The 76ers may have stumbled onto an extra selling point in the LeBron James sweepstakes, and it has nothing to do with cap space or fit.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported earlier this week that every team involved in the chase for James has made a pitch to his agent, Rich Paul. Philadelphia is already known to have been aggressive in that process. But on the latest episode of The Hoop Collective, Brian Windhorst floated something that could quietly work in the Sixers’ favor: Boston.
Windhorst joked while thinking aloud about whether the Celtics had reached out, then made it clear he doesn’t see James as a Boston fan.
"I should find out if Boston did [reach out]. I think Boston would rank 30th on his list.
I really, honestly do. He hates Boston," Windhorst said.
If that’s even close to true, it gives Philadelphia another angle in a race that already includes the Golden State Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat. The Celtics aren’t just another name on the schedule for the Sixers - they’re a division rival. That matters, especially with Celtics-Sixers set to carry more weight in 2026-2027 after the recent blockbuster.
That trade sent Jaylen Brown out of Boston after the best season of his career. With Jayson Tatum missing most of the 2025-2026 NBA season, Brown helped make the “Celtics are in a gap year” talk look ridiculous. Then came the payoff: Boston shipped him to a division rival for Paul George and draft compensation without warning.
Brown will have plenty of reason to circle those matchups next season. If James really does carry the kind of dislike for the Celtics Windhorst described, that only adds another layer for Philadelphia.
James has been in the NBA since 2003 and has spent most of his career in the East, so he’s seen Boston a lot. He’s 34-28 against the Celtics overall.
The Sixers, meanwhile, have had some recent success against Boston in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, even though the Joel Embiid era has been rough against the Celtics for the most part.
For now, the LeBron picture remains crowded and unsettled. The Warriors looked like the early favorite when free agency opened, then the Cavaliers and Heat jumped in, and Philadelphia entered the mix soon after. Right now, those four teams are the ones most often connected to James.
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