Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went to Philadelphia hoping to assist the 76ers catch lightning in a bottle. His introduction to the town delivered the true factor first.
The previous Los Angeles Lakers guard’s new penthouse was struck by lightning simply minutes after his spouse, McKenzie, signed the lease, in accordance with her TikTok account of a chaotic transferring day that ended with water pouring from the ceiling and the household scrambling down 14 flights of stairs.
“Minutes after I signal the lease, you guys, I hear the loudest bang I’ve ever heard in my life,” McKenzie recalled in a video.
She mentioned water rapidly started flooding the unit, whereas the lightning strike disabled the elevators. Movers who had been nonetheless bringing the household’s belongings upstairs reportedly grew to become trapped in a single and wanted help from firefighters.
The strangest half got here later.
McKenzie mentioned an electrician who inspected the injury instructed her there was a “1 in 400 million probability” of a unit being struck in that vogue. The exact odds haven’t been independently verified, however the weird incident nonetheless made for an unforgettable welcome to Philadelphia.
The 33-year-old landed there after agreeing to a buyout with Memphis and signing a one-year take care of the 76ers, reuniting him with former Lakers teammate LeBron James.
Caldwell-Pope and James already know what successful collectively appears to be like like. KCP began all through Los Angeles’ 2020 championship run, together with a 17-point efficiency within the title-clinching Recreation 6 towards Miami. He later received one other championship with Denver in 2023.
Philadelphia is betting that sort of expertise may also help stabilize a loaded group that includes James, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe.
Caldwell-Pope is chasing his third ring after averaging 8.4 factors in 51 video games for Memphis final season earlier than proper pinky surgical procedure ended his yr.
A lightning strike is normally a horrible approach to begin life in a brand new house. For a 76ers crew taking a giant swing at a championship, it may solely hope it was a preview of the sort of lightning it’s attempting to catch.
