With Jaylen Brown and LeBron James joining a talented Philadelphia 76ers core that now has legitimate championship aspirations, attention around this Sixers season is going to be ratcheted up to the maximum. We already heard they’ll be slated for the maximum allotted nationally televised games during the upcoming 2026-27 regular season. Tuesday morning, we received news of a few of those high-profile events.
The Sixers will open the season on Tuesday, October 20 at Madison Square Garden against the defending champion New York Knicks. While I don’t relish the idea of seeing a banner-raising ceremony in front of the cheering arena of Knicks fans, a Sixers win to kick off this new era would provide a small measure of consolation. Some are calling this one the Ariel Hukporti revenge game.
Philadelphia’s home opener will be on Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 pm ET against the Cleveland Cavaliers. With Jaylen Brown and LeBron James taking the court in Philadelphia for the first time as Sixers (not counting possible preseason appearances), those tickets are sure to be sold out and highly sought after on the secondary markets. James Harden in the building should provide some interesting Sliding Doors-like thoughts to run through our heads.
Later, the Sixers will make their return to Christmas Day action as they head west to take on the Lakers in Los Angeles. It will be LeBron’s first time playing against the Lakers since the 2017-18 season during his second stint with the Cavaliers. I would imagine this game will be at or near the beginning of Philadelphia’s annual Disney on Ice road trip. Seeing the Sixers square up against Luka Doncic should be one fun final present to unwrap that day.
The only surprise is not seeing the Sixers up against the Boston Celtics in one of these slates for the Jaylen Brown return narrative. Regardless, I’m sure the league will have at least a couple juicy viewing windows across the four meeting between the clubs this season, and these already announced games have plenty of fun star power and storylines. Basketball is nearly back!
