NEW YORK – The NBA’s 2026-27 season tips off Tuesday night with a plot Hollywood would hesitate to write. LeBron James, entering a record 24th season, walks into Madison Square Garden wearing a Philadelphia 76ers uniform, just as the New York Knicks hoist their first championship banner since 1973.

It might have gone differently. James’s agent, Rich Paul, said this summer that the Knicks would have been his client’s first choice in free agency, had New York not won the title. Instead, the Knicks’ championship helped push James to Philadelphia, where he joins a team that also added Jaylen Brown by trade.

A new Big Four, with a chip on its shoulder. Brown, the 2024 Finals MVP, is coming off a career year of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. Philadelphia also has 2023 MVP Joel Embiid, All-Star Tyrese Maxey and second-year guard VJ Edgecombe. Maxey set career highs last season in scoring (28.3) and assists (6.6), and Embiid returned from an emergency appendectomy and 44 missed games to carry the Sixers past Boston in the first round.

The motivation is easy to find. Philadelphia was swept by these same Knicks in the second round last season, and it has gone out in the second round six times in the past nine years. The franchise hasn’t reached the Finals since 2001 or won a title since 1983. James was blunt about his expectations, saying he didn’t leave his family to lose in the second round.

The champions bring back nearly everyone. New York beat the San Antonio Spurs in five games to close a 16-3 playoff run. Jalen Brunson, the Finals MVP, leads a core that includes Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. Backup center Mitchell Robinson is the only major departure among the team’s top ten in playoff minutes, and Andre Drummond was signed to replace him.

Repeating won’t be easy. No team has won back-to-back titles since Golden State in 2017-18, and none of the last seven champions even returned to the Finals the following year. Contract uncertainty is also hanging over the roster: the Knicks announced Oct. 9 that extension talks are on hold until later in the season, and Towns has publicly voiced his frustration.

The rest of opening night. The Boston Celtics host the Detroit Pistons at 3 p.m. ET, and the Oklahoma City Thunder face the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama at 9:30 p.m. ET, a matchup of two of the league’s top title contenders. All three games are on NBC and Peacock, which will carry 100 regular-season games this year.

How to watch: Tuesday, Oct. 20, 7 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden. TV: NBC. Streaming: Peacock.