It’s Not Always Easy Being the New Kid in Town, Even if You’re LeBron James
LeBron James made his Lakers debut in Portland on Thursday, and will make his Lakers home debut on Saturday against James Harden, Chris Paul and the Rockets, proving life won’t get any easier right away simply by heeding Horace Greeley’s advice. Like Harden and Paul, James is already familiar with representing a new town and fanbase after pulling up stakes (and jumpers) elsewhere, but they are not the only ones.
Wilt Chamberlain: 76ers, 1965/Lakers, 1968
The Philadelphia born and raised “Wilt the Stilt” remained with the Warriors when the franchise moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco after the 1962 season. But Chamberlain ended up returning to The City of Brotherly Love in 1965, in a midseason trade to the 76ers, who had just replaced the Warriors as the NBA’s Philadelphia franchise. His first opponent as a 76er? The Warriors. In Philadelphia. He scored 22 points, recorded 29 rebounds, and blocked 12 shots in a 111–102 victory. The gym known as Convention Hall greeted Chamberlain with a “long and warm” ovation. “There’s only two things you can do when something like that happens,” Chamberlain told The Philadelphia Daily News. “You can smile or cry. I smiled. It was a touching thing.”
A few years later, Chamberlain ended up back on the West Coast after demanding a trade to the Lakers. His first regular season opponent as a Laker? Yeah, the 76ers. In Philadelphia. Chamberlain lost this contest 114–96. One sign from a fan asked, “Wilt Who?”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Lakers, 1975
Lew Alcindor was a Milwaukee Buck for his first six seasons, one of which ended in a championship. By October 1974 he was known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and requested a trade out of Milwaukee because his lifestyle was “not compatible” with the city. Somewhat awkwartly, his Lakers debut came against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden; Knicks announcer Marv Albert had reported months earlier he might be dealt there. The Lakers won 104–101. They were also victorious in their third game of the season in Milwaukee, where Abdul-Jabbar was pleasantly surprised when he was not booed. Kareem finally made his Lakers home debut against the Seattle Supersonics on Halloween night. He finished with 27 points, 24 rebounds, and seven blocks in front of his new fans to aid in a 120–104 victory.
Charles Barkley: Suns, 1992
As all Inside the NBA viewers know, “Sir Charles” never won a championship during his playing days, but it was not for a lack of trying — in his first year with the Phoenix Suns, he earned the NBA MVP award.
Traded for Jeff Hornacek and two others, the Suns had an inkling it was going to be a special year when Barkley put up 37 points in his debut against the Clippers in Phoenix. The first regular season game at America West Arena ended with Barkley throwing the basketball into the stands to celebrate the 111–105 come-from-behind win. “It must have gone 35 rows up,” Suns CEO Jerry Colangelo told The Arizona Daily Star. “But I made Charles a deal. I told him he could throw the ball into the stands every time we win. No fine at all.”
Unfortunately, his heroics couldn’t lead the Suns over Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the 1993 NBA Finals. It was The Round Mound of Rebound’s first and last NBA Finals appearance, and Phoenix has not been back since.
Michael Jordan: Wizards, 2001
Jordan retired for three seasons (1999–2001), during which time he became part owner and President of Basketball Operations of the Washington Wizards. But the itch to play was too strong not to scratch, and His 38-year-old Airness essentially signed himself to a two-year contract with the Wizards, donating his salary to 9/11 relief efforts. His debut was on October 30, 2001 in New York against the Knicks, where he dropped a team-leading 19 points, and missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with 19 seconds left in a 103–101 loss. Washington went 37–45 in both 2001–02 and 2002–03 before Jordan retired for a third and final time.
Kevin Garnett: Celtics 2007–08
After 12 seasons with the Timberwolves, Garnett was traded from Minnesota to Boston in exchange for seven players, an NBA all-time record for one individual. Before his Celtic premiere, Garnett was treated to a standing ovation by the Boston crowd. The Celtics handily beat the Wizards 103–83 thanks in part to KG’s 22 points, and the following June the franchise won its first championship since 1986. Garnett won his first title, proving anything is possible.
LeBron James: Heat, 2010–11
On July 8, 2010, LeBron James controversially announced on live television he was taking his talents to South Beach after playing for his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers for the first seven seasons of his career. LeBron made the acquaintance of 13,000 of his new fans the following night at a welcome party, where he implied they were going to win at least eight championships. Despite his 31 points, King James actually lost on the night of his Heat debut to Kevin Garnett and the Celtics in Boston.The Heat would win the Eastern Conference in all four of James’ years in Miami playing alongside Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, winning two NBA titles before LeBron returned to Cleveland.
Carmelo Anthony: Knicks, 2011
After seven and a half seasons of service, the Brooklyn-born Carmelo Anthony was dealt by the Denver Nuggets to the Knicks along with Chauncey Billups in a trade involving the Timberwolves, seemingly for good measure. He made his Knicks debut on February 23, 2011, dropping 27 points in a 114–108 triumph over the Milwaukee Bucks. He received a New York-sized welcome.
“I am just glad I got this game out of my system.” Anthony admitted afterwards. “These last two days have been crazy for me.”
Kevin Durant: Warriors, 2016
Two weeks and one day after blowing a 3–1 series lead over LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors received the biggest boost possible when Kevin Durant announced in The Players Tribune he was signing with Golden State. The San Antonio Spurs rudely greeted the new superteam on October 25, 2016 with a 29-point blowout on the Warriors’ home court. Durant lead his new team with 27 points that night, and back-to-back championships followed. Probably eased the initial blow a little bit.
Did you know all of this already? Did you know this but forget? We believe you, but you might want to play some pro basketball trivia on our app just in case others do not.
This story was written by Roger Cormier
