After a blowout loss against the Boston Celtics, LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers have a lot to think about moving forward.
They started as one of the hottest teams in the NBA, but a couple of contenders have humbled them. A 9-3 record, which is good for No. 2 in the Eastern Conference, is a good lead for the season, but the Sixers are far from perfect.
The ex-NBA center Kendrick Perkins has a suggestion for the head coach, Nick Nurse: play LeBron James at the center position more.
76ers’ Nick Nurse Gets LeBron James Suggestion From Ex-NBA Champ
“LeBron looks old,” Perkins said on ESPN on Wednesday, November 11. “He looked old [against the Celtics] and this is a prime example of why I’ve been begging and pleading for LeBron James to play more of the center position.”
The Sixers experimented with that a bit this year. According to Basketball Reference, James played an estimated 17% of his minutes as the Sixers’ big man.
It’s a role that James has been willing to embrace. However, he made it clear that this is not something that the Sixers should look to do often.
“I’m not here to have a sustainable role at the five,” James told reporters in October.
“You got Joel Embiid on the team, so I don’t see it being a sustainable role. If I was to say I was signed here to have a sustainable role at the five–I don’t think none of us would actually want that.”
Perkins explained his thought process.
“If I’m Nick Nurse, I stagger the minutes because it helps LeBron James offensively. LeBron is not just getting by anybody no more. LeBron want the mismatches, so now all of a sudden you either bring a bigger guy out on him on the perimeter where he could get by them, or he has a smaller guy on him on a low block, and you talk about a dynamic roller, LeBron James still is a hell of a screen-and-roll guy,” Perkins added.
“So if I’m Nick Nurse and I’m trying to figure out this offense, the best way to do it is go small-ball and put LeBron at five.”
LeBron James’ 2026-2027 NBA Season So Far
James didn’t expect to go the Sixers to be their top scorer.
He is averaging 15.1 points per game. LeBron’s biggest issue, by far, is his shooting efficiency. Putting up 13.2 shots per game, LeBron is making just 43.2% of his shots from the field.
From three, LeBron has made just 23.7% of his attempts. Until LeBron gets back on par with his typical shooting efficiency, the forward will continue to have slow nights, no matter where he’s positioned.
