Right around the time news broke that LeBron James had agreed to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, reports surfaced that his personal team had reached out to the New York Knicks to inquire about their interest in attaining his services.
Ultimately, the defending champions had a lack of interest in pursuing the 22-time All-Star, which, in turn, helped him make his ultimate decision to join the Sixers.
Funny enough, however, despite this rejection from the Knicks, it seems James is still hell-bent on setting up shop out in New York City. So much so, in fact, that ESPN's Brian Windhorst is reporting that it seems like he's going to be spending the majority of his time with the 76ers living in the Big Apple.
This news only further supports fellow NBA insider Marc Stein's claims that the proximity from Philly to NYC actually played a role in LeBron's decision to sign with the 76ers, even going as far as to say that living in the financial capital of the world has been a "longstanding itch" for the James family.
So even though he may not be gearing up to call Madison Square Garden home as a member of the Knicks, New York could very well prove to be his place of residence for his upcoming tenure with Philadelphia.
New York City isn't the only think Knicks have over 76ers
Not only do the Knicks have the better home city in the eyes of Philadelphia's new star forward, but they still hold the edge in the odds department for next season's title pursuit.
FanDuel gives the defending champs the top odds in the Eastern Conference to punch their ticket to the 2027 NBA Finals at plus-900, with the Sixers trailing right behind them at plus-1,000.
While there are quite a number of different factors that play into their trailing status, at the end of the day, it seems the biggest may very well be the fact that New York has already worked through the growing pains of being a newly assembled, star-studded force, whereas the Sixers still have their trial run awaiting them.
It took roughly a year and a half for the likes of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart to fully sync up as a unit. As we all know, their initial hardships proved well worth it in the end.
Now, it's Philadelphia's turn to try and get the most from their new-look starting five of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid to find their groove.
While they are clearly hoping it won't take as long as it did for New York to make it through to the other side, until they step into regular season action, the time in which it may take them to grow chemistry is merely theoretical.
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