Even though the Boston Celtics made a mandatory call to LeBron James, they likely knew he wasn't coming over. Even if the odds weren't in their favor in the slightest, at 41 years old, James is still a game-changer who can swing a playoff series even if he isn't the trump card he used to be. It was only a matter of who would be his next (and final?) NBA team.
We all know now that James will play for the Philadelphia 76ers. Adding him along with Jaylen Brown makes the Sixers a more formidable threat in the East. No doubt about it, but there are definitely some questions. For all the talent the Sixers now possess, they lack a hierarchy and players who do the little things.
It could work out, or it could not. Whatever happens, the Celtics should be glad that James decided against a reunion in South Beach.
It's not like Miami wouldn't have had questions if they had won the LeBron sweepstakes again, but where they may not have as much talent as the Sixers do (despite adding Giannis Antetokounmpo), James and Spoelstra have history, and the Heat have a sterling reputation for being the team that gets all the little things right.
Boston knows how irritating Miami can be
The Celtics-Heat rivalry has been the best one fo the 2020s, and it spans back to the James days. Despite Boston having an advanatge as far as talent goes, Miami has always managed to get under their skin. A lot of the time, that led to them getting the upperhand no matter what.
James isn't the same playe rhe was when he first joine dthem in 2010, but his versatility and experience next to Spoelstra would have unlocked so many lineups that they could have trotted out against Miami. Because Spoelstra has a knack for getting the most out of his rosters, James could have raised their ceiling with his talent on a team that already has a clear identity.
It's already painful enough knowing Miami beat Boston in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, but to see James join them would have rubbed salt on the wound. Boston knows all too well what happens when a team with the culture that the Heat have also have a good amount of starpower to go with it. It spells trouble.
Maybe it's for that reason that Brad Stevens wanted James away from the Heat at all costs.
For as smart as James is as a basketball player, every decision he has made has come down to him believing his next team had the most talent to compete for a title. Fair enough, but an identity has also been a key ingredient, which Miami definitely has, and Philadelphia maybe has, but we don't know.
If Stevens deliberately sent Brown to Philadelphia to sway LeBron to go there because he knew Miami would be a bigger threat with James than Philadelphia would, that's about as 4D Chess as it gets...
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