Bonus Episode: LeBron James to Philadelphia 76ers

So let's start here on the basketball side of it with LeBron James.

I'm not gonna talk at all about kind of like the choice, the narrative, the, all these types of things.

I'm not gonna talk about those things.

I have those thoughts on Locked On NBA if you wanna go watch that show.

Um, I'll write about it at my substack.

You'll have that.

But, like, this show is about analysis, so we're gonna analyze it.

Um, let's talk about it from the perspective of the actual basketball side.

So it's a great fit.

It's an absolutely tremendous fit, and that's why LeBron James made it.

Like, very clearly, and he said this to Dave McMenamin, the choice was mostly about he wants to walk out with a title, and good for him.

Um, so instead of going for the narrative perspective, we kinda have to ask the question of, all right, is that accurate? Let's start there.

Uh, somebody suggested this is the best starting five in basketball, and when I really kinda thought about it, I was left to the fact of, yeah, probably.

Uh, the Knicks, I think, are the only other possibility there.

You know, Brunson, McHale, OG, Josh Hart, Cat.

Okay, that's a really good starting five.

If we kind of rank this as, all right, who's the best player on the New York Knicks? It's Jalen Brunson.

Who's the best player on the Philadelphia 76ers? I would say Tyrese Maxey.

I am okay if you say former MVP Joel Embiid, but the injuries and number of things I think have slid that.

I think it's Maxey, who I legitimately thought was in...

I had him, I-- he was in consideration for me for my fifth spot on All-NBA on my fictional ballot.

So I, if you really look at it last year, Maxey was that impactful, that good, that efficient.

He is that good.

He's that dude.

Um, would I say that he's better than Brunson after Brunson just won the title? I don't like to over-index on playoffs because it's a more complicated kind of dynamic.