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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has received one of the strangest welcomes that you can ever think of after moving to Philadelphia, as his new penthouse was reportedly struck by lightning just minutes after his wife signed the lease. Caldwell-Pope’s wife, Mackenzie, shared details of the frantic incident on social media, explaining that the family had barely started settling into the top-floor unit before everything went haywire. “Minutes after I signed the lease, you guys, I hear the loudest bang I’ve ever heard in my life. Mind you, we’re on the penthouse floor, we’re on the highest floor, okay?” According to Mackenzie, the loud impact was followed almost immediately by water pouring into the apartment. “All of a sudden — starts shooting out of the ceiling, and water is pouring in, dumping in.” The situation became serious enough that everyone inside the house was forced to evacuate. Mackenzie estimated there were already two to three inches of water inside before they managed to get out. The lightning strike also reportedly knocked out the building’s elevator, which forced the family to walk 14 flights of stairs to safety. Mackenzie later said that the electricians who inspected the damage confirmed that the unit had been struck by lightning. “Why did the electrician say, ‘Yeah, you got struck by lightning and there’s a 1 in 400 million chance of a unit getting struck the way this unit got struck.” The extraordinary probability has not been independently verified, so the one-in-400-million figure should be treated as what Mackenzie said she was told by the electrician, rather than an established statistical fact. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s new penthouse in Philadelphia was struck by lightning and flooded minutes after his wife signed the lease. KCP’s electrician told him there was a 1 in 400 million chance this could happen due to where his unit was. Insane. (h/t @LakeShowYo) pic.twitter.com/L4QnY04LGG — Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) August 30, 2026 Still, the incident was bizarre enough to quickly prompt social media reaction across the NBA world. Reports noted that Caldwell-Pope had only just arrived in Philadelphia after joining the Sixers in the offseason. The incident adds a very unusual beginning to Caldwell-Pope’s latest NBA chapter. The veteran joined the Sixers after spending last season with the Memphis Grizzlies, where he averaged 8.4 points in 51 games before undergoing surgery on his right pinky. Caldwell-Pope brings valuable championship experience to the 76ers team. He won two titles, one with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 and another in 2023, which established him as a proven three-and-D role player capable of playing next to stars. Now he’s hoping to help the Sixers make another championship run. Before that can happen, though, Caldwell-Pope and his family have had to deal with one of the most bizarre experiences you can think of. Mackenzie even managed to joke about the ordeal afterward, suggesting there might have been one upside to surviving the freak incident. “The only bright side in this is that I might have superpowers because the way our unit got struck…” For Caldwell-Pope, though, his Philadelphia tenure has already gotten off to a very rocky start.