The 2026 championship Knicks were one of the biggest culture-shifting moments in NBA history, igniting the passion of the biggest city in the USA while also reeling back in many of fans that the NBA had alienated during the pandemic or whom had walked away from the sports for various reasons prior.
For decades, many men had wished to become the hero of the Knicks championship story, whether it would be as the player who led New York or as the coach or GM that guided the squad to the finish line.
James’ camp has brought up many times throughout his career that bringing a championship to the Knicks was a feat he’d wanted to be a part of it. James reportedly had a chance to star in that movie in 2010 but instead, he chose a more championship-cultured experience in Miami. During this year’s free agency media tour, agent Rich Paul stated that if the Knicks hadn’t won the championship this past year, James would be going to New York without question.
Well, the Knicks did win and James Dolan’s club became the NBA’s biggest ratings hit since Michael Jordan was in the league. New York’s quest to repeat will be the biggest storyline in the NBA in 2026/27 and if LeBron James can’t join them…he’ll try to beat them, inserting himself into the spotlight as a main character of one of the Knicks’ biggest rivals (in terms of population and proximity at least).
James’ Fit In Philadelphia
While James’ decision to join the Sixers on a two-year deal is not a shock from a narrative and an attention-seeking standpoint, his fit in Philadelphia is curious from a team chemistry standpoint and from a true championship contending standpoint.
There were legitimate reports that he wasn’t the biggest fan of Joel Embiid with James and his camp having a sour taste in their mouth from Embiid’s past social media trolling. Given Embiid’s history of missing time and James’ history of taking a calculated mid-season break, they may not actually interact much over the course of the season, however (there is also the chance that Embiid is traded to Washington for Anthony Davis, who’s been brought up in multiple reports about playing alongside James this upcoming season, though there are no real reports of AD-to Philly yet).
The other personas involved in Philadelphia make for some interesting subplots.
Jaylen Brown—a player activist who’s capable of talking in-depth about business and positioning strategy on platforms such Forbes or CNBC but opts to express his wisdom as a streamer on Twitch much more frequently— might be the smartest guy in the room but with James in the building, he’s won’t be the most calculated.
Brown should be useful to James during his retirement season(s) from a media strategy standpoint in both reaching new-age streaming audiences as well as for PR agenda issues. For one, James has long been angling for ownership of an NBA team and Brown is the midst of a media campaign advocating for player equity in NBA teams. For what it’s worth, it’s already allowable via the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement for players to buy into existing ownership structures of NBA teams under certain conditions, including it being through private equity structures. It wouldn’t be surprising if James buys into Sixers ownership via his Fenway Sports Group investment or another PE vehicle.
From an on-court standpoint, Brown should be helpful to James during the regular season
Since winning a championship with the Lakers in 2020, LeBron has employed at least one-ultra high-usage player around him with the intent of keeping himself fresh for the postseason. That’s had differing success rates, ranging from leaning on inefficient Russell Westbrook and D’Angelo Russell-types to allowing Luka Doncic run the show in Los Angeles. Doncic led the league last year in usage and it resulted in James being able to pick his spots. James finished within the top-20 among all players in PER but Doncic was injured late in the year and wasn’t available to assist James in the postseason. Good news for James, in Philadelphia, he’ll hedge his bet with a trio of high-usage Monstars.
Brown was leading the league in usage for much of last season during non-Tatum time in Boston and gloated about how it was his favorite year before the Celtics willingly traded him to the Sixers this offseason. Maxey was challenging him for that title through the All-Star break as the Sixers allowed him to do his best Allen Iverson impression before dialing it back when Paul George and Embiid were both available at the same time in the weeks leading up to the postseason. It’s ironic that the Sixers’ new duo tied for the league lead in missed shots last year.
Both Brown and Maxey excelled tremendously vs. average and bad teams last year. Both ranged from slightly positive-to-neutral vs. good teams but against the league’s elite teams, their play dropped drastically. James had more pronounced splits, decapitating bad teams and falling shorts vs the good and elite/really good teams, per Dean Oliver’s data.
It’s safe to say that neither Brown, Maxey or LBJ should be employed as high-usage star players for a truly contending team in the playoffs. Brown and Maxey have never achieved success in that role during the postseason while James’ age now prevents him from doing it consistently.
Embiid has won six playoff series as a high-usage star during his Sixers career, but has only played in every game of a winning series once for the franchise (vs. Toronto in 2022, alongside James Harden).
Embiid was still great vs. top teams last year, though there was a ton of load management around that. Embiid remains the Sixers’ best No. 1 option on any given night but he’s a bigger variable in terms of which nights you’ll have him available (Embiid has never played every game of consecutive playoff series in his career).
In football, there is a saying: if you have two quarterbacks, you really have none.
In the basketball, the saying should be: if you have multiple “stars,” then creating a hierarchy of roles and continuity among your stars and role players should be prioritized.
Whether or not Nick Nurse anticipates what the Sixers will need to find that continuity ahead of the postseason is going to be key.
Will Nurse use the regular season to mold one of more of the team’s stars into a Chris Bosh-type complementary star role and ready the team for a different style of play come playoff time? While the fanbase has been groomed to be patient and you won’t likely hear any significant fan uproar if there are early growing pains in Philadelphia (at least until the Eagles’ season is over), it’s hard to see this franchise implementing that sort of plan, especially if it causes friction among the stars.
Instead, I’d bet we’ll see the team employ some your-turn, my-turn type offense with Brown and Maxey during the regular season along with a mixture of cameos involving LeBron being the star and Embiid taking his turn when he’s healthy enough to do it. That’ll be good enough to earn the Sixers success in the regular season and maybe even win some softer matchups in the postseason.
The question of which Sixers should have the ball and how each of their stars should submit to each other on the court is something Philadelphians can talk as much about as they want leading up the postseason. None of it will matter if the postseason arrives without the team having continuity among the stars within defined roles. That’s what’ll be needed to form a real championship contender that truly rivals the reigning championship Knicks.
For years, many saw a potential Knicks championship as the end of a triumphant movie. LeBron and his team of strategists now see seize a role in the sequel as the final piece for a Sixers team with motivation to stop a repeat and create their own celebration. Given the cast and directors in Philadelphia, it’s likely to go as well as Space Jam 2 did. That feature sold a ton of tickets but took home no meaningful trophies. At least no one is writing that the Sixers’ championship plans are nothing more than a soulless gimmick.
Shams brings up the possibility of LeBron James living in New York while he plays for the 76ers. It's a 45-minute trip from New York City to Philadelphia on a chopper.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 24, 2026
