Basketball fans will never know what the Philadelphia 76ers would have looked like with LeBron James and Ben Simmons. Many speculated that James might sign with the Sixers in the offseason, but instead, James chose the Los Angeles Lakers. That killed any hope of a potential James-Simmons pairing, but at the very least, fans get to see the pair team up in a pickup game via Chris Brickley's Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnZNhF5AslA/?hl=en&taken-by=cbrickley603
James and Simmons play with somewhat similar styles, so it would be interesting to see how the two coexist. There's no doubt that they would make it work, but they're both point forwards who know the best ways to get their teammates involved.
Defenses would have a hard time stopping two tall and athletic facilitators who seem to get to the rim whenever they want. Throw in Joel Embiid's presence in the post, and facing the Sixers would have been a nightmare for opposing coaches.
Unfortunately, we'll never know what that team could have done. Instead of playing with Simmons and Embiid, James is joining Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and Josh Hart. The Sixers' duo certainly looks formidable, but the Lakers have a handful of budding young superstars on the roster. Perhaps James can bring out the best in them and lead them to new heights.
Even better, there is now the potential for a Lakers-Sixers NBA Finals in the coming years. Philly will certainly contend for supremacy in the East for the next few years, and it's certainly never safe to count out LeBron come playoff time.
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