The Philadelphia 76ers have a shiny new starting lineup with the huge additions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown to join Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe. On paper, that's one of the best starting lineups in the game. The sheer star power the Sixers possess is going to be fascinating to watch on the floor.
With that being said, there are certainly going to be questions for this group. There is a lot that the Sixers need to figure out in order to get everybody on the same page and find that rhythm and groove in order to seriously challenge a team like the New York Knicks--the current defending champions. The Knicks have a core that has been together for quite a while and the Sixers will need to find a way to overcome the upcoming challenges.
Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Byron Scott offers up a cautionary tale when it comes to adding so many big stars to a roster. The biggest example was the 2003-04 Lakers (h/t LeBron Wire):
"We can go all the way back to the early parts in the 2000s," Scott said on his "Fast Break" podcast. "You got Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant, Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal), and you still got D Fish (Derek Fisher). You still got an unbelievable starting lineup and on paper, everybody said, 'Oh, they gonna win a championship.' What happened? They played Detroit Pistons, who was a team. A much better team. A much better cohesive group of guys who wanted nothing more than to win.
"And you had friction on that Laker team with Gary Payton and some of the other guys. And then you had the peacemaker being Karl Malone and then Karl got hurt, which really killed their chances of winning the championship and Detroit went through them four games to one, right? So talent on paper don't mean a whole lot. It means you got talent, that's about all it means. It doesn't mean or guarantee that you going to win the championship."
#karl #starting #championship #knicks
With that being said, there are certainly going to be questions for this group. There is a lot that the Sixers need to figure out in order to get everybody on the same page and find that rhythm and groove in order to seriously challenge a team like the New York Knicks--the current defending champions. The Knicks have a core that has been together for quite a while and the Sixers will need to find a way to overcome the upcoming challenges.
Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Byron Scott offers up a cautionary tale when it comes to adding so many big stars to a roster. The biggest example was the 2003-04 Lakers (h/t LeBron Wire):
"We can go all the way back to the early parts in the 2000s," Scott said on his "Fast Break" podcast. "You got Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant, Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal), and you still got D Fish (Derek Fisher). You still got an unbelievable starting lineup and on paper, everybody said, 'Oh, they gonna win a championship.' What happened? They played Detroit Pistons, who was a team. A much better team. A much better cohesive group of guys who wanted nothing more than to win.
"And you had friction on that Laker team with Gary Payton and some of the other guys. And then you had the peacemaker being Karl Malone and then Karl got hurt, which really killed their chances of winning the championship and Detroit went through them four games to one, right? So talent on paper don't mean a whole lot. It means you got talent, that's about all it means. It doesn't mean or guarantee that you going to win the championship."
#karl #starting #championship #knicks
4 days ago
