LeBron James says his flirtation with the Knicks ended the moment New York finished the job.
James, who joined the Philadelphia 76ers for what is being described as his final NBA team, said Monday that he had once imagined himself in a Knicks uniform. The idea had real appeal, too, especially with Madison Square Garden in the picture.
“I had visions of playing in the Garden and finishing my career in the Garden,” James said, via ESPN's Dave McMenamin. “I think it's the No. 1 arena in the world, as far as for a basketball player.
But after they beat San Antonio, I was like, 'Hey, I can't.' … I couldn't.”
The turning point, according to McMenamin, was the optics. James believed the reaction would have been brutal if he had signed with a team that had just won the NBA title over the San Antonio Spurs in June. As McMenamin relayed, James felt, “Y'all wouldn't have let me lay that down, at all.”
That explanation makes plenty of sense. James would have walked into a situation where the pressure was already sky-high and the criticism would have come fast if he were seen as taking the shortcut of joining the reigning champions.
Philadelphia, at least for now, offers a different kind of landing spot. It doesn’t come with the same title-winning baggage New York would have carried after June, and that likely mattered as much as anything in James’ decision.
For Knicks fans, the dream never got past the idea stage. And if James is being honest, the price of that dream would have been giving up the banner for a season or two - a deal most in New York probably wouldn’t have signed off on anyway.
The Sixers will get their first crack at the season on Oct. 20, when they open at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.
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