The Philadelphia 76ers getting to sign LeBron James was not a total shocker this summer, but it still ended up surprising many. After all, just the idea of him moving teams at this point in his career is a tad unprecedented. Recently, the superstar revealed the hard part about playing for his new ball club, and the challenge is actually not even related to basketball, as he doubled down on the fact that he is currently making a huge sacrifice with his family.
After the 76ers' recent Blue x White scrimmage last week, James told reporters that it will be a challenge not seeing his family around as much this season. After all, he chose to leave them in Los Angeles in order to play for Philly, and given that he is already in his waning years in the NBA, that is certainly a trade-off most players in his position would not even dare to make.
LeBron James admits the big challenge about playing for the 76ers
The consensus belief is that James is already in his penultimate, if not final, year in the league. He signed a two-year deal with the 76ers with a player option for the subsequent season, which gives him full liberty to decide when he would prefer to walk away from the game.
The fact that LeBron went to such lengths as to leave his home and family in LA to go play in Philadelphia is pretty telling of the level of confidence he has in this group. The 76ers are widely reckoned as definitive favorites to win the title, and the insurmountable pressure they are now facing is only bolstered by James' level of commitment to his new team's cause.
Sure, one could argue that LeBron was leaving anyway, but if he did not repose a lot of confidence on the 76ers and their ability to contend for the title, he would have signed with a team like the Warriors, which are situated much closer to Los Angeles.
The megastar is unerringly devoted to the franchise's quest to snap its championship drought that has lasted for more than four decades. Aside from his unusual living setup, which has him commuting on the daily from New York to Philly, he has also decided to leave his abode and strong base in LA to play for the 76ers. Hopefully, the team can eventually make him feel like his huge concessions are all worth it.
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