LeBron James has already built one of the greatest resumes in NBA history, but according to ESPN insider Shams Charania, the four-time champion is now going after a unique, different kind of legacy with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Speaking on The Stephen A. Smith Show, Charania said that LeBron’s decision to leave the Los Angeles Lakers wasn’t simply about extending his career. It was also about making history.
“It’s always about the chips. It’s always about the rings. And there’s no doubt LeBron is playing for a different legacy, the legacy of being the only player in NBA history to win a championship with four different teams. And this is kind of, he’s playing on borrowed time, right? A player has never gone into a 23rd season, much less a 24th and 25th season.”
“So it’s like he’s playing with some spare change here, where he can see, ‘What can I do?’ Even if I’m a starter, a high-level contributor, a high-level player to this… There’s a very good chance, if the Sixers win a championship, Tyrese Maxey or Jaylen Brown or Joel Embiid have just as good, if not a better, shot at winning Finals MVP, right? That’s just because they’re younger. They’re more spry. Their prowess for scoring is up there. They’re in their prime, ready to go. But to be playing in seasons that have never been seen in the NBA, 23 has already happened. Now he’s at 24 and 25.”
“To say you are even the No. 3 or No. 2 or No. 4, or whatever ranking you want to put him as, to be able to be in that top-three or top-four option and potentially lead a championship, that has to be something in the cap of LeBron James when you think about his legacy. There’s no doubt.”
“So, you know, going to Cleveland, Miami, those are legacy plays, right? Because you’re ending your career where you potentially started in Cleveland or where you were before. And you won rings. You’re not playing in another jersey besides those three. But now it is a different form of legacy. And if you can lead Philly to a championship after 40-plus years, after you broke the drought in Cleveland after 50-plus years, there has to be something said about that.”
LeBron is trying to do something that no player has ever accomplished.
He has already won NBA championships with three different NBA teams. He captured his first two titles with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013. He won the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first title in 2016, ending the city’s 52-year drought. And later, he added his fourth with the Lakers in 2020.
Only three players, Robert Horry, John Salley and Danny Green, have won championships with three different NBA franchises. But unlike these players, LeBron was the focal point of every championship run. He won Finals MVP in each of those Finals victories.
And this time, if he can lead the Sixers to another title, he would stand alone as the first player in league history to win championships with four different teams. And if he can pull off winning Finals MVP, he would also be the first player to win Finals MVPs with four different teams.
Charania believes that that’s exactly what is motivating LeBron at this stage of his career.
LeBron is entering a place where no NBA player has ever reached. He’s already the NBA’s all-time leading scorer (43,440), and the 41-year-old continues to add milestones just by taking the floor. He’s already appeared in the most games (1,622), played the most minutes (62,669), and appeared in the most seasons (23), and those records continue to build as time goes on.
But LeBron’s move to the Sixers adds the opportunity to catch that ghost in Chicago.
The Sixers haven’t won a title since 1983. That was more than four decades ago. Much like his return to the Cavaliers, which resulted in Cleveland’s long title drought coming to an end, LeBron has the chance to deliver another long-awaited title to one of the most passionate fan bases in the NBA.
It remains to be seen if he can succeed.
The Eastern Conference has turned into a war zone right now, with as many as eight legitimate contenders. And the Sixers also have to navigate health concerns around Joel Embiid. Plus, they will have to build chemistry around a new team featuring Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, Embiid and LeBron.
But if the Sixers manage to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy next June, LeBron won’t just add a fifth title to his resume. He’ll accomplish something that no player in the NBA has ever done: win a title with four NBA franchises, which will add yet another ridiculous achievement to basketball’s most remarkable career.
