Best of the Knicks on WFAN: LeBron’s move to Philly revives an ancient Knicks rivalry

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
On Friday, I'm on the golf course, and all of a sudden, I get the alert that LeBron James is going to the Philadelphia 76ers. The three guys that I was playing with, I said, LeBron signed. Where do you think? And all three guys immediately said Miami. Just like we all thought it was going to be Miami, just because of history there, and because Giannis is there, and Pat Riley's there. And of course, as you pointed out, golf courses are everywhere there.
But nope, he decides, and I think for him, smartly, he decides to go to Philadelphia, better team, younger team. Doesn't have to do nearly as much.
A city that hasn't had a championship and wants one, and he has a chance to bring another team a championship. And they do have a good team. They do have a young, up-and-coming VJ Edgecombe. They have Tyrese Maxey. Of course, we all know about Jalen Brown going there. I think a lot of this has to do with Jalen Brown being there. I don't know about Joel Embiid. I don't know how he's gonna feel about it. You never know what the NBA egos and whether or not they can mesh and whether or not they can be unselfish, like the Knicks had turned in to be. But I think it's probably the best basketball decision for him.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:12)
Yeah, first of all, I was dead wrong on this. I could not have been more wrong. First, I thought he was going to retire and it really did sound like he was seriously considering it on his post on X. And then I thought there was no chance he was going to retire at Philadelphia 100% was going to be in a place. He could play golf all year round. But then if you think about it, his traveling is not like an everyday man's traveling. If he wants to go wherever he wants in the wintertime to go and play golf, he could do that if there's a couple of days in between games, whatever. So he will figure it out. He's also probably thinking I got the rest of my life to be able to do that. I've only got maybe one or two years left in the game of basketball. I think this is going to be a complete bust.
And the reasons why are I think that LeBron, he played great last year. But I mean, we're talking about another year of him at this age at a high level on a team that he has not played on with guys that he's not familiar with. So there's that, you know, keeping him healthy and spry and being a productive player is not a guarantee. Jalen Brown is someone who we have learned to be a selfish, sort of narcissistic, sensitive type superstar, who could very easily blow up at any moment. Now, especially that he had got what he wanted, he was out of there and now is going to be supposed to be the focal point. But now he's not the focal point anymore because LeBron James is there.

**Craig Carton** (2:37)
He's still going to be the focal point. I mean, LeBron, this whole thing comes down to LeBron selecting a roster that's not going to ask him to do that much. Now, when they get to the playoffs, that's going to be a whole different set of circumstances, of course. And assuming he makes it through the season 100% healthy, who knows what Joel Embiid is going to be and what he's going to do.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:58)
Well, it's going to be nothing. I mean, the guy's got degenerative knees. He's not going to be an impact player, Joel Embiid.

**Craig Carton** (3:04)
But I still think BJ Edgecomb, Tyrone Maxey and Tyrese Maxey and of course, Jalen Brown, they'll do all the heavy lifting. That's the whole thing. Like he doesn't have to go back to LA and be the guy that scores 40 points in a game in order for them to win. The question is, when you have a star like this come in, does everybody defer to him?
Is he upsetting anything that, but they don't know yet because they haven't played a game with Jalen Brown yet, so they have no idea how this is going to work. On paper, it looks fine. Everything looks great. But until you get out there and they start playing with each other and they start understanding each other's games, and whether or not they're going to all defer to him, that's the guy I would always worry about is the mental side of it. How you absorb such a huge star into an offense. Now, as you said, Jalen Brown is right in the middle of his prime. He's the guy.