LeBron's Ring-Chase to Philly EXPOSED: Is He Really the Sixers' Savior or Just Padding His Legacy?

The Shot Clock Pod July 27 2026 === ​[00:00:00] JoseSalviati: All right, it's time to talk basketball, and there's a lot of basketball to talk about. I'm Jose Salviati, editor at thePeachBasket.net. He is Steve Purciello, host of Celtic Chalk Talk, a longtime educator, vice principal, high school basketball coach, and athletic director. And this is the Shot Clock Pod. The Shot Clock Pod was born out of content in Steve's 13 Rules, random NBA thoughts articles which he publishes weekly. Steve and I have exactly 24 minutes to discuss what's on his mind around the NBA. Today, we'll discuss a, a theme that he started a couple weeks back, and that is the changing landscape of the NBA. We discussed the East over the last couple of weeks, and this week we're gonna start talking about the changing landscape in the West. We're also gonna talk a little bit about LeBron, who's no longer in the West, but that was the biggest shoe to drop this week, so we can't not talk about it. But we wanted to let you know, of course, if you're listening to this, thank you. This is one of the independent fan-driven shows on the Peach Basket Podcast Network. We're not owned by a big media company, [00:01:00] which means what you hear comes straight from real fans who live the game every day, just like Steve and I do. If you believe voices like this should be heard, the best way to support is simple. Keep listening, tell a friend, like, comment, subscribe. It all means the world. And of course, when this episode ends, head over to the Peach Basket Podcast Network. Head over to thePeachBasket.net. Check out more fan-run podcasts and help this independent network grow the way it started, organically, one hoops fan just like you at a time. We're grateful that you are here. All right. Let's talk about the West. Steve, are you ready? Hey, clock is ticking. All right, now, as we said, the first thing we wanna talk about is not necessarily the West, but LeBron's final destination. Now, you wrote quite a bit about that, and we've talked about LeBron a lot in the time we've been doing this show. And you called LeBron's decision, which shocked a lot of people. I know it shocked you. You called it a ring-chasing decision. Now, I wanna [00:02:00] ask you something and I mean this sincerely. Isn't the intent of everybody who signs an NBA contract to win a ring? That's the goal of every franchise. That's the goal of every player. When you're outside hooping, y- you're, you don't have the ball and countdown, "Three, two, one." He won the division. You play to win a championship. Why is it wrong for LeBron to Make this decision for the best team? StevePurciello: about it. He's 40-something years old. He's JoseSalviati: right StevePurciello: He's statistically, he's the greatest player ever. He's one of the greats, of course. The big knock on him is he only has four titles. Jordan had six, Bill Russell had 11 Sam Jones had a bunch. There's... All these guys had more. Not get another title? But here's the rub. When Bill Russell won them or Jordan won them, they were the best player on their team [00:03:00] Is LeBron JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: player on Philly? No. So to me, what's he doing? So he can now, if he can win a title or two, he can walk and say, "I've got as many titles as Jordan or whoever, so how could he be be- whatever, because I've broken every JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: And it just gets ridiculous. He is he's a great player. There's no doubt. But what he's done i- is really taught other players to look around the league, see who the best team is. "Let me go to that team," when they're free agents, if they can. and what that does, it ruins the league. It really does. It's great that players have the autonomy. I'm not against free agency or any of that, but it just it just changes everything i- in the league. And the worst thing was we waited weeks for LeBron's big decision. Everybody JoseSalviati: Right StevePurciello: Come on, he's a 40-something-year-old man. Just okay, good luck[00:04:00] JoseSalviati: All right. L- and I'm gonna, I'm gonna stay on this devil's advocate run because I think it's interesting and, a- and fascinating. We'll probably never see another player like LeBron James again. But can't, isn't it fair to say LeBron's earned the right to do this? He's he, like you said, statistically the best player in the game, more points than anybody, more seasons played than anybody who's on the way. He's earned this. I- what's wrong with him doing this at this point? It's not Kawhi Leonard could do this necessarily. It's LeBron James. Hasn't he earned that right? StevePurciello: of course he did. Of course, he has every right. But don't you think that he shows a little bit about himself a situation like that? Going home to Cleveland would've been the nice JoseSalviati: Yeah. StevePurciello: Going back to JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: would've been wonderful because Riley and him, and they'd be back together and, amend the bad feelings at the... when he left. Going to Golden State would've been pure fun because it would've been a bunch of older guys [00:05:00] playing, and who JoseSalviati: Undeniable. StevePurciello: there. That would've all been fun. He has absolutely no affiliation with Philly, except they did get JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: they have Maxie, and they have Edgecombe and if Embiid's healthy, they've got a pretty good team. So that's the only affiliation, and come on. And it tells you a lot about his mind or how he looks at things. No sentimentality. It's all about, it's a very s- honestly, a very selfish mind. "Let me win another title. I wanna be what Jordan or Kobe did so I can say I won, these titles. Not only did I have the best statistics." Just remember, he's still not the best player on the team anymore. So now he's chasing, he's not leading I'm disappointed JoseSalviati: So much... Yeah, all right. No, I get it, and it and it's coming through. I do think that... and I'm not reading into this. I think LeBron and his team have said this is, have said this. The Sixers were chosen for a couple different reasons. Number [00:06:00] one, because it was a good fit, right? When you look at that starting lineup, LeBron fit really well into it. But the other one, and I think this is interesting you remember, where LeBron's team said before, if the Knicks hadn't won the championship, he'd be a Knick, right? Because, and when he was, when it came down to where he made his decision to come to LA, it was between the LA and the New York Knicks, 'cause he wanted a, an opportunity to play at the Garden and to say, "I was the guy who brought them their first championship since 1970," or whatever. The Sixers haven't won since 1983. So I think it was a two-fold thing. And I think, again, LeBron and his camp have been real clear about that. It's a great fit, it's a great starting lineup, and if LeBron, and to your point, it wouldn't be LeBron necessarily that, that got him this championship. But if they win it, LeBron's gonna get credited for being the piece that got them over the hump, the first championship since 1983. And I think that's what LeBron's chasing. More than that title is the fact to say, "Listen I brought this a championship when they [00:07:00] couldn't." StevePurciello: LeBron likes to be out front and get all the credit? agree. I agree totally. JoseSalviati: Okay. StevePurciello: I ta- JoseSalviati: Okay StevePurciello: this, this move reminds me, and now I'm gonna use my being old. In 1968, the Lakers traded for a guy by the name of Wilt Chamberlain, and they put him with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. And they thought that was a title. JoseSalviati: They won a championship StevePurciello: a title. No, they didn't the first year. they lost in the playoffs to a better... Not a JoseSalviati: Thank you. StevePurciello: The Lakers were the better JoseSalviati: Right StevePurciello: but you know what? There was a lot, at that time, there was a little bit of disharmony between Wilt and West and they learned to get along, but they didn't win it. They lost in the finals to the Celtics. And this, don't give the trophy to the Sixers yet. And I wouldn't wanna be Mr. Nurse because got a lot of problems there. Who's gonna be the defender? Who's gonna go out and guard other team's best player and not get the ballers off? You [00:08:00] only got one basketball. Who's gonna pr- i- is Embiid gonna be happy protecting the rim, which he's still struggling jumping because of his knees. is he gonna be JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: his primary role is to rebound? Okay, if they can fit and find those roles for each, obviously Jaylen Brown becomes the defender because Maxi's not a great defender and Edgecombe's just learning. So w- we're, what... are these people, is Jaylen Brown, last year it was his show in Boston, now he's gonna become a defender? This Isn't gonna be, going to be easy. And Nur- Nick Nurse has got some tough issues he's gotta get through. And JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: he doesn't know who's what and where. And don't forget, LeBron was great defensively in his day. He not that good anymore defensively. who where are you gonna do this? And it's gonna be interesting to see if the players, if they accept roles that are given by Nick [00:09:00] Nurse, they'll be fine. I don't JoseSalviati: Yeah. StevePurciello: A lot of them, every one of them JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: star, and now they're, they're not. So it's gonna be-- don't sell the championship or don't give them the title yet. Yeah, they have the most talent in the league, but that, that doesn't always win. You need two, two or three role players on a team, and the Sixers just really don't have that. JoseSalviati: Yeah. StevePurciello: way, that's a recipe JoseSalviati: So you are StevePurciello: Nurse. if it doesn't work, he'll be on the unemployment line JoseSalviati: See, that's, that, that's not right, but you're, it's correct. StevePurciello: Yeah. Yeah JoseSalviati: not right. Now you hearken back to the Celtics of the 1960s. I'm gonna hearken back to the Lakers of the early 2000s. They built a g- they built StevePurciello: I knew JoseSalviati: a dream team. StevePurciello: go back to the Lakers, but go ahead. JoseSalviati: you went back to the Celtics. It just seems... Fair play. StevePurciello: not. But go ahead JoseSalviati: It's fair play. But the early 2000 Lakers built a dream team just like this. They had the, the [00:10:00] greatest center of his era in Shaquille O'Neal. They had this up-and-coming stud in Kobe Bryant. And then they added, they needed a point guard. They got one of the best in Gary Payton. They needed a power forward. They got one of the best in Karl Malone. They built a great team. And they started 28 and 3 or some ridiculous number, if I'm not mistaken. And they made it to the finals, and just like the Lakers of Wilt that you called out, they lost in that finals and that was it, 'cause it, it was a one-and-done for that team. And I'm kinda seeing the same kind of vibes here, if you will, with the Sixers. They built a great starting lineup. I think if they all buy in, just like you said, it's gonna be important. I remember Gary Payton famously said, "You guys have all scored 20 points in your career. How you... There's only one basketball." Gary Payton said, "Why can't we all score 20 points?" And they kinda almost did. They figured it out. I think the Sixers are gonna be okay. I think they're gonna get off to a great start. But it's a long season, and I they're gonna make some noise. They might make it to the Eastern Conference Final. Obviously, there's a lot between [00:11:00] now and then, but winning it all I, I just don't know. Before we move on from this, 'cause we've spent a lot of time talking about this already, but you hit, you talked about the teams that he spurned, right? Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors. You could even throw in the Minnesota Timberwolves, which apparently had, they were in play. Of those let's call them those four teams, which one is the worst off for LeBron spurning them? Which one do you think? StevePurciello: between the Heat and Golden State. JoseSalviati: Okay StevePurciello: Golden State, they were saying the, the old gang will ride again. JoseSalviati: Would've been cool. Would've been cool StevePurciello: players. They, they have, have a real problem. I wanted to point out one other thing too, though. LeBron, and he's from what I'm reading or whatever, he's talking about this is my last contract or last time. People don't realize JoseSalviati: Right StevePurciello: he's got an opt- his option at the end of the year. It's a two-year contract, but after the first JoseSalviati: New year. Yeah StevePurciello: out. So [00:12:00] don't fall for all the, "This is my last big decision," 'cause we might be doing this again next summer. If, let me just say, Philadelphia, JoseSalviati: you StevePurciello: struggles and they don't do well, LeBron might, get the weather vane out and see where it's pointing and who's got the best team, and he might try this again. So let's not say, "Oh, that's his last time. Oh my God." No, he, I am sure that he enjoyed this summer putting everybody... Everything stopped around him. JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: himself the chosen one for no other reason. This is him and we've gotta deal with this as an NBA fan JoseSalviati: Okay. All right. LeBron fans, it's Steve Purciello. P-U-R-C-I-E-L-L-O, just so it's clear. StevePurciello: CIA. JoseSalviati: go. Ah, darn it. All right. I w- I was trying to save you some hate mail, but, StevePurciello: care. JoseSalviati: all right. StevePurciello: I think a lot of people, I think a lot of [00:13:00] people see it the same way as I do. I, I heard, I don't remember, somebody saying that he's chasing a ring. It may- might've been Steven A. or one of them people. But someone else, a couple people have said that it seems like he's JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: a ring. It wasn't-- I'm not original in my thoughts. I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed, JoseSalviati: Now, StevePurciello: but JoseSalviati: yeah, I get it. I think if nothing else, the Sixers are gonna be must-watch TV for sure. They're gonna have, they're gonna have a Christmas game to be sure, and we- it'll be very interesting to see how things play out. But there's more. Oh, go ahead. StevePurciello: I envision them playing either opening night or the Christmas. One JoseSalviati: sure StevePurciello: and one will be the Knicks. JoseSalviati: Sure. Oh my gosh, StevePurciello: way... JoseSalviati: excited. StevePurciello: whichever way, 'cause the JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: back in Boston is a nice story. Or JoseSalviati: Sure, sure StevePurciello: Celtics would, [00:14:00] that's a, a story. And then you go to JoseSalviati: Sure StevePurciello: The Knicks are the, the champs, and y- now you got JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: team that's, competing. And that would be... If that's a Christmas game, that would be a highlight game at whatever prime time would be. Because, JoseSalviati: 100%. StevePurciello: There's a lot, especially in the NBA Smart, they'll hold off the Knicks playing Philadelphia until Tha- Christmas night, or Boston playing JoseSalviati: Yeah. StevePurciello: till Christmas night, It draws more JoseSalviati: Yeah, no doubt NBA schedule company or algorithm or whatever does it now is having a field day with all the possibilities. It's gonna be interesting. Now, at the risk of making this a LeBron only show, let's keep going 'cause more went on. There was so much more to talk about. I know we're not gonna get through all of it today. Let's go th- at least one more. The San Antonio Spurs came this close. Y- and I wanna really clarify that statement. They literally came this close. The difference between the Knicks and the Spurs were just a couple of points. [00:15:00] The Spurs needed a closer. They didn't have it. They thought they had it in De'Aaron Fox, they didn't. So they went out and they got Tobias Harris. Is that enough? Wemby took less, right? With, thinking in the future, we're gonna need to retain Cassell, we're gonna need to retain Harper, which is great. But did the Spurs do enough, do you think? Does it... Are they the favorite in the West? I don't know. What do you think? StevePurciello: I think they're the favorites and let me ask you this. Has Dylan Ha- Harper played the best basketball of his career? Has Stefan JoseSalviati: No. StevePurciello: played the best basketball of his career? Has Juan JoseSalviati: I got you. StevePurciello: played the best basketball of his career? They're gonna get JoseSalviati: Great point. StevePurciello: and now they've got The... What they needed would be the veteran who can calm the mess down when things are JoseSalviati: Yeah StevePurciello: Think back to the Knick playoff series. The difference in the series was the Knicks were able to close the game out. JoseSalviati: 100%. Yeah StevePurciello: that, A, experience for San Antonio plus Tobias [00:16:00] Harris should be enough to compete for anything, as long as they stay healthy JoseSalviati: I think you're higher on Tobi- and I like Tobias Harris. He had a, some great years here with the Clippers. I followed his career certainly when he was here. I like him. He's a vet, but I... He's not the kinda guy that I think of that I want the... you don't want the ball in his hands at the end, and that's what the Spurs needed, somebody who'll be, like you said, who's gonna calm things down, have the ball in his hands, and make the right decision. That's not Tobias Harris. StevePurciello: Cu- JoseSalviati: more on... StevePurciello: after Cade JoseSalviati: go StevePurciello: Cunningham, who was the clutch player on Detroit and who got the ball down JoseSalviati: Vice chairs? StevePurciello: yeah? And he did well. JoseSalviati: Okay. Okay. Okay StevePurciello: you know what? And Cade Cunningham's great, but they didn't have a lot else. San Antonio's got a lot else to play. So I think it's a good move, and I also more importantly think that those three guys I just mentioned are going to get better. And De'Aaron [00:17:00] Fox is a good basketball player. He can't play as poorly as he played in that series. I don't think it's possible. JoseSalviati: Yeah. StevePurciello: now you start JoseSalviati: Okay StevePurciello: it, and Keldon Johnson didn't play well, and he's a good player. So you start thinking about it and say, "You know what? This team's just gonna get better in the future." And I think anybody who before the year said San Antonio would get to the finals, no, they're not ready yet. That's how I felt. they were, JoseSalviati: Sure StevePurciello: they just touched on it. I'll give you a parallel. It's baseball parallel. In '96, the Yankees went to the World Series, and they beat the Braves after falling behind two-nothing at losing two games at home. Nobody thought that team was at their peak or really good, they managed to win the World Series. But not only that, though, their best years came after. and that's what I'm saying with San Antonio. Nobody thought San Antonio would be here, but they did. And their best [00:18:00] years, barring injury will come in the future. by the way, next year is not even their peak year. It's not for another two, three years JoseSalviati: That's wild. Yeah. Y- you're talking about a team that just made it to the finals, a- and they're still two, three years from their peak. StevePurciello: yeah JoseSalviati: That's scary. That's scary if you're in the West. All right let's talk about the team that was there a couple years back, and that's the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now they won it. They, we knew they were just gonna get better. But now things are starting to kinda, I don't wanna say crumble, but parts are dropping right off of the Thunder and you called this out. You said the Oklahoma City Thunder are this year's victim of the dreaded second apron. They lost some peripheral players. And I don't mean that disrespectfully. They're peripheral players, but you need these peripheral players to win it all. Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe, great shooter, Lu Dort, great defender, and a, a personality dude. This is a guy who kinda sets the [00:19:00] tone for your team. They're gone, and they made a difference. What do you make of the Oklahoma City Thunder? Are they... They should be reaching their peak right about now. I- is it crumbling in Oklahoma? StevePurciello: something to think about. Boston traded Jaylen Brown this year. Why? Because I, I believe the thought would be that you can't win with two max players and then fielding a roster around them. How many just about max players does Oklahoma have? Three, or they will as it kicks in. So that leaves you very little money for the rest of your team. That I think, and Oklahoma's made the commitment to keep those three guys, and that's great. However, what... You're gonna have to get rid of a lot of your bench and one of the strengths of O- OKC was they had a million guys that can play, and they just lost a couple. Joe's a [00:20:00] really good shooter. They lost him. JoseSalviati: Yeah. StevePurciello: a great guy to bring off the bench to change things, and they do have some young players k- like AJ Mitchell, who don't doesn't get paid a lot of money. But it's still what happened with that NBA that CBA, the, the agreement they made, e- every year something like this is going to happen. That's not fun. Lu Dort, his career was made at Oklahoma, obviously. They had to get rid of him. I'm sure they didn't want to. those people who are looking at this, just be ready. In a year, Brunson's gonna get big money. Big money because he took a, a cut basically to put this team together. His turn's coming. Karl-Anthony Towns, unless Karl-Anthony Towns says, "I'll be the hero and take very little, less money," the Knicks are gonna be in the second apron. They just signed Bridges, they just signed to good contracts. They're [00:21:00] gonna be the next team, "Okay, who do we get rid of?" And it's just not right. It's not right for the game. Towns came from somewhere else, so did Brunson. But, they become Knicks, and that's what they'll be remembered as, Knicks. And if you have to deal Not right. It's like the Jaylen Brown thing, and it's like what Oklahoma's trying to do. And it's just not right. That CBA, the owners like it because it k- keeps the, the spending down. But the fans have to hate it. Y- you're taking JoseSalviati: Yeah. StevePurciello: from teams. And I would think Philadelphia's gonna go through the same thing in a year or two. Brown, they're gonna have to make a decision in two years on, or next year, probably next summer, they're gonna have to make a decis- Th- there's so much going on here that it's just not good JoseSalviati: We talk a lot about the CBA and, the fact that we're stuck with it I think through '28 or '29, something like that, so nothing, n- no change imminent. But I'm thinking now- Do you need... How many [00:22:00] players, how many great players do you need to win it all, right? Do you need one? Do you need two? Do you need three, right? You just said that the Thunder had committed to three really good players. That should be enough. If you get three all-stars, three studs, and you fill them with some minimum, which is what the CBA is forcing you to do, minimum salary guys, that should be enough StevePurciello: I don't JoseSalviati: it... StevePurciello: I think what Oklahoma is banking on, and they have a bunch of draft picks in the future. What they're banking on is keeping these three guys, and as guys get more money, make more money, get 'em out. And keep these three-- and work around those three guys with your JoseSalviati: Yeah. StevePurciello: and with your young people. That might be the only way. And they're smart enough, like I said, to have a lot of draft picks. Generally, when a team rises to the level of their level, you have-- you, you've traded draft picks, you've traded everything to get there, and you don't have that anymore. The Oklahoma's a, a different story, and I think that's their [00:23:00] on why you can pay three guys. Do you need three stars? No. I think Boston won with two. I think Denver won with two. I... so I think it can be done JoseSalviati: Right StevePurciello: if you get the right people around them. And you-- and they'll JoseSalviati: Is Jamal Murray a star? StevePurciello: I think Murray was a JoseSalviati: Is Jamal Murray a star? StevePurciello: think he was a real good player. I think he, for them, him-- the pick and roll, him and Jokic was impossible to stop. So I think, yeah. Yeah. And he could score and then they... Around, Gordon played a great role. The players around him w- would, did well. In fact, Gordon has priced himself. making big money, and he's not a star, but he's a good role, great role player JoseSalviati: Yeah. Yeah, we talked a lot about how hard the GM job is for sure. And yeah, you're right. You don't need two, you could win with two. You could win with win-- I, I will say, Jamal Murray is not necessarily a, a 1A. He's a one and a half. [00:24:00] So the Denver Nuggets proved they could win with one and a half. It's all about getting lucky. It's all about building the right team. It's all about staying healthy. But the Thunder have, we, we should call them the big three. It's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. StevePurciello: there's an interesting-- Let me just... There's an interesting situation building in New York and it's early. But Jim Dolan, the owner, has already said he doesn't wanna go into the second apron. The Celtics took a shot, went in the second apron with the same team that they won the title with. They didn't win it. They got beat by the Knicks in the playoffs. And then they... Look, if we're not gonna have a shot at winning, we're gonna-- we're going to get rid of people. If Dolan is saying that now, the Knicks won't even take a shot for a year by going into that second apron, so that means he's going to have to begin to get rid of some players. lost Mitchell Robinson this year. That's a big loss. He's gonna have trouble getting... he's got [00:25:00] Drummond, which, he's a, a good backup, but he's not Mitchell Robinson. Robinson got the Knicks more possessions on his rebounding, his offensive rebounding particularly. So that's where we're going here and it might be the Knicks now, and in a couple years San Antonio will be, in the barrel when Dylan Harper's contract comes up. And, don't forget, Tiara Fox is gonna be making sixty million. So start doing the math and unless ownership commits on going into the second apron a year, th-this is-- it, it's just gonna continue to happen. And I guess the goal would be for the NBA, one title, you don't win two in a row JoseSalviati: Yeah and I do kinda think that is the, the goal and mission accomplished, right? We haven't had a repeat champion in a very long time. You heard the buzzer go off. That's it. We've got so much more to talk about but we're gonna come back to it. We're gonna talk about the Lakers. They're a different team, but are they a better team? We're gonna talk about the Wolves. We're gonna talk about the Nuggets. [00:26:00] Thought we hinted about that a little bit. We're gonna talk about the Rockets, we're gonna talk about the Suns, we're gonna talk about the Blazers. Lot more to talk about in the West. It's been a really busy off-season and i- it's gonna be really interesting. Lots to talk about, so join us next week when we do all of that, talk about all of those teams. Oh, and I left out the Warriors too. We're gonna talk about the Warriors. But you heard the shot clock go off. Our time is up. As always, thank you for watching. Thanks for listening. Make sure to listen or rather to read this entire 13 Rules NBA Thoughts article. We'll link it wherever you're watching or listening to the show today. Matter of fact, take a read at that. Take a read at that? I don't know if I like the wording. Read that before you come back next week and you'll be ready for the conversation, and of course, join us then when we talk about the rest of the the changing landscape in the Western Conference. Steve, we'll talk next week. Thank you. StevePurciello: care