LeBron James going to the Philadelphia 76ers caused a bit of a stir for some around the league. Once it became clear that retirement was off the table and the Los Angeles Lakers were no longer an option, several teams were once viewed as favorites to land him, with the Sixers never garnering favorable odds.
At the end of the day, the odds never mattered. James considered his former homes in Cleveland and Miami, and thought about going to the Golden State Warriors. Instead, he chose the Sixers. We’ve heard plenty of opinions about the decision—positive and negative—and the former NBA champion Stephen Jackson falls under the latter group, criticizing LeBron’s choice.
What did the ex-NBA player have to say?
Clearly, Jackson wanted to see LeBron return to the Cavs. It’s not a team that Jackson has any ties to, as he played for the Nets, Spurs, Hawks, Pacers, Warriors, Bobcats (Hornets), Bucks, and the Clippers. But he believes that the supposed “super team” route with the Sixers hurts the GOAT case for LeBron.
“The GOATs and comparing him to (Michael) Jordan and Kobe (Bryant), to me, Cleveland is the only thing that made sense to me to keep him in that conversation,” Jackson explained on All The Smoke. “Going to a team that's already championship-ready—that's not what I would do as the best player in the league, challenging himself. I don't think that was a best player in the league move.”
Does that make sense?
76ers legend Charles Barkley had a similar take before LeBron ultimately chose to sign with the Sixers. It didn’t make too much sense then, and the point still doesn’t. Sure, the 76ers look great on paper, but they lack championship success. If you compare all of the teams that were once favored to land LeBron, including the Cavaliers, they all have more success than the Sixers in recent years.
Golden State might be the furthest away at this time, but they won the NBA Finals in 2022. The Miami Heat haven’t won it all since the last time LeBron was there, but they managed to put together multiple Eastern Conference Championship wins under the leadership of the ex-Sixers guard, Jimmy Butler.
Lastly, when you look at the Cavs, they are in a similar position to the Heat. The last time they won it all was with LeBron in charge. However, they went deeper than any other team mentioned last season. After the Cavs took down the East’s No. 1 seed, the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland went to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Sixers couldn’t make it there after getting swept by the New York Knicks.
Cleveland didn’t fare any better than the 76ers against the Knicks in the playoffs, but they still reached a level that the 76ers haven’t touched since the early 2000s. Jackson’s point is based on what is said on paper. In reality, LeBron should earn more praise if he can help the Sixers achieve something that they haven’t in over two decades.
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