The Philadelphia 76ers rolled out most of their stars on Friday night for their preseason game against the Boston Celtics. It was their final preseason game of the year, and the Celtics didn’t take it too seriously. They sat all their regulars and started four training-camp guys and rookie Chris Cenac. From the jump, it looked like LeBron James didn’t really feel like playing basketball that night. And that’s okay.
James was lollygagging up and down the court. He’d show some flashes of energy when the chance for an alley-oop or a chase-down block arose, but other than that, he was just kind of going through the motions. And can you blame him? Real games start in a few days. The Celtics didn’t even play their starters. It was a complete nothing game. James should be saving his energy for the regular season.
It may not have made for the best viewing experience, but it’s hard to blame James for not caring about a game that, for him, didn’t matter in the slightest.
LeBron didn't care about the last preseason game, and that makes sense
Now, for the Celtics’ training-camp guys, this game mattered. This game probably mattered more than any game they have played in their entire life. At least, for most of them.
Of the five of them, Gray is the only one who has ever scored in the NBA. And he only has six points. For the rest, this was their chance to show out. To show the league what they can do.
Milos Uzan, Tucker DeVries, and Cenac are all rookies. Gray has only appeared in a few NBA games. McGlothan has been around in the G League, but he’s never played in the NBA.
It may have only been a preseason game, but for most of those guys, it was an opportunity they may not have again for a long, long time. Maybe ever. And that means something.
But for James, a guy who has been one of the best players in the league for two decades, it was just another preseason game. The last preseason game of the season, at that.
The regular season isn’t far away. It’s right around the corner. James needs to save all his energy for that. So do the rest of the Celtics’ starters – that’s why they didn’t even play in Philly.
So, yes. It was pretty clear that, for most of the night, James didn’t really care about playing the Celtics on Friday night. He made it look like it was just a meaningless preseason game… because it was.
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