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By Jayesh Pagar
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LeBron James is heading back to Cleveland on Friday night, but this time he’s wearing a Philadelphia 76ers jersey.
It’s his first game at Rocket Arena since he picked Philly over the Cavaliers in free agency this summer.
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The 76ers come in at 8-1, riding a five-game win streak with the best record in the East. Cleveland sits at 4-4. Before the NBA Cup game, a Hall of Famer who once coached LeBron weighed in on what he really means to a team.
Jason Kidd, now an ESPN analyst, shared his view during an appearance on “NBA Today.”
“If (LeBron) was on the Cavs, they would be 8-1 and Philly might be in the .500 range,” Kidd said, via Oh No He Didn’t on X.
“What LeBron brings to the table each night is a chance to win but he doesn’t have to carry the load, because he knows he’s surrounded by stars. But if he was in Cleveland, they’d probably be the best team in the east,” Kidd added.
That first line won’t sit well in Philly. The second half, though, is hard to argue with. LeBron is averaging 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists, far from the heavy lifting he did in Cleveland and Los Angeles.
He doesn’t have to. Tyrese Maxey leads the team at 28 points a game, Joel Embiid is pulling down 10 boards a night, and Jaylen Brown dropped 30 in Wednesday’s win at Detroit.
Kidd has seen this up close. He was on the Lakers staff that won the 2020 title with LeBron, so he knows what a team looks like with him running the show.
The what-if hits hardest in Cleveland. LeBron gave serious thought to a third run with the Cavs before choosing Philly. On Friday, the fans who almost got him back will see him on the other bench, trying to keep Philly’s hot start rolling.
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