Philadelphia spent Friday night throwing a coronation parade for a 41-year-old role player who just dropped eight points in an overtime preseason loss to the Celtics’ bench unit.
A sellout crowd of 19,746 packed Xfinity Mobile Arena, ticketless stragglers clogged the aisles during warmups until ushers barked at them to keep moving, and public address announcer Matt Cord belted out, “At 6-9, from St. Vincent-St. Mary’s, No. 23, LeBron James! James!” The chalk went up, Tyrese Maxey threw a half-court lob off a sideline out-of-bounds turnover, and the whole city acted like the Larry O’Brien Trophy was already bolted to Broad Street.
Then the actual basketball happened. Boston rested most of its primary rotation, dragged Philadelphia’s starting superpower into overtime, and walked out with a 125-120 win while James shot 4-of-9 from the floor, bricked both of his three-point attempts, and went 0-for-3 at the free-throw line.
I respect the longevity of an NBA-record 24th season, and I love a circus as much as anyone. When James signed his two-year, $8 million veteran-minimum deal in July, StubHub ticket demand spiked 207 times over and the Boyd Company projected up to $430 million in regional economic activity. As a business transaction, paying $3,876,529 this season for a walking GDP boost is a heist. As a basketball blueprint for April and May, watching this roster try to survive 25 minutes of zero-gravity perimeter spacing is going to age Nick Nurse ten years by Christmas.
The Minimum Contract Hides a Maximum Spacing Tax
The Philadelphia front office and the celebratory camp on Broad Street will argue that landing James for $3.88 million alongside Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and newly acquired 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown creates an unstoppable four-star talent advantage at zero salary-cap cost. James himself leaned right into that championship pitch when he announced his signing on July 24.
“I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time,” James posted on X, via The Athletic.
Here is the problem the box score just exposed… NBA playoff series are won with geometry and legs, not Basketball Hall of Fame plaques. Look at the five-man unit Nurse rolled out on Friday with VJ Edgecombe resting: Embiid, Maxey, Brown, James, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. According to PhillyVoice, that starting group carries 62 combined years of NBA experience and 138,518 career minutes on its odometer.
In modern half-court basketball, playing Embiid, Brown, and a 41-year-old James together creates a clogged toilet inside the arc. Embiid posted 27 points in 29 minutes against Boston, Brown scored 20 on 8-of-14 shooting in 31 minutes, and Maxey added 22 in 30 minutes. All three of those stars do their heaviest damage operating at the nail, bullying into the paint, or hunting mid-post touches. When James is on the floor shooting 0-for-2 from deep, opposing defenses do not have to guard him at 26 feet. They can shrink the nail, dig down on Embiid’s post catches, and dare Year 24 legs to beat them over the top for 48 minutes.
Across two preseason appearances against Brooklyn and Boston, James has totaled 18 points in 43 minutes while making five field goals total. Against the Nets on October 8, he went 1-of-1 from the field and got eight of his 10 points at the free-throw line.
“We’re still trying to put each other in a position to be successful and complement each other the best way we can out on the floor,” James said after that Brooklyn game, via Sportstar. “But it’s going to take some time.”
Broad Street Will Turn On the King Before Thanksgiving
Time is the one currency a roster with 138,518 miles on its starters does not have. Even more hilarious was watching Matt Cord introduce James fourth on Friday night so Embiid could keep the anchor spot. My kids know how pecking orders work on a playground, and you do not bring the loudest main-character energy in sports history into someone else’s gym without warping the room.
James knows what happens in Philadelphia when the honeymoon highlight reel stops and the bricked free throws pile up in the fourth quarter.
“I’m super excited to get in front of these fans,” James said at media day in September, via NBC Sports. “They know sports, they know ball, and if you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do, they’re gonna let you hear it.”
Hold him to that sentence starting Tuesday night. The Sixers open the regular season on October 20 at Madison Square Garden, where they have to stand at midcourt and watch the New York Knicks raise a championship banner into the rafters. Two nights later on October 22, James walks back into Philadelphia for the home opener against Cleveland, immediately followed by a weekend back-to-back.
When the Knicks are hunting 41-year-old legs in high pick-and-roll action on national television and the Sixers are staring at three games in four nights by next Sunday, how many missed threes will it take before the same 19,746 fans screaming for chalk on Friday night start booing No. 23 off the floor?
