“A Bit Disrespectful” NBA Champion Reacts to Knicks’ Latest Odd Over LeBron James’ 76ers

Jalen Brunson scored 45 points in Game 5 to end a 53-year title drought in New York on June 13. Four months later, the Knicks are being told that champions do not get a summer of respect. A new Polymarket line has LeBron James' 76ers ahead of them in the East. Kendrick Perkins, an NBA champion himself, had a quick reaction.

Polymarket has the Sixers at 21% to win the Eastern Conference and the Knicks at 19%. The post sharing the numbers pointed out that the Knicks won the championship a few months ago and somehow are not the favorites. Perkins replied with a short take of his own: "A bit disrespectful but I get it!!!"

Perkins has been consistent on this subject. On ESPN's NBA Today, he ranked Philadelphia first in the East and New York second. His reason for the champions' spot was history: "we haven't had a repeat in over eight years."

He also liked that Philadelphia added Jaylen Brown and LeBron without giving up Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey or VJ Edgecombe. In other words, "disrespectful" is a joke about the odds, not a change of view.

The numbers have not always looked like this. Before LeBron signed on July 24, the Knicks were comfortably ahead of the Sixers in the East market. Kalshi's East market showed the Sixers at 13% and the Knicks at 19% before LeBron's decision.

After it, Philadelphia jumped to the top while the Knicks stayed in the 19% range. So the odds shifted because of what the Sixers added, not because New York lost anything.

The shift started before LeBron. The trade for Jaylen Brown in early July moved the Sixers from 2% to 13% on Kalshi. Adding James on a two-year deal pushed them past the champions.

Sportsbooks moved too. On the day the signing broke, Philadelphia's title odds shortened from +2000 to roughly +850 to +900, according to theScore and Covers, which put them in the top three behind Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

The case against the Knicks is mostly about repeating. Perkins noted that no team has done it in over eight years, and champions often face new questions.

Another factor is the matchup. The Knicks have kept their core together, and they beat the Sixers in the playoffs last season, sweeping them out of the second round. That history is part of why some bettors still see New York as the team to beat in a head-to-head series.

The market is not unanimous about Philadelphia either. In the season opener at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 20, Kalshi had the Knicks as 61% favorites to the Sixers' 39%. Action Network's Matt Moore suggested fading the Sixers in the East market, arguing that fitting Brown and LeBron into an Embiid-and-Maxey offense will bring early clunkiness and variance.

That is what made Perkins' reaction fair. The Sixers have more star power and a lot of hype, and the market has priced that in. The Knicks have a trophy, a stable roster and a motivation to prove the number wrong.

Opening night will be the first real test. When the Sixers visit New York to tip off the 2026-27 season, LeBron and the Knicks will get a live answer to what the market is guessing at.