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LeBron to 76ers is WILD | NBA Insider Reaction · Bleacher Report

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  Speaker 1: We have to go back to twenty eighteen because that
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: was when Lebron James first very seriously considered Philadelphia. And
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: we've been saying it on our Bleacher Report streams here,
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  Speaker 1: We've been writing it for weeks that it was undeniable
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  Speaker 1: that the Philadelphia seventy six Ers in twenty eighteen free
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  Speaker 1: agency was the one destination outside of Los Angeles that
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  Speaker 1: Lebron took free agent meetings from. That was a team
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  Speaker 1: at the time that was on the rise. You had
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  Speaker 1: a young Joel Embiid, and you had a Clutch Sports
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  Speaker 1: represented all star point guard in Ben Simmons, who Lebron
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  Speaker 1: had worked out with in Los Angeles they had shared
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  Speaker 1: a trainer with, and Chris Johnson. They of course shared
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  Speaker 1: representation at the time with Rich Paul and Sixers ownership
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  Speaker 1: Joshua Harris, David Blitzer. Brett Brown was the head coach
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  Speaker 1: at the time. Elton Brand was a primary focal point
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  Speaker 1: of Defernal at the time they took to the Skies.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: They flew to Los Angeles, where Lebron was taking his
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  Speaker 1: meetings and had already established an off season home, and
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  Speaker 1: they were the one team outside of the Lakers that
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Lebron actually considered, so he had had Philadelphia on his
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  Speaker 1: radar for eight years at this point, and you flash
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  Speaker 1: forward to now. Of course Ben Simmons is no longer
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  Speaker 1: in the picture, but another Clutch Sports represented all star
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: point guard, Tyrese Maxi has emerged in Philadelphia in the
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: aftermath of the Ben Simmons for James Harden exit stuff,
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  Speaker 1: and this new era has turned a new leaf in Philadelphia.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Maxie has cemented himself alongside with VJ. Edgecombe as the
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  Speaker 1: president and future of this franchise. And you know, from
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: my conversations with Wrich Paul to other dialogue with other
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: people around the league, Lebron has had and held a
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: strong affinity and as strong an affinity for anyone the
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  Speaker 1: league as Tyris Maxi. He's been a champion of his,
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  Speaker 1: a mentor of his. If you want to go back
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: and really kind of look through all the tea leaves,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Lebron or Rich Paull excuse me, starred Tyres Maxie's name
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: on the infamous whiteboard on his Game Over podcast. So
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: I think those factors his affinity for Tyros Maxi. Number one,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: the Jalen Brown trade number two, who again, Jalen Brown
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: finished top five in MVP voting last season. So you
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: add an MVP candidate to Joelle Embiid, who is an
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  Speaker 1: MVP Cali player when healthy with Maxi. And then Mike Ganzy,
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  Speaker 1: the new president of basketball operations in Philadelphia, who has
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  Speaker 1: Cleveland ties who overlap with Lebron and the Cavaliers organization
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  Speaker 1: who played basketball with him against him in high school
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  Speaker 1: in Ohio twenty some years ago, but still a connective fiber.
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  Speaker 1: His brother, Steve Gansey, if you have been following all
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  Speaker 1: the nitty gritty of all this stuff, put out a
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  Speaker 1: tweet that showed Gansey with his arm on Lebron's shoulder
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  Speaker 1: in a very cool high school all star photograph that
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  Speaker 1: I believe was in the Cleveland Plain Dealer back in
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  Speaker 1: two thousand and three. So all of that stuff helped
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  Speaker 1: lead Lebron to choosing Philadelphia with the notion also, as
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  Speaker 1: He's put out in a statement on Twitter today, it
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: was not going to be about money. So the fact
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  Speaker 1: that Philadelphia only had a veteran minimum salary to furnish
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  Speaker 1: him with was no issue, and that family was not
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: going to be a real deciding factor here. For a while,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors thought that their proximity to Los Angeles,
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  Speaker 1: to the big compound that Lebron has built in southern
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  Speaker 1: California was going to be an asset in their favor
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: and their willingness to allow him to take a private
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  Speaker 1: jet back home to La whenever he wanted to steal
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  Speaker 1: some time with his family in the middle of a
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  Speaker 1: road trip, in the middle of a home stand, and
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: on the way back from a road trip, if he
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: wanted to divert his course and stop in La before
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: going back to Golden State. That was something that if
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  Speaker 1: family and proximity to family was going to rule the day,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: that the Warriors thought was going to be very, very
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  Speaker 1: beneficial for him. But he said it in his statement
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  Speaker 1: on Twitter today that it's not about family, it's not
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  Speaker 1: about money. It's about trying to compete for a championship
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  Speaker 1: and slotting into Philadelphia as the fifth starter behind Tyres Maxi,
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  Speaker 1: vj Edgecombe, Jalen Brown, and Joel Embiid. You put Lebron
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  Speaker 1: James in at the four spot, and clearly the King
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: has spoken. He believes that that is a winning combination
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  Speaker 1: that is not only going to help put Philadelphia in
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  Speaker 1: position to to battle the reigning champion New York Knicks,
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  Speaker 1: their Atlantic Division rival New York Knicks, but a formortal
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  Speaker 1: lineup that should be able to compete against any challenger
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  Speaker 1: in the NBA, from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the
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  Speaker 1: San Antonio Spurs. So after three weeks, Lebron James has
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: officially declared his commitment to the Philadelphia seventy six Ers,
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  Speaker 1: a team that he has been eyeing since twenty eighteen,
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  Speaker 1: and now after our Jalen Brown trade, after Mike Ganzy's installation,
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  Speaker 1: he is officially going to join the Philadelphia seventy six
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  Speaker 1: Ers for his twenty fourth NBA season, this upcoming twenty
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  Speaker 1: six to twenty seven campaign, and it might not be
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  Speaker 1: his last, being that he has a player option for
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty seven twenty twenty eight. For now, we will
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: wait and see how all these remaining pieces on the
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: free end up unfolding. You know, Maria hazonia Is has
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: been the latest veteran for agent who was waiting for
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  Speaker 1: Lebron's decision. He's had interests from Golden State in Cleveland.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: Jonathan Aminga's had interests from Cleveland, and all these vet
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  Speaker 1: minimum guys who've been waiting for Miami's spending power to
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: be crystallized. Minnesota now it needs to make some work
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: on the power forward market. The free agent marketplace should
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: begin in earnest again now that Lebron James is off
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  Speaker 1: the board. So for the latest continuing developments on the
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: NBA free agent marketplace and the overall off season landscape,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: keep it locked right here on Bleacher Report for your
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: next NBA insider livestream notebook