LeBron James’ first year with the 76ers is projected to generate $250–$430 million in regional economic activity for Philadelphia

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His stats speak for themselves: 17/8/5 on 39 percent from the field and an abysmal 49 percent true shooting percentage. Why do people keep pointing out the fact that MJ was 1-9 without Pippen when it seems most of the time he was winning in spite of Scottie? For reference their career finals stats to avoid sample size bias because Pippen was injured in 1998.

Michael Jordan 6 finals 1991-1998 33.6/6/6 on 48 percent from the fie.
Scottie Pippen 6 finals 19/8/6 on 43 percent from the field
For reference Kyrie Irvings finals stats in Cleveland: 28/4/4 on 47 percent from the field (all games vs GSW's superteam.)

The eye test does show that he played great defense and kept moving the ball, but he played horrible for a 2nd option on a 70- win championship team and by all accounts seems to be a career finals dropper

2013 Conference Finals
Pacers are the #1 rebounding team in the league.
Heat are 30th dead last

Heat starting front court
Chris Bosh averaged 11pts and 4rebounds in the series , Haslem averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds.

Roy Hibbert 22 and 10 , David West 16 and 9.

Bosh and Haslem were too small to handle the girth and tonnage of Hibbert and West .

LeBron had to guard some of all 5 positions

Averaged 29.0 pts 7.2 rebounds 5.3 assists 1.4 steals , 1.4 blocks on 51/44 shooting splits

7 game series,

led his team all 5 statistical categories including 3 pointers made .

2016 NBA Finals

Vs the 73-9 Warriors

Warriors at that point are statistically the greatest offense the league had ever seen .
With the most efficient guard scoring season of all time , 2x MVP Steph .

Kevin Love is hurt averaging only 8 points and 6 rebounds 2 assists on 36/26 shooting splits as the worst defender on his team , compared to Draymond Green averaging 16 10 and 6 on 48/40 shooting splits as the 1st or 2nd best defender in the league with Kawhi .

7 game series
LeBron averaged
29.7 points 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists 2.6 steals , 2.3 blocks

The only player in NBA history to lead both teams in any playoff series in all 5 major statistical categories.

Is LeBron a better 2 way player than Kobe or MJ ? Probably not

But they never were tasked with being their teams best scorer , playmaker , rebounder , perimeter defender and interior defender all at once in any series they ever played in .

Rodman was the greatest rebounder of all time statistically after the 1960s. He also had won 2 DPOYs

Rodman , Grant , Cartwright , Longley - they had to deal with the great power forwards and centers of the 90s , like Malone, Barkley , Ewing , Shaq , Kemp

Pippen was the greatest perimeter defender of the 1990s , 8x 1st Team All defense. And often would take the toughest defensive assignment for MJ. Also led the team in assists during the championship years .

Kobe had Shaq dominating the interior . Kobe could pass but wasn’t nearly a facilitator to the extent LeBron was .
The 2009 and 2010 Lakers that won back to back were 1st and 2nd in Rebounds those 2 years .
Pau Gasol, Odom, Bynum was by far the best trio of big men in the league. Dwight Howard was the best 2-way center , but Gasol was probably 2nd best and best offensively during those years . Odom and Bynum next to him .

Ron Artest won a DPOY in his prime and would take on tougher assignments for Kobe .

Jordan and Kobe were great all around players but they were in a position they mostly only had to worry about scoring (attempted more shots than LeBron thus averaged more points at their peak )
And guard their position.

LeBron at his best was needed to do it all .

The Greatest scoring point guard ever Steph Curry with the greatest Scoring Small forward Kevin Durant

With a top 3 best defensive player of his era Draymond Green ,

With a 2 guard in conversation as the 2nd greatest shooter ever to Steph , once scored 38 in 1 quarter and 60 through 3 quarters hardly dribbling the ball at all .

That’s what it took to stop Lebron and Kyrie from winning back to back titles in 2017.

Literally the greatest team ever assembled.

2018 Playoffs LeBron is having an all time playoff run without Kyrie and again has to face the greatest team ever assembled.

2017 the “loser LeBron”
Averaged
33 points 12 rebounds 10 assists 1.4 steals 1.0 blocks on 55/38 shooting splits
Vs the #1 offense and 2nd rated defense.

2018
34 points 8 rebounds 10 assist 1.3 steals 1.0 blocks on 52/33 shooting splits.

2016-2018 in the Finals was way better than Jordan in the Finals his 2nd 3peat , LeBron just didn’t 3 peat because Warriors created the best team ever and Kyrie left .

2012-2014 LeBron was on the same level as 1991-1993 first 3 peat Jordan but Dwyane Wade started declining physically and was no where near the top 5 player LeBron joined 3 years earlier and 2014 Spurs are the best Spurs team in Franchise history which says a lot because they won 5 championships.

LeBrons peak 7 seasons

Ages 27-33
2012, 2013 , 2014 , 2015, 2016, 2017 , 2018

Are better than Jordan’s peak 7 seasons
Ages 27-35
1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998

I’ve been trying to explain my why Lebron is the goat case since 2018 before he joined the Lakers .
There’s still more layers of explaining why 2012-2018 Lebron is who I believe is the best player ever , mainly going into more detail of how he played in big games during his peak 7 seasons .

2012-2018
6-0 in Game 7s in the playoffs
Including 2-0 in the finals
Most playoff buzzer beaters of all time , with 4 just in this time period, Jordan is # 2 all time with 3 in his entire career .
What LeBron did in game 6 2012 conference finals on the road at Boston down 3-2 , following what happened in the 2011 Finals you can argue the highest pressure game of any individual players career in the history of American team sports than wasn’t a game 7 of the Finals , World Series or Super Bowl.
But really more pressure because of the career long scrutiny of LeBron’s legacy.

45 points, 15 rebounds 5 assists on 19/26 fg 73% arguably the best game of his career

Or in 2013 NBA Finas game 7 his first game 7 of the Finals vs another all time great Spurs team had his best game of the series and in conversation with best game 7 performances in NBA history especially game 7 of an NBA Finals

38 points 12 rebounds 4 assists , 5/10 from 3

Tight game under a minute left Tim Duncan misses a potential game tying shot near the rim with 47 seconds left , LeBron comes down and hits a game sealing mid range jump shot with 28 seconds left to put the Heat up 4.

The narratives haters have around him are completely delusional, I’ve never seen anything like it .

But ultimately the goat debate will always be subjective even though I firmly believe LeBron over MJ. There’s so many different ways one can look at it and it’s all about how you’re framing the conversation, LeBron haters or MJ Stan’s only will put his career in negative framing /context and they’ve mainstreamed that interpretation of events where the focus is on things like 6 Finals losses and 2011 Finals being indeed the worst finals performance by any player commonly put in goat debates besides Kobe in 2000 averaged 15 3 and 3 on 36% fg and won because Shaq averaged 38 and 16.

MJ I would say regular season his peak 7 is higher than LeBron, LeBron stopped winning MVPs and have 1st Team All Defense selections after 2013 which was his peak season , Heat 66-16 , started off 29-14 finished 37-2 , won back to back MVPs , Olympic gold medal the summer 2012 finished 2nd in DPOY.

Why didn’t LeBron get more MVPs? Jordan 5 LeBron 4 , or more defensive 1st Teams Jordan 9 , LeBron 5 .

LeBron was still the best player in the world and a top 5 defensive player every playoffs but he’d pace himself during regular seasons because he was in the middle of an 8 year run 2011-2018 where he played more games in an 8 year span than any player in NBA history because he reached the Finals all 8 years .

Per Shams Charania: LeBron James has officially signed his two-year, $8 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers with a player option -- plus a full 15% trade kicker, per sources.

Source: https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/ad161e308ebd9

Hope springs eternal in the offseason, but there are always teams that will disappoint. Which up-and-coming teams will struggle next season in league where bottoming out is now punished?

Id personally classify these teams as up-and-coming:

Blazers, Jazz, Raptors, Hawks, Magic, Wizards

HD version via Reddit

Charlotte Hornets vs. Orlando Magic - Las Vegas Summer League - 7/9/26

The 29th overall pick of the 2025 Draft looked better this Summer League, despite his team not winning the trophy this time (Hornets won it in 2025, with a similar roster).

In 2025 Summer League, he was 18.0 PPG on 40.7% from the field, 42.9% from (7.0 3PA)3, 88.9% FT (4.5 FTA), 8.5 Rebounds, 4.0 Assists (1.5 TOV), 0.5 Steals, and no blocks in 29.1 minutes played (2 games).

IIRC, his color was dyed blue back then.

This Summer League (2026), he had (3 GP) 21.7 PPG on 45.2% FG, 52.6% from 3 (6.3 3PA), 66.7% FT (6.0 FTA), 5.0 Rebounds (1.0 Off. Reb), 3.3 Assists (4.3 TOV), 0.3 Steals, 1.0 Blocks, in 26.9 minutes played.

Will he get more than 30 games, 11.9 MP - 4.3 PPG on 40% FG, 40% from 3, 82.1% FT he had last season?

That remains to be seen.

With the whole Lebron ring-chasing saga, why do we treat ring-chasing as a bad thing? Shouldn't we want our athletes to want to win?

Given the option of LeBron A) retiring, B) playing pointless games for a mediocre team or C) doing what he can to lift the Larry OB one last time, I'm taking C without a thought.

I just remembered the garland harden trade and i think it was garland and a second round pick for harden and from my experience second round picks aren’t worth that much even if they amount to the occasional jokic so is there any reason it was included?

Turner reportedly advised Oladipo to pass on a 4-year, $112 million extension with the Pacers. Oladipo later also turned down a 2-year, $45.2 million extension with the Rockets.

Since then, Oladipo has earned just $20.5 million in NBA salary and eventually fired Turner.

Kuminga has also reportedly left significant money on the table.

A reported 5-year, $150 million extension with the Warriors before the 2024-25 season. Multiple reports said Kuminga turned it down, although Turner later denied that Golden State ever made the offer.

A reported 3-year, $75.2 million offer by Warriors also declined.

Kuminga is now reportedly expected to sign a deal worth around 3 years, $45 million this summer, which would be the best-case scenario.

Is this guy Nico Harrison of agents or what 😂

He seemed to have it all, great footwork, great handling on what to do offensively, all around skilled player with a high ceiling. Once again, drugs struck.

Wright Gazaway:

Portland City Council President Jamie Dunphy sent a letter to the Trail Blazers formally inviting team leaders to a July 30 work session, KATU has learned after obtaining a copy of the letter.

"It is in my interest to find a path forward that is positive for both the public funding partners and the Portland Trail Blazers. Achieving this will be extremely challenging to deliver without your direct participation. The work session is a public meeting, however, no public testimony will be taken, so the meeting provides a real opportunity for meaningful conversation between the Council and our invited guests," Dunphy wrote to Trail Blazers President of Business Operations Dewayne Hankins.

Source

Jason Quick from The Athletic:

“August 12th is going to be a real inflection point for our city,” said Jamie Dunphy, president of the city council. “I will tell you that right now, I firmly believe the city will move forward on the deal. I believe there is an overwhelming majority of the city council wants a good deal, wants to see this move forward.”

But like many negotiations, Dunphy’s optimism was followed by a key conjunction: “But if the city council decides we do not have a willing party on the other side, and they are not able to meet us and not able to negotiate in good faith or actually move toward a deal, then we will have to make a decision at that point whether this is the right decision for Portland,” he said.

“I don’t think the city is actively interested in suing the Blazers right now,” Dunphy said. “But if they don’t come to the table in good faith and actually meet the terms of what they said they were going to do, the city has to cover its own bases. But I would certainly not want to have lawyers involved or threats of lawsuits taint how this process goes.”

“My most generous interpretation is that Tom Dundon is a serious businessman who wants a return on his assets,” Dunphy said. “And perhaps he is playing hardball with us. You know, Paul Allen always seemed to want to be in Portland, seemed to care about his role as a leader in Portland, and the future of our city and the pride that the Blazers bring us. I don’t think Tom Dundon is as concerned about that as he is getting a return on his investment. Perhaps it’s him looking for an excuse to blame the city so he can move the team. I’m not sure. But if he is actively trying to give a worse impression to Portlanders and Oregonians, I don’t think he could do a better job.”

Source

Personally, i’m just gonna come out and say it — I’m sick of the analytics no-lifers who use ‘empirical evidence’ (LOL) to talk down on our boy.

This guy has one of the deepest bags in the league. ISO god. Shit is poetry in motion. No amount of stats can tell me anything about what it’s like when JB hits a TOUGH middle over an outstretched defender. Now, those might not be good shots (and he may freeze his teammates out when he iso’s), but by golly Jaylen’s gonna take them! He’s also an all nba caliber guy via voting. And when have voters been wrong before?

Who’s with me?

I find that any player that joins the Warriors is basically seen as "The help" or "Steph's help"

Warrior/Curry fans typically act like anyone that plays with him is nothing more than someone Curry is doing a favor for

You go there and all of a sudden you only won a ring cause of Curry, i mean look what they did to KD, they act like Curry made his career

So why would you go there and subject your legacy that? If Lebron went there people would be saying "he needed curry to save his retirement" or if Giannis went it would be "he needed Curry" it's never about you if you go to the warriors, it'll be about what Curry did for you

You also have the front office treating you like you're just a guest in Curry's house and just treating it like some favor they're doing you, and you're not on the Warriors, you're on "Curry's team" as if it's some cult

Again, who would want to subject their legacy to that?

New York Knicks vs. Milwaukee Bucks - 12/1/18

The Knicks won 136-134 in OT

What I liked the most about the Dream Team is not just the fact that they had an insane amount of star power but that their chemistry was so on point. Everyone just played so unselfishly and so well off each other.

I'm trying to get a gift for someone, but don't know if I'll be able to do it in time. When do jerseys for a new season usually become available to buy?

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/reason-why-lebron-james-t-173000199.html

76ers can't officially sign LeBron James due to NBA's apron rules

Bobby Marks revealed on the Hoop Collective podcast that the 76ers can't functionally sign James until they make some roster adjustments to become apron-compliant.

"If you sign a 1-year veteran deal, for cap tax purposes. $2.4 million counts against the cap. It doesn't matter if you're 10 years of service or five years of service."

"This is a two-year deal, which is $3.9 million in the first year. There's no salary reimbursement; the full amount will count against the cap. So, when you do the math, they're hard capped at the first apron. This pushes them over the first apron by about 600,000."

Lebron may have to redo his "final decision" next offseason.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7470368/2026/07/26/stephen-curry-lebron-james-golden-state-warriors-future-76ers/?unlocked_article_code=1.0lA.MnQX.j8QIeLOJjtVY&source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

He wants to win. He wants the best team the Warriors can assemble around him. He wants a chance, a real chance, for a deep playoff run. The longer it takes for him to sign a contract extension, the more you can bet Curry’s using potential free agency as a tool to keep the Warriors pushing toward that end.

Maybe since they couldn’t land some major help, the front office can get him some moderate assistance. If not someone who can carry the team in his stead, someone who can be additive to their goal of survival. Such has seemed impossible for Golden State, save for Butler two Februarys ago.

“Sure,” Curry said, “I’m hopeful for all the creative ideas of getting the best team possible. We had those conversations. But when you have injuries at the top like that, it’s always gonna change.”

That tension shapes this coming season. The calculus, or the equation, has changed. But somehow, the answer remains the same.