OG Anunoby didn’t sound rattled by the idea of LeBron James in New York. If anything, he made it sound simple: if James wanted to be a Knick, that would have been fine.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Anunoby was asked whether he would have welcomed the 41-year-old if the chance had actually come together. His answer was direct.
“I mean, if he wanted to join the team, then he could join,” Anunoby said. “I mean, but he could do whatever he wanted to.
I mean, yeah, he’s earned the right to choose his destination. He’s a legendary player.
So if he would have wanted to come here, it’d have been fun, I think.”
That possibility never materialized. LeBron James ended up signing with the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason, landing on a two-year, $8 million deal after Rich Paul said his client would have gone to the Knicks if they had not won the NBA championship in 2026. Paul added that they respected what New York had built and did not want to disrupt it.
The Knicks also weren’t in a position to treat James like an ordinary free-agent target. Paul said Jalen Brunson would have needed to be the one to say he was fine with James coming to New York, because this is Brunson’s team and city.
Brunson, though, made it clear he was leaving that conversation to the front office. So the phone call never came.
James, who remains one of the sport’s defining stars, still produced at a high level for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2025-26, averaging 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game. The 22-time All-Star would have given the Knicks another massive name and a major on-court presence, but he wound up elsewhere.
Philadelphia’s new-look group now includes James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey, and that makes the 76ers one of the Knicks’ biggest threats in the Eastern Conference. That matchup is going to be under a microscope for a while.
It starts right away on opening night, when the Knicks host the 76ers. Anunoby was asked about that Oct. 20 and sounded genuinely ready for it.
“Yeah, I mean, we played them in the playoffs last two out of the three years or whatever, but they’re a great team,” Anunoby said. “Very talented, well coached.
Nick Nurse is a great coach. So it’ll be exciting.
And it’s always fun playing them.”
The Knicks have had the better of Philadelphia lately, beating the 76ers in six games in the first round in 2024 and then sweeping them in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2026. But this version of the matchup looks very different.
Anunoby will be right in the middle of it. The 29-year-old remains one of the league’s best two-way wings, and he put up 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game in 2025-26. He also raised his level in the playoffs and delivered that clutch tip-in in Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, a moment that helped seal the greatest comeback in Finals history and all but secured the Knicks’ 53-year title drought coming to an end.
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For the 76ers, it is a strange little reminder that a players transition is never just about learning a new system or finding a new role. Caldwell-Pope arrived with a fresh opportunity and, in the process, a chance to reset after reuniting with LeBron James elsewhere on the basketball calendar. Instead, his first chapter in Philadelphia has already included an unexpected setback at home, and now the only real question is how quickly life settles down enough for the basketball part to feel normal. [Read more 🡒]