Key facts
- 76ers added LeBron James this offseason to a roster with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown
- Sixers now have four players who each averaged over 25 points per game last season, per Durant’s comments
- Durant’s 2016 Warriors had just won 73 regular-season games and beaten Durant’s own Thunder before he joined them
- 76ers have not reached beyond the second round of the playoffs since the 2000-01 season, per Sporting News
- Preseason oddsmakers rank Philadelphia as the fourth choice in the East, behind the New York Knicks, per Sporting News
- Stephen A. Smith called Durant’s Warriors-76ers comparison ‘ridiculous’ on ESPN’s First Take
What Durant said
Kevin Durant, now with the Houston Rockets, drew a comparison between the Philadelphia 76ers’ new roster and the Golden State Warriors team he joined in 2016. Durant noted that when he joined the Warriors, the team was criticized for having three players who scored 20 points a game, calling it unfair. He pointed out that the 76ers now have four players who averaged over 25 points a game, referring to Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and LeBron James, and said that makes them contenders and a team worth watching.
Smith’s response
Stephen A. Smith rejected the comparison on ESPN’s “First Take,” calling it ridiculous. He argued the Warriors team Durant joined were clear favorites to win the championship by a wide margin, while it remains uncertain whether the 76ers can even get out of the Eastern Conference. Smith also recalled how dominant that Warriors roster felt once Durant arrived, saying there was no real competition given the shooting backcourt and the playmaking of Draymond Green, and that a title felt like a foregone conclusion.
The roster context
The 76ers added LeBron James this offseason, joining a roster already featuring Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, after previously acquiring Jaylen Brown. That gives Philadelphia three players who each averaged more than 25 points a game last season, plus James, who had averaged close to 25 points a game for his last several years with the Los Angeles Lakers, aside from a decline in his most recent season.
The Warriors comparison
The Warriors team Durant joined in 2016 had just won 73 games in the regular season and had eliminated Durant’s own Oklahoma City Thunder team in the playoffs before he signed with them. According to Sporting News, that team was viewed as an overwhelming championship favorite once Durant joined.
Where the 76ers stand
Sporting News reports that Philadelphia has not advanced past the second round of the playoffs since the 2000-01 season. The outlet also notes that preseason oddsmakers list the 76ers as only the fourth-favored team in the East, behind the New York Knicks.
Sources
Featured photo: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)