NBA Accused Of Giving LeBron James, 76ers Special Treatment

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Aug 15, 2026 2:41 PM ET

NBA commissioner Adam Silver indicated some weeks ago that he'd wait until after LeBron James signed with a team to set up the schedule. Well, LeBron signed with the Philadelphia 76ers and that schedule is now out. But fans are starting to notice that Silver might have given LeBron an especially favorable slate of games.

As noted by Legion Hoops and other outlets on X, the 76ers wound up with a schedule that just about any team would envy. They have the fewest number of back-to-back games, the fewest number of three-game in four night sequences and don't even have to play a game against the vaunted Western Conference until their 18th game of the 2026-27 season.

The 76ers this season:

Have the least amount of back-to-back games

Have the least amount of three games in four nights

Don’t play their first game against a Western Conference team until their 18th game this season

(h/t @witnesskj) pic.twitter.com/DadC9H3Rf3
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) August 15, 2026

"Senior Citizen Schedule"

NBA fans that saw the schedule quickly deduced that the league likely gave the 76ers such a favorable schedule because of LeBron's age. Others feel that the league is stacking the deck for LeBron to get an easy path to the NBA Finals.

"And this is people’s goat? Imagine needing special treatment like this. Can play 20% of the schedule without facing a west team lmao. And the most spaced out schedule to give them as much rest as possible," one user remarked.

"My goat got the senor citizen schedule," wrote another.

"I've never seen a basketball player so favored by the league. And despite that, he'll still find a way to lose. The Lionel Messi of the NBA," a third wrote.

"This is why Adam Nosferatu Silver was waiting for LeBron to choose which team he was gone frontrun with before he put out the NBA schedule. It's always just right in our faces, no shame. When you talk about the amount of help LeBron has received in his career and all the stars he's handpicked for his teams, nobody has helped him more than Silver. Nobody even close."

"Adam Silver trying to secure that LeBron money for one more year after this."

The NBA certainly seems to have manipulated things to ensure that it gets maximum ratings early on in the season (when LeBron likely won't be as concerned with load management).

If the 76ers go on to make the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2001, people may look back on the schedule as a big reason that they got there.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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