LeBron James will reportedly live in NYC while playing for Philly. He wouldn’t be the first Sixer to do it.
Will LeBron James take a helicopter from NYC to Philly to play for the Sixers? We don't know yet, but he wouldn't be the first Sixers player to make the commute.
LeBron James is bringing his talents to the City of Brotherly Love after signing with the Sixers on a two-year, $8 million contract, making Philly the King’s new home — kind of.
On Monday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said the 22-time NBA All-Star could potentially live part time in New York.
“This whole thing is outrageous, and I don’t say that critically, I say that just from a fascinating situation,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s Get Up. “This a one-off moment in the history of the league. We’ve never seen a player ever say the following things, ‘I don’t care about money, I don’t care about my family.’
“He doesn’t even that much apparently care about the city because he doesn’t seem like he’s going to be living in Philadelphia full time, it seems like he’s going to live at least part time in New York. So, this is a — I don’t even know how to frame it because it’s really truly unbelievable.”
ESPN’s Shams Charania first mentioned James making the commute to Philadelphia from New York via helicopter on The Pat McAfee show on Friday after James’ decision.
“The last step for him was just making sure his family was on board,” Shams said. “Savannah, his wife, lives in L.A. with his young daughter, Zhuri. Bronny also plays right now with the Lakers in L.A. Bryce, his youngest son, is in Arizona.
“So, he’s going all the way to the other side of the coast. And we’ll see, will he live in Philly, will he live in Jersey, will he live in New York, will he take a chopper back and forth? We don’t know those answers yet. But, we do know he’s going to the East Coast now and that’s a big lifestyle change for LeBron James at this age of his career. And he made it very clear that it wasn’t going to be about money. And at the end of the day, it’s not.”
James wouldn’t be the first Sixers player to make the commute from New York. His former coach J.J. Redick made the commute from his family’s home in Brooklyn to Philly during his time with the Sixers (2017-19).
And NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain primarily lived in New York during the season while regularly traveling back and forth to play with Philly while owning a night club in Harlem — giving James and Chamberlain, both four-time MVPs, even more in common.
In his book, Wilt: Just like any other 7-foot black millionaire who lives next door, Chamberlain mentioned how the media resented him for living in New York.
“I had missed one practice that week—just one—because I had the flu, and the press had played it up big,” Chamberlain wrote. “They had always resented my living in New York, first with the Warriors and now with the 76ers; they thought it was an insult to Philadelphia (which, I guess, it was—a richly deserved insult), and when the sportswriters had asked Dolph [Schayes] where I was that day I was sick, he had mishandled the situation, as usual.
“I had called and told him I was sick, but he just shrugged at the reporters, and said, ‘Who knows?’ The press had a field day with that—another example of the double standard I’d always been subjected to. Bill Russell missed more practices than I ever dreamed of missing, but no one ever criticized him for it; Tom Gola had lived in New York before I even joined the Warriors, but no one ever accused him of insulting Philadelphia.”
The decision to live in New York has already ruffled some feathers for James.
“This guy is so disgusted by the city of Philadelphia that he’s commuting in from Manhattan,” said Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy. “To quote Dick Vitale ‘Are you serious?’ ... This is the biggest spit in the face to any city I’ve ever seen. ...This is a dark day for Philadelphia and I’m outraged.”
Although James could potentially be living in the city of the New York Knicks, the team that bounced the Sixers out of the playoffs, Sixers fans should at least be happy he didn’t choose to live in this house.
The Moorestown house formerly belonged to two Philadelphia sports stars: Ben Simmons and Nick Castellanos. And we all know how that worked out.
