LeBron James tells Knicks fans he's from Ohio, baby

MSG greeted LeBron with "we don't want you" chants at the free-throw line. That was a mistake. A fan a few rows back chirped him, and NBC's cameras caught the reply.

Barstool Sports

@barstoolsports

“I’m not from the West Coast, I’m from Ohio baby, fuck is you talking about?” Year 24 Bron ain’t taking shit from anybody

Here's the line as the tweet transcribes it: "I'm not from the West Coast, I'm from Ohio baby." It's Year 24. He's on a 2-year, $8 million deal that pays him about $3.88 million this season, which is basically the minimum for a guy like him. He called signing with Philly his "last decision" after he'd seriously thought about retiring. You'd figure a guy at that stage would let a heckler slide. Nope. He's still clapping back at the guy in row 3.

Fans had their phones out too, and the courtside angle is where the best line came from. Phone clips caught him telling the fan "ain't nothing soft in the Midwest," and the text over the clip has him calling himself an Ohio baby.

Barstool Sports

@barstoolsports

“Ain’t nothing soft in the Midwest” is an all time LeBron line

Barstool Sports

@barstoolsports

“I’m not from the West Coast, I’m from Ohio baby, fuck is you talking about?” Year 24 Bron ain’t taking shit from anybody t.co/XWzsw2DScR

Why was the Garden so salty? LeBron had said out loud that he wanted to play for the Knicks. He told ESPN he "had visions of playing in Madison Square Garden and finishing my career in the Garden." Then he signed in Philadelphia, the Knicks' division rival. The fans were going to let him hear it either way. He just turned it into the best clip of opening night.

The basketball backed him up, too. The Sixers won 106-100. LeBron had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Tyrese Maxey led everybody with 28, and Jaylen Brown, the other big offseason addition, put up 19 in his debut. Joel Embiid chipped in a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double. That's a lot of firepower for a team that picked up both LeBron and Brown in one summer.

Online, the GOAT debate took a turn nobody saw coming. Instead of rings and Finals records, people started arguing about who's funnier.

Nicky Smokes

@nickysmokess

We gotta start adding comedy to the goat debate. And in that regard LeBron CLEARS Jordan.

Sure, it's a joke. But it's hard to picture Jordan in Year 24 sticking up for the whole Midwest to one heckler at the Garden. One win in October doesn't settle anything. Still, the first time LeBron and these Knicks fans met, LeBron got the win and the best line. The rematch at MSG is going to be loud.