LeBron James used his first Philadelphia 76ers media day to make the stakes clear: he did not leave his family to lose in the second round. Speaking in Camden on Monday (Tuesday AEST), the NBA’s all-time leading scorer said Tyrese Maxey was a main deciding factor in choosing Philadelphia and that the work starts now.
LeBron James sat at a podium in a Sixers jersey for the first time on Monday and left little doubt about why he chose Philadelphia. The four-time NBA champion spent more than 18 minutes answering questions at the club’s Camden training facility, USA TODAY and PhillyVoice reported.
Second-round exits are not the plan
James was blunt about the standard he expects after Philadelphia was swept by the New York Knicks in last season’s Eastern Conference semi-finals.
“I didn’t leave my family to lose in the second round,” James said, according to PhillyVoice. “I know that for sure. So the work needs to be done, and I’m ready to put the work in.”
USA TODAY quoted a near-identical close: “Work needs to be done, and I’m ready to get to work.”
CBS Sports also recorded James warning against a talent-rich team that fails to do the uncomfortable work and exits in the second round — the same theme he returned to throughout the session.
Maxey was a main deciding factor
Asked why Philadelphia over other contenders, James pointed to his relationship with All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey. Both are represented by Rich Paul and Klutch Sports, and James said Maxey helped him weigh the fit.
“I had a list of five teams that I was interested in,” James said, per PhillyVoice. “I have a really, really good – I don’t want to say good – great relationship with Tyrese [Maxey]. And we talked about a lot. I picked his brain a lot. Not only where he sees his career going, how he sees the franchise here, how much he believes in the franchise, and if I was to come here, how does he see me fitting in? Do we think it’d be a plus or do we think it’d be a negative? Because I understand my personality and what comes with me, sometimes it could be a negative… It wasn’t just one conversation. But I think our relationship, when I broke a lot of the teams down, when I broke a lot of the franchises down that I could possibly play for, he was one of the main deciding factors.”
Maxey said once the Sixers acquired Jaylen Brown and James’s Lakers future looked uncertain, he believed Philadelphia had a real chance. “He called me one day, we chopped it up and I think he may be coming,” Maxey said, per USA TODAY. “But him being here is really cool, really cool. I think it’s going to be really good for our team, good for the organization, good for the city.”
Role, Embiid and the luxury of his game
On what he will be asked to do on the floor, James kept it simple. “Whatever the team needs me to do. I think the luxury of my game is I can do everything. Literally everything,” he said, according to PhillyVoice’s media-day soundbites.
On Joel Embiid, James framed health as the swing factor while praising the centre’s off-season work. “Joel 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 said, per PhillyVoice. “How can he stay healthy to be the version of himself to [make us] the best version of us as a team. And I’ve seen him put in a lot of work on his body, a lot of work on his game, a lot of work on his mental this offseason.”
When asked whether this two-year deal is his final NBA contract, James declined to close the door. “We’ll see what happens,” he said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, adding that he is focused on living in the moment in his 24th season.
How he got here
James signed with Philadelphia in July on a two-year, US$8 million deal with a player option, a move The Sporting Base covered when he took a massive pay cut to join the 76ers. Media day was his first extended availability in Sixers colours since that announcement.
Philadelphia’s projected starting group when healthy pairs James and Brown on the wings with Maxey and VJ Edgecombe in the backcourt and Embiid at centre — a championship-or-bust construction James repeatedly framed as unfinished work, not a finished product. Separately, Stephen Curry’s place among the NBA’s highest-paid stars remains a broader league talking point as camps open.
Training camp tips off this week in the United States. TSB will continue covering Sixers camp quotes and Australian NBA angles as the 2026-27 season approaches.
