The league dropped the opening-night slate this morning, and somebody in the NBA office has been reading our group chat.
Sixers at Knicks. October 20. Madison Square Garden. Opening night, national TV.
The team that swept us out of the second round last spring and then paraded down whatever street the Knicks parade on. That's who gets to raise their banner with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown standing there watching in Sixers jerseys.
The Knicks think it's their celebration.
It's our season premiere.
LeBron's First Game as a Sixer Is at MSG
Sit with that for a second.
The most scrutinized signing in franchise history makes his debut in the loudest building in the league, against the defending champs, with every national media guy who said he should've gone home to Cleveland sitting courtside waiting for him to look old.
There is no version of this that isn't cinema. Either he drops 30 and we all lose our minds, or it's rocky and we spend 48 hours talking each other off a ledge. Both outcomes are extremely on brand for October in this city.
And JB gets his first crack at being the guy we traded for. At the Garden. Against the team that ended our season.
Circle it. Take off the 21st. You'll need it either way.
Then It Gets Personal
Home opener: Thursday, October 22. Cavaliers. The Bank— sorry, Xfinity Mobile Arena. ESPN.
The NBA looked at LeBron's free agency — the whole "will he go home to Cleveland for the storybook ending" saga — and scheduled his HOME DEBUT as a Sixer against the Cavs.
That's not a schedule. That's a plot line.
He picked us over the storybook. Now the storybook has to come to South Philly and watch him get the ovation. First time he walks out of that tunnel in a Sixers jersey, in front of a building that spent twenty years booing him like he owed us money.
It's going to be the loudest "welcome home" in the history of a guy who isn't from here.
And Then Christmas in LA
Sixers at Lakers, Christmas Day, 5 p.m.
LeBron going back to the building he played eight years in, wearing our laundry, on the one day the entire country watches basketball.
Opening night in New York. Cleveland at home. LA on Christmas. The schedule makers didn't build the Sixers a calendar, they built a documentary series. Full schedule drops Thursday at 3 — fully expect the Knicks and Celtics dates to be scattered around like landmines.
The Part We're Not Saying Out Loud
Here's the thing about opening at the champs' banner night.
Last year that was us getting swept by these guys while Brunson shot 50 free throws a game (rough estimate, don't check it). Now we walk in with LeBron, Jaylen Brown, Maxey, Embiid on a vengeance arc, and a rookie in VJ Edgecombe who plays like the building is on fire.
The Knicks spent the summer celebrating.
We spent it loading.
October 20 can't come fast enough. Somebody check on the Wells Fargo — sorry, Xfinity Mobile — box office, because that Cavs game is going to cost a car payment.
Opening night at MSG: statement win or humbling experience? Put your prediction in the comments so we can screenshot it in October.
If you're watching LeBron's debut anywhere in this city, you know the dress code. The basketball collection is stocked, The Process is back, and King of Philly season officially has a start date.
