I am fortunate enough to have attended some of the greatest sporting events in Philadelphia’s history, from Game 5 of the 2008 World Series to the 2017 NFC Championship Game. Those are iconic for what
they meant to the city’s sports landscape, but the downright coolest game I ever attended is a little less known.
During the 2011 NBA lockout, LeBron James descended upon Philly’s hallowed basketball cathedral, the Palestra for a pickup game. In a “Team Melo” vs. “Team Philly” matchup with LeBron suiting up for the former squad, I was fortunate enough to see the greatest basketball player of the 21st century with just roughly 9,000 other people in that sweat-inducing arena. It was glorious. LeBron would go on to win his first NBA title nine months later and his legacy has only continued to grow from there.
Fast forward almost 15 years later and LeBron is still doing it.
On Sunday evening, he had an archetypal prime LeBron stat line of 29-7-6 in a Lakers win in South Philadelphia that included a game-sealing jumper with under 30 seconds on the clock to help secure the Los Angeles victory. LeBron has been at it so long that he beat the Sixers in their early 2000s throwbacks after playing against the franchise when they were originally wearing them two-plus decades ago.
LeBron hasn’t made any official retirement plans, but it’s fair to wonder a few weeks before his 41st birthday in the middle of his 23rd NBA season if this is the end of the run for King James and if Sunday was the last time he’d ever suit up in Philly.
If it was, well, he dominated the Sixers just as much as he dominated any other helpless team in the league. In 59 regular season games, LeBron averaged a cool 27-7-8 with a true shooting percentage of 60.1 percent against the Sixers. His Heat defeated the Sixers in a first round gentleman’s sweep in the 2011 NBA playoffs for good measure as well. I attended Game 4 of that series, the famed Lou Williams game-winner contest, so I’m fortunate enough to say I’ve seen one of the greatest athletes to ever live multiple times with my own two eyes.
As a crazed Philadelphian, I wish the Sixers had gotten the best of him every time. As a pure basketball fan, I can at least take solace in the fact that I witnessed a level of greatest that’s scope extends far beyond my world and even my lifetime.
