Dean Wade Expects Electric Atmosphere for LeBron James' Cavs Return With 76ers

The Cleveland Cavaliers host the Philadelphia 76ers tonight. 

That means LeBron James and Dean Wade are back in Cleveland. 

While speaking to reporters, Wade said he expects Rocket Arena to be electric tonight. 

James became the first player in NBA history with 16,000 career field goals Wednesday night, two days before his first game back in Cleveland as a member of the 76ers. That's wild timing. 

James needed two baskets coming into the night at Little Caesars Arena. Early in the second quarter, he drove past Detroit Pistons forward John Collins on the wing and finished with his left hand for the second one, a layup that made it 33-23 Philadelphia. The 76ers’ stats account posted about it during the game, and so did the NBA.

Philadelphia won 112-106 for its eighth victory in nine games, giving the 76ers the NBA’s best record. James had 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists, shooting 5-of-10. His career total reached 16,003.

James played 11 seasons with the Cavaliers across two stints, the first from 2003 to 2010 and the second from 2014 to 2018. He made a franchise-record 8,369 field goals in 849 regular-season games and scored a team-record 23,119 points.

In 2005-06, his third season, he made 875 field goals, still the Cavaliers’ single-season high. His 23 against the Washington Wizards on Nov. 3, 2017, are the most in one game.

Slightly more than half of the 16,000 were made in a Cavaliers uniform. The 2016 championship he won there ended a 52-year title drought for Cleveland.

James took the career record from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who finished with 15,837, on March 5 with a first-quarter jumper for the Los Angeles Lakers, who lost 120-113 to the Denver Nuggets that night. Karl Malone, third on the list, made 13,528.

James announced on July 24 that he would sign with Philadelphia, ending more than three weeks of free agency after eight seasons with the Lakers. The deal is for two years and $8 million, with a player option in the second season. Charles Barkley was disappointed James picked the 76ers over the Cavaliers.

In the post announcing the move, James wrote that he believed he could help make the 76ers a championship team.

“Thank you LA. Miami I’ll forever love and Northeast Ohio will always [be] home!” James wrote.

The 76ers and Cavaliers have already met once. Down 69-45 at halftime of James’ home debut on Oct. 22, Philadelphia came back to beat Cleveland 114-106, and James had 17 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals while wearing a red shoe on his left foot and a blue one on his right. It was the largest comeback win of his career.

James called Philadelphia one of the best sports cities in the world after that game.

“It was everything that I dreamed of and more,” James said. “We got the boos. That was amazing, and we deserved it. And then we got the cheers and almost blew the roof off this thing tonight, in a good way. It was a hell of a night.”

James is 41 and in his 24th season. He has dealt with chronic arthritis in his first season with the 76ers, and he is averaging 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game.

James called the season a marathon after the win in Detroit.

“It’s too early to be talking about the Finals and things of that nature on November 4,” James explained. “So we’ll continue just to buy into what we want to do. … We got a good team. Guys vibe with one another, guys like each other, guys enjoy being around each other.”

The previous five times James started a season at least 7-1, his team reached the NBA Finals. Philadelphia has not won a title since 1983. J’Mar Smith wrote on Oct. 13 that James is giving the 76ers something they have been missing.

Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, LeBron is first in NBA history in points, field goals, games and minutes. He’s the only player to rank top five all-time in points and assists, the only player to win three Finals MVPs with three teams, the only player with 40,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 career assists and the only player to score 50,000 points combining the regular season and playoffs.