LeBron James made his first NBA media day appearance with the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday at the team’s practice facility in Camden, N.J., wearing No. 23.
James, 41, announced on July 24 that he would sign with Philadelphia after eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. His contract is a two-year, veteran-minimum deal worth $7,946,884. By then, the 76ers had already traded Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks to the Boston Celtics for Jaylen Brown, a deal that became official on July 6.
Year 1 | Year 24
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Why LeBron James Chose the 76ers
James said the players, the coaches, and the organization were all speaking the same language about the direction they wanted to go and the work it would take.
“I had a list of five teams that I was interested in,” James said. “I think if you saw my agent in his podcast, you saw his whiteboard and whatever. I love him to death, but he had his whiteboard up there and he had all his LeBron teams up there. So I had a group of teams that I was interested in and I have a really good, I’m going to say good, great relationship with Tyrese. And we talked a lot.
“I kind of picked his brain a lot on not only where he see his career going, how he see the franchise here, how much he believes in the franchise,” James continued. “And if I was to come here, how does he see me fitting in? Do we think it would be a plus or do we think it would be a negative? Because I understand what my personality and what comes with me. Sometimes it could be a negative, I understand. Some people maybe can’t handle what I may bring to the table.”
James made it clear that his relationship with Maxey played a significant role in his free agency decision.
“And I was just given, asking all the questions that I could ask to him,” James added. “And it wasn’t just one conversation. But I think our relationship kind of, when I broke a lot of the teams down and I broke a lot of the franchises down that I could possibly play for, he was one of the main deciding factors.”
Tyrese Maxey was 19 and still waiting to be drafted in 2020 when he first worked out with James. This summer, the two mixed two-man actions into their sessions, working on ways to get each other shots.
“He was a free agent, I think a couple of years ago, maybe two or three years ago,” Maxey said. “I knew he was going back to L.A., but I just shot him a text. I was like, hey, we’re here if you want to pull up. You know what I’m saying? You want to come on back to the Northeast?
“But once we got Jaylen, I was like, OK, this gets interesting because then I heard that he didn’t want to go back to L.A.,” Maxey continued. “I was like, man, I’m here, so I might as well ask him, hit him, hit him up. And then he called me one day, and we chopped it up, and I was like, OK, I think he may be coming. And I kind of just left it at that.”
Joel Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP, has kept a low profile in the offseason, more so since he got married and became a father.
“Summer’s good. I had a great time with family, obviously. First summer, I didn’t have to worry about a lot of stuff,” Embiid said. “So just getting my mind right, my body right. I feel pretty good. And then as far as [Bron], I didn’t talk to him. I know. I didn’t recruit him. We’re off and running.”
VJ Edgecombe said the offseason group chat was his idea. He asked Maxey to add James because, in Edgecombe’s words, “obviously, I don’t got LeBron James’ number.”
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Year 24 on a Minimum Deal
James is on a contract that runs two seasons if he picks up his option. His focus is on getting 1% better every day, starting with the first practice of training camp on Tuesday.
“Obviously, I’m just looking at it every single day on how I can be the best version of myself for this franchise while I’m here,” James explained. “I don’t want to speak into the future right now. I think that would be doing a disservice to myself on just living in the moment, especially knowing that I am where I am in my career.
“So me trying to focus on what the future looks like would be like, it wouldn’t be giving myself grace,” James continued. “I’m more in the present now. I understand that I’m in year 24. It won’t be another year plus 24. You know what I’m saying? So just like being in a moment and we see what happens.”
Last season with the Lakers, James averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists in 60 games.
Putting in the work is part of James’ DNA, and he would never get tired of it, even in his 24th season.
“So there’s things that does come with being a professional athlete, being away from your family a lot, being away from your kids a lot, sacrificing a lot of time where you could be with loved ones and things of that nature, missing a lot of things that your kids got going on,” James said. “My middle son right now is starting a sophomore campaign at Tucson in Arizona. My daughter just started middle school. My oldest son, my former teammate, is starting his third year in Los Angeles.
“And my wife is doing so many unbelievable things right now on her own personal journey,” James added. “So those are the things that being where I am in the process, those things are intertwined that I’ll be like, yeah, I don’t miss that.”
“You guys know who I am, right?”
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LeBron James on Joel Embiid
James wants to bring his experience, his knowledge, and “the blueprint” to teammates trying to accomplish things they have not done in their careers.
“I’ve got to get here first. I’m just now one day, not even one day in, obviously just here being in a facility,” James said. “So I am just looking forward to just obviously seeing what his process is as well. Jo is one of the most talented guys that we have in the world, and obviously we all know that for him it’s just been about health.”
James later detailed how Embiid’s health is vital for the team’s success.
“How can he stay healthy to be the best version of himself, to be the best version of us as a team?” James continued. “And I’ve seen he put in a lot of work on his body, put in a lot of work in his game, a lot of work on his mental this offseason. So that is a big upside, not only for us as his teammates, but I guarantee it is for him. I don’t want to speak for him. You guys have talked to him, but I guarantee that’s a big, good feeling for him.
“So me as like the elder statesman of the team, the guy that’s been through a lot, hopefully I can just give him resources and give him whatever he needs on a day-to-day basis to make him feel even more and more comfortable about where he is, about where we are as a team, both on the floor and off the floor,” James added. “So I’m definitely in his corner, and I can’t wait to be out there on the court with him again like we was in 24 with the Olympics.”
“They demand excellence.”
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— NBA TV (@NBATV) September 28, 2026
Sacrifice and VJ Edgecombe’s Role
Maxey counted James among several players who can bring the ball up this season, which he said gives him “the ability for myself to get out and transition a little bit more.” James has seen everything the league has to offer, on the floor and off it.
“Your role is whatever the team needs for me to do. Whatever the team needs for me to do,” James said. “I think the luxury of my game is I can do everything. Literally, I can do everything.”
Edgecombe, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, started all 75 games he played as a rookie. He averaged 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists and was a unanimous All-Rookie First Team selection. James said Edgecombe’s role should not change, pointing to his ability to attack in transition before a defense is set and to catch and go against a defense that is off balance in the half court.
“If we want to accomplish something that’s really, really important, like if we say that we want to do something special, there will be a collective sacrifice in a good way,” James said. “Sometimes in sports, people hear sacrifice, and you automatically start thinking negative about it. It’s not a negative thing. You can sacrifice one or two more shots. That gives you one or two more bursts of energy in the fourth quarter to slide over and take a charge or give you one or two more bursts of energy to get an offensive rebound for extra possession to kick out for a teammate or an extra two bursts of energy to run back [on] defense and get a [chase-down] block.
“I think some things that don’t show up in the box scores, so it’s not a negative when people say, OK, you have to take a sacrifice, you have to make a sacrifice or your role may change,” James continued. “If we’re trying to do something special, which I believe we are, then that’s such a positive.”
Having won four NBA championships, LeBron knows a thing or two about sacrifice.
“So many guys like that’s been in our league over the course of my career has never made a sacrifice in their career and they average 20 points and 22 points a game and they’ve had one or two postseason appearances and zero postseason wins,” James added. “That’s the way your career, if that’s the way you want your career to be, then that’s fine. Everyone has different goals. But I don’t think anybody downstairs or I don’t think anybody in the locker room have that feeling and want that career to be like that or we wouldn’t be here.”
Edgecombe still goes back and watches games from his rookie season, most recently a regular-season game against the New York Knicks, looking for plays he could read differently.
“I’m going [into] year two. I know everyone, whatever is going on, they’re going to say this, say that,” Edgecombe said. “I’m still learning. I’m still a kid just trying to learn. Obviously, I don’t know it all when it comes to the game of basketball.
“And to, like I say, be alongside great players every day, I get to learn,” Edgecombe continued. “And for me, that’s the biggest thing. I know the time is right. I’m just happy. I’m just happy to go out there and play and hoop. Hopefully, we win.”
Brown won the 2024 NBA Finals MVP with Boston. He is coming to Philadelphia with an empty slate, unsure whether what worked there will carry over.
“It definitely takes sacrificing. Like you said, sacrifice is a negative [connotation], but has its perks and its benefits,” Brown said. “Anytime you’re going for something great, something of high metric, [it’s] going to take a level of sacrifice. So that’s just the understanding that someone like [James] who has been great all his life, he understands sacrifice at a high level, and I agree with him.”
Instant Oatmeal and the Second Round
Six of Philadelphia’s last nine seasons have ended in the conference semifinals. The most recent was a four-game sweep by the Knicks after the 76ers came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat Boston in the first round. James wants a championship approach from the first day, with the work inside the building counting for more than anything said outside it.
“I think the best way to expedite it is obviously the floor, the practice court. That helps. The film sessions helps. The bus rides, the plane rides, the camaraderie, like those things help,” James said. “It’s going to take time. It’s going to take time. I think people, sometimes they like, they don’t really want to work. And everyone wants like instant oatmeal.
“You just put the oatmeal in the bowl, you put the water in and throw it in the microwave and a minute and a half. You got something like, you got something to eat. You’re ready to go,” James continued. “Like if you want to do something special, it takes time and it takes like every single day doing things that you may not want to do because it’s like the same thing over and over and over and over and over, repetition after repetition after repetition.
“In order for us to be great we have to do things that are just not comfortable. We have to [be comfortable] being uncomfortable. That is the best way to expedite being great,” James added. “You have to fall in love with doing things that’s uncomfortable. And if we can do that, then we can be a great team.”
James also made it crystal clear that he didn’t come to the East Coast to exit early in the playoffs.
“If we don’t do that, then we’ll be like, oh, man, it was a great team on paper, and we had a lot of great talent, and we lost in the second round,” James detailed. “Like, I don’t want to do that. I didn’t leave my family to lose in the second round. I know that for sure. Work needs to be done and I’m ready to put the work in.”
Embiid has been through star additions in Philadelphia before, with Jimmy Butler, James Harden, and George. He has never won a championship, but he feels he knows what it takes.
“I wouldn’t say it didn’t work out. Obviously, we didn’t win. But I think, sorry to cut you off. I think to be able to win, it’s hard to win when you get a group of guys together for one year, two years maybe,” Embiid explained. “You’ve got to be able, that’s why I’m extremely excited about this team because we got the right mix of veteran leadership and the younger guys and everybody being on the same page. So I feel like we might have some up and downs, but we’re going to get there.”
Maxey said James is going to be good for the team, the organization, and the city.
“I wanted LeBron. I didn’t want all y’all. [I’m just playing],” Maxey explained.
“Listen, me, I’m focused on basketball, my job. I mean the rest of that, I’m not really worried about it. That doesn’t really bother me, honestly,” Maxey continued. “I’ve been blessed to play in Philadelphia for my entire career so far. I played in Kentucky. I’m kind of used to the noise and all those different things, so that doesn’t bother me. My biggest thing is I want to help my teammates in this organization try to win basketball games and try to win at the highest level. The rest of that, the hoopla, all y’all people being here, that doesn’t bother me.”
time to work.
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— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) September 28, 2026
LeBron James on Philadelphia Fans
Philadelphia is the only sports town, as James described it, where all the teams are “in the same parking lot, basically.” James said the fans there know ball and will let players hear it when they are not doing what they are supposed to.
“It’s been both. It’s been like, OK, we respect the way you play the game because we know the game and we know the history of the game and we’ve seen so many players play. But we hate you,” James said. “Like, you’re not with us. We hate you. We hate you. So, and I love that. I actually really love that. I really thrive under that circumstance.
“So, like, but, yeah, it’s been always mutual respect. It’s always been mutual respect with myself and the Philly fans. We’re going to be on the same side now, guys,” James continued. “I need a little hate, so I hope we can just get some people that’s not real Philly fans and we just put them in the crowd so I can just get that attention.”
As an NBA veteran, James’ history with 76ers fans goes way back.
“But it’s been great. Like I said, I’ve been doing this for 23 years now and I actually came here in high school as well and played at the Palestra my senior year and it was that same type of atmosphere,” James added. “So I’m happy to be on this side though.”
Training camp opens Tuesday. Philadelphia hosts the Knicks in its preseason opener Oct. 5, plays at Boston on Oct. 10, and opens the regular season Oct. 20 at Madison Square Garden. Brown’s first regular-season game back in Boston is Jan. 21.
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