LeBron James has remained a free agent throughout this offseason, and it hasn't been clear when he'll make his decision. Something that's become absolutely clear is that the one team he won't join is the Boston Celtics because of his hatred for them. If the hate runs that deep, then one team makes a whole lot of sense for him: the Philadelphia 76ers.
Thanks to the Jaylen Brown trade, the 76ers suddenly have an appealing core to LeBron with him, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe among others. Adding James wouldn't make them the favorites to win it all, but it would put them in the conversation.
The added appeal is that it would give James the chance to beat the Celtics without being counted on nearly as much as he has been throughout his career. The talent the Sixers have on their roster would give them the cushion of conserving James until the postseason.
As a cherry on top, the Sixers were the team that just put the Celtics down and just got a talent upgrade with Brown. There are questions about their roster, but adding James alone, even at 41, would answer quite a few of them.
The 76ers already had a few appealing elements to them, but the prospect of beating Boston might be too strong for James to pass up on that.
Remember: LeBron's past decisions have been about beating the Celtics
When LeBron first ditched Cleveland for Miami, it was about assembling a Big 3 to beat the Boston team that had that exact formula to beat him. The Celtics beat the Cavaliers two times in the last three years (though the second time was more because of Rajon Rondo for anyone who watched in 2010).
Yes, he wanted the best chance at a title first and foremost, but he wanted to beat the Celtics. That's why he was stoked when they beat the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals the following postseason.
There was no confirmation of this, but LeBron also went to go join the Lakers eight years later, where he would have the chance to help them take the mantle from the Celtics as the winningest franchise in the NBA. Luckily, he only got them to tie with Boston, and that was only for four years.
Anyway, it makes sense why LeBron hates the Celtics, as they were the team to proved to be the thorn in his side, like Michael Jordan with Detroit or Shaq and Kobe with Utah. There was that one team that typically got in their way.
If anything, the Celtics should be flattered if he joins their rival just to beat them because it means that, all these years later, they still matter to him.
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