The Philadelphia 76ers are considered one of the favorites to sign LeBron James this summer because of the solid young core they have in place, but one of the greatest players in franchise history insists the fit is not a good one.
In an appearance on “The Mike Missanelli Show” on 97.5 The Fanatic Tuesday, Barkley emphatically stated that LeBron is not going to sign with the Sixers.
“He’s not coming to the Sixers,” the Hall of Famer said, as transcribed by Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “He’s not coming to the Sixers because he needs the ball, (Ben) Simmons needs the ball and (Joel) Embiid needs the ball. That would make Simmons useless.”
The “not enough basketballs to go around” argument seems to come up a lot with LeBron, and it should probably be noted that he’s one of the better passers in NBA. Still, Barkley feels that LeBron’s need to control the floor and have a team’s offense run through him would not work in Philly.
“He’s not going to give the ball up at this stage of his career,” Barkley said. “He’s not a great shooter, so you can’t play him off the ball. I guarantee you [defenders] would let him shoot threes all night. Guys would love him to shoot threes. … It would hurt Embiid and Simmons going forward.”
For what it’s worth, Barkley said he is not going to let LeBron “hijack my life” by sitting around all summer waiting to see which team he will choose next. Many people who claim they feel the same way will still be tuning in to find out the result.
If not having enough balls to go around ends up being the issue, that’s another reason we can rule out one Western Conference team everyone keeps linking LeBron to. LeBron’s decision will come down to what he wants at this point in his career. If championships are the only priority, it makes sense to remain in the Eastern Conference, where the path to the NBA Finals is much easier.
