CAMDEN, N.J. -- The Philadelphia 76ers have one of the more talented rosters in the league as they will feature the likes of LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Jaylen Brown in an effort to reach the mountaintop in the league. The Sixers have so much offensive talent that they won't have many issues on that end of the floor.
However, defensively? That is the area that Brown and the Sixers are focused on.
"That's the most important thing because that's the hard part," Brown stated defensively. "You know, the easy part, I feel like will be figuring out the offensive stuff. It won’t be as hard because we got so much talent. Get out in transition, go into a guy in the post. Maxey from the 3-point line. VJ (Edgecombe), attack the basket, take
advantage of his matchup. LeBron is LeBron James. So defensively, I think that's where we really got to make sure we take our hat on each and every night."
There are a number of players who can help this Sixers team score the basketball at a high rate. Brown, Maxey, Embiid, and James all averaged over 20 points per game in the 2025-26 season. It will be on the defensive end of the floor where Philadelphia needs to be up to speed and make sure everybody is ready to go.
"Can't get so caught up and worried about how the offense is going," Brown continued. "Got to make sure – clear communication, identifying coverages, and holding each other accountable. Getting back on defense as well. So we've been working on that. That’ll be a part where--it's just a whole new system, whole new calls. I gotta like download my brain to a different algorithm to make sure I'm not calling the wrong stuff. Because the names are different."
What Brown means is that he needs to understand the terminology with the Sixers now and understand how coach Nick Nurse and his staff like to run things. Obviously, 10 years with the Boston Celtics is one way, but he is now with the Sixers and that means a whole new set of defensive schemes.
"It's not the same," Brown said. "Some of the terminology--they use the same words, but it's a whole different coverage. So that's the mind, I don’t wanna use the word. Same word but different terminology or vice versa. So, you gotta be able to like, make sure I'm calling the right stuff. Make sure everybody's on the same page. Make sure when we come out of the timeouts, out of the huddles, we all know what we're in. We all know what we're supposed to be doing."
Due to the offensive talent, the Sixers will be OK. However, none of that will matter if Philadelphia can't get the stops it needs to close out wins. Therefore, that defensive end of the floor needs to be focused on and make sure everybody knows where to be, when to rotate, when to double, when to trap, and so on and so forth. Brown is making sure his teammates are locked into what needs to be done.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Jaylen Brown opens up on what Sixers need to focus on to be successful
