{"id":862532,"date":"2026-10-19T05:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T05:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/862532\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T05:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T05:32:13","slug":"the-knicks-arent-scared-of-lebron-james-or-a-brewing-rivalry-with-superteam-76ers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/862532\/","title":{"rendered":"The Knicks aren’t scared of LeBron James \u2014 or a brewing rivalry with superteam 76ers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Hart predicted it. Really, we all did.<\/p>\n

It was obvious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWherever LeBron [James] went in the East, I figured that\u2019d probably be our opening night [game],\u201d Hart said after Knicks practice Sunday. \u201cThat will be good for headlines and box office and those kinds of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

With training camp and the preseason over, all attention now turns to the opener against the 76ers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

With it being banner\/ring night and the opener, there is already plenty of intrigue and attention. But it is impossible to escape all the extras involved.<\/p>\n

The NBA, with LeBron and Jaylen Brown joining the 76ers to create a supposed \u201csuperteam\u201d this offseason, is clearly interested in making this a rivalry and season-long storyline. The two teams play each other twice in the opening six games \u2014 both on national television. In fact, all four matchups this season are on national television.<\/p>\n

Most have labeled the 76ers \u2014 with a core of James, Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe \u2014 as the biggest threat to the Knicks\u2019 chances of repeating as champions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Add in the close geographical distance, the recent playoff history between the two teams and the fact LeBron has publicly said he envisioned finishing his career with the Knicks<\/a> had they not won the title (and is living part-time in New York City), and there are all the ingredients of a renewed rivalry.<\/p>\n

\"LeBronLeBron James signed with the 76ers in July. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Mike Brown\u2019s first head coaching gig was coaching James with the Cavaliers. He knows that when James is involved, everything is just bigger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality of it, in coach talk, you want to say every game is the same,\u201d the Knicks coach said Sunday. \u201cThat\u2019s what you try to impress upon your guys is, \u2018Hey, when we step on the floor, no matter who\u2019s in front of us, you want to give the same focus, energy and effort to the next possession in front of you.\u2019 But because of the talk, because of who he is \u2014 he is a large figure not just in life, but in the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou also gotta look at the guys they have on the team and the guys they\u2019ve added and the potential of that team and what we accomplished and what we\u2019re trying to accomplish again \u2014 all those storylines, with the social media and all that other stuff, it\u2019s pressed upon you, pressed upon you, pressed upon you, so it gets larger than life in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JaylenJaylen Brown was traded to the 76ers this off-season after spending 10 years with the Celtics. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

The Knicks would like to treat it like any of the other 82 regular-season games. But the reality is that, one way or the other, it will be used as an early statement in what could become a relentless discourse.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a coach, you hope it doesn\u2019t, but at times yes, you have to take into account that yes, it can be something that guys think, \u2018OK, this is a big game,\u2019\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt gives you a little bit more juice, a little bit more energy because of all the stuff around it. Is it gonna be a rivalry at the end of the day? I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know where we\u2019re gonna be and where they\u2019re gonna be. \u2026 Because of the storylines and all that other stuff with the social media, could it be right now? Yeah, it\u2019s a fun story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two teams also represent opposites of sorts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Knicks are a bastion of stability, returning nine of their top 10 players in terms of minutes played last year. It\u2019s a group that knows each other well and has exceptional chemistry.<\/p>\n

The 76ers, by contrast, are a newly assembled unit that must come together quickly with immediate championship expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we have the same team, but sometimes individuals\u2019 expectations are different than what they were before,\u201d Hart said. \u201cSo it\u2019s different. Especially a team like that, I\u2019m sure they\u2019re gonna have some bumpy times in the beginning of the year because they gotta get used to playing with each other. The media at that point [will say,] \u2018They should blow it up and trade everybody\u2019 and those kinds of things. That\u2019s kind of the world we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The world we live in will have a dramatic reaction to Tuesday\u2019s result.<\/p>\n

Buckle up.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh Hart predicted it. Really, we all did. It was obvious. \u201cWherever LeBron [James] went in the East,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,7,288,78,327,185,6,191,678,207,3817,66],"class_list":["post-862532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia-76ers","tag-76ers","tag-basketball","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-jaylen-brown","tag-josh-hart","tag-lebron-james","tag-nba","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-philadelphia76ers","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117465943891078786","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}