PHILADELPHIA -- LeBron James has seen a lot in his 23 years in the league. He's won four championships, four MVP awards, been named an All-Star 22 times, and is this great game's all-time leading scorer. As he gets set to enter an unprecedented 24th season, and first with the Philadelphia 76ers, he will look to continue his brilliant career.
Despite being 41, and set to turn 42 in December, James is still one of the better players in this league. He averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds in the 2025-26 season with the Los Angeles Lakers, and is still a productive player in the league as an All-Star.
New York Knicks coach Mike Brown, of course, coached James from 2003 through 2010 with the Cleveland Cavaliers, so he has a lot of respect
for what James brings to the table.
"The first thing, year 24 is insane," Brown started. "It's unheard of. It's not human. People talk about Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) being, you know, not human because of what he can do for his size. You gotta throw LeBron in that category because of his variability and still doing it that age that he has at a high level. It's amazing to watch."
With that being said, James has been taking care of his body since he entered the league. He has leaned on a lot of his teammates and taken advice on how they take care of themselves and that's why he's been able to be as successful as he has.
"If there's anybody that's going to do it, he's going to do it because even when he was young, he was really diligent about taking care of his body, and he was not afraid to ask the vets like Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was one of the best in terms of taking care of his body," Brown continued. "He was not afraid to ask him what he does daily, and then follow his lead. So, just an amazing, amazing run for an all-time great."
James is joining the Sixers with championship expectations. The future Hall of Famer is going to continue to produce at a high level alongside Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey as this roster should give the defending champion Knicks a run for their money.
"I mean, you look at their roster and it's just loaded," Brown said of the Sixers. "I mean, multiple time All-Star, multiple time All-Star, multiple time All-Star. MVP candidate, MVP candidate, MVP. I remember back in the day, Pop (Gregg Popovich) said when I was an assistant for him, the change from having two All-Stars on your team to having three, he brought it to our attention as a staff. He was like you need at least three NBA All-Stars, and not just one-offs, but plenty of All-Stars to go win a championship."
The Sixers certainly have plenty of All-Stars with James, Brown, Embiid, and Maxey. One has to believe VJ Edgecombe will certainly be on his way to a number of All-Star appearances as well in the near future. That is going to make the Sixers tough to stop and Brown and the Knicks know it.
"I mean, you look at this team here, and they got as many All-Stars or guys of that nature as what they had in Miami when LeBron was down there," Brown finished. "So, they're definitely a deep team, a talented team. Nick Nurse does a phenomenal job. He's a championship-level coach, and they're definitely going to be one of the teams that are contending in the East. In my opinion, it just got harder for everybody with the team that they assembled there."
The Sixers and Knicks will open the season against each other on Oct. 20 at Madison Square Garden.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Knicks coach Mike Brown gives thoughts on LeBron James joining Sixers
