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Philadelphia 76ers: LeBron James continues to tease fans about almost joining team

By Dan Parzych

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 15: LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers attends a quarterfinal game of the 2018 NBA Summer League between the Lakers and the Detroit Pistons at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 15, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 15: LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers attends a quarterfinal game of the 2018 NBA Summer League between the Lakers and the Detroit Pistons at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 15, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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During his first interview since signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James discussed how serious he was about the possibility of joining the Philadelphia 76ers.

It seems like only yesterday the Philadelphia 76ers were considered a potential landing spot for LeBron James before the superstar made the decision to join the Los Angeles Lakers after spending the previous four seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

A year ago, just the thought of being in consideration to land James seemed like an absolute long shot for the Sixers when looking at all of the rebuilding the team had previously been going through. But after breaking out as a serious contender in the Eastern Conference last season, James coming to Philadelphia to compete for a championship seemed more realistic.

Missing out on James was a crushing blow at the time since the thought of him playing alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid sounded terrifying to just think about. And even though seeing him join the Lakers wasn’t really all that surprising, James recently discussed how serious he was about considering the Sixers in free agency.

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While discussing the opening of his new I Promise School in Akron with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, it was safe to assume that questions about James’ offseason were going to come up at some point, which was exactly the case.

Take a look at what James had to say when Nichols asked about his decision to join a team like the Lakers over other teams like the Sixers or Houston Rockets, both of which were in better shape to make a championship run.

"LJ: I definitely thought long and hard about the possibilities of lining up alongside Ben [Simmons] and [Joel] Embiid, or lining up alongside [James] Harden and Chris [Paul]. I just felt like at this point in my career, the ultimate for me — just like when I went to Miami, everyone kind of looks at me joining a superteam, but if people look at it, I think Miami was [47-35] the year before I joined that team and you can look at the Lakers’ record — so I like the challenge of being able to help a team get to some place they haven’t been in quite a while."

First off, it’s easy to understand why a player like James will enjoy a challenge like joining Los Angeles when considering he already has three championships to his name along with numerous MVP awards. Not to mention, James is always going to be in the conversation of the greatest players to ever step foot on the basketball court.

Still, just hearing James discuss how he thought long and hard about what it would be like to have young players on the rise like Simmons and Embiid as teammates is quite the tease for fans when looking at how this team would have hit a whole new level from a competitive standpoint.

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The one thing that stood out the most in that tough playoff series against the Boston Celtics was how much Philadelphia needed another superstar to compete with the best. And even though they missed out big-name players like James and Kawhi Leonard, the good news is the Sixers are still built well enough to make a serious run once again during the 2018-19 season.