The Philadelphia 76ers are already vindicating LeBron James' free agency decision, while the Golden State Warriors showed on Wednesday night exactly why the four-time MVP rejected their approach.
The 76ers have moved to 2-0 after a massive comeback victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, having found a way back from a 29-point deficit to record a 114-106 win in James' first game in Philadelphia.
76ers are already vindicating LeBron James' free agency decision
Both of the 76ers' wins have come against fellow Eastern Conference contenders. They spoiled ring night for the New York Knicks on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, before overcoming an extremely slow start in the first half against the Cavaliers.
But it hasn't just been the fact they've recored two victories, rather the way they've gone about it outside the first 24 minutes on Thursday night. Philadelphia have clearly built an incredibly talented roster, but there were questions on how they'd fit with only one basketball and the need to sacrifice for one another and the team.
The result so far is that the immense talent allows James the luxury of a lesser role at age 41, at least from a scoring standpoint as he's averaged just 15.5 points through the first two games -- down from the 20.9 he averaged with the Los Angles Lakers last season.
With Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid taking much of the scoring load, James can focus on rebounding and facilitating. He's averaged a team-leading 9.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists through two games, while also adding four steals and two blocks across 67 minutes to date.
LeBron James would have faced significant burden with Warriors
In stark contrast, the Warriors have an absolute dearth of talent as they began their season without Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody. Their offense and defensive issues were on display against the Lakers on Wednesday night, falling to a 127-105 defeat that paints a fairly bleak picture of what could be ahead this season.
Signing James obviously would have elevated Golden State's hopes of returning to the playoffs, but Wednesday's game proved it would have also presented him with a burden in terms of needing to score and uplift a mediocre offense.
James didn't need that entering his 24th NBA season, not to mention the 76ers give him a legitimate chance of securing the fifth NBA championship that he's been chasing over the past few years.
Add us as a preferred source on Google