Philadelphia 76ers star LeBron James and Dallas Mavericks forward Klay Thompson have certainly had their battles in the past. When Thompson was a member of the Golden State Warriors and James with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the two matched up in the finals four years in a row with Thompson's Warriors besting James' Cavs three of the four times. With that being said, James gave the Warriors fits out on the floor. No matter who was guarding him, the future Hall of Famer threw Cleveland on his back and led the Cavs to wins they shouldn't have had throughout all of those finals series. Therefore, Thompson had to give James his credit. While appearing on a stream, Thompson stated his all-time starting 5 as he included James in the lineup alongside Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, and Steph Curry.
Klay Thompson reveals his ALL-TIME starting five C — Shaquille O’Neal PF — Tim Duncan SF — LeBron James SG — Kobe Bryant PG — Stephen Curry Klay explained why he went with Shaq, praising how he completely changed the game, while calling Tim Duncan the definition of consistency.… pic.twitter.com/fNbxfsepbu — MAL (@MindOfBron) August 14, 2026 The Sixers will be looking for James to be the leader of their current championship chase as they hope to end a long title drought. Philadelphia hasn't won a title since 1983 and will look to the future Hall of Famer to lead the way in that sense as he did for the Cavs in 2016. In that series, Cleveland trailed Thompson's Warriors 3-1 and James led a historic comeback in an effort to win the franchise's first and only championship. This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Klay Thompson includes Sixers star LeBron James in all-time lineup