 or 5 games.

So that made, and , but I don't know if the, Spurs were interested.

I had not heard that.

The only teams I had been hearing were the teams that were already out there.

The Minnesotas, the Golden State, the Miami's, the Cleveland's, and the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers.

So, if these were his options and he wanted to win a championship, well, There are worse places you can go in Philadelphia to try to win a championship.

And you're right, it does like Embiid, he's gonna have to be healthy.

But I think what this does do is it gives Embiid much more of Uh, a runway to ease his way back into through the regular season.

Like Joel Embiid, if he plays more than 30 minutes a game in any game in the regular season, Nick Nurse should be pushed out the door.

He should be on the Lamelo Ball, uh, uh, track there where he was playing less than 30 minutes per game.

He should be on like the early Tatum track when he came back.

Like just ease your way in.

Don't play in back to backs.

Don't play in 3 games in 4 nights.

Aim for 50 games.

Try to get on the floor for 50 games, most of which will come in the second half of the season, so you can rev up.

And I think having LeBron there gives this team some flexibility to win while he's out of the lineup.

Yeah.

And also, man, just the window, like maybe you got a 1, you got an 8 month window to make the most of it.

Like, you know what I mean?

Like LeBron, people are really trying to win this year.

I just hope everybody takes it.

Really, really seriously, because it's hard to win a championship, bro, and to have a window to win a championship is, is, is key.

And we're even just begging a guy to play 50 games.

And say, hey, bro, just make sure you're locked in that whole year for a championship run because it's no longer you're done before May, you're gonna be done midway June if you, everything's working the way it's supposed to.

Be very interesting and I'm sure we're gonna get into this a lot more, uh, next week as we kind of find out more details about the why, uh, with LeBron James.

Yeah, I'm not even hating.

I'm just like.

Just a buzz skill.

Like, I mean, I want to understand it and have it make sense.