CAMDEN, N.J. -- The Philadelphia 76ers were able to land LeBron James in free agency to add to an already talented roster that has its eyes set on winning a championship in the coming season. James brings his basketball brilliance to Philadelphia in an effort to help this franchise end some lengthy droughts.
James averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2025-26 season, his 23rd in the league, and will be looking to win his fifth NBA championship to his legendary career. He has won with the Miami Heat twice, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Lakers. Now is the time for the Hall of Famer to end another drought in Philadelphia.
As James prepares for his first season in Philadelphia, and 24th overall, his new
teammates gave their thoughts on him joining them in the City of Brotherly Love:
VJ Edgecombe on James
"Obviously, it was an exciting moment when he announced that he was coming to Philly. I'm just happy, obviously, to be in the space to play basketball, and I'm just happy to see everyone on the floor, and obviously playing alongside LeBron and Jo (Joel Embiid) and Tyrese (Maxey), JB (Jaylen Brown). It's learning. I'm learning every day. That's the main thing for me. Just learn, have fun."
Justin Edwards on James
"I was surprised, honestly. The way I found out we got LeBron was one of my friends called me, who's a huge LeBron fan. Then JB, it was unexpected, too. I'm just more excited to learn from those guys. They've done it at the highest level, two MVPs. So, just like I said, I'm excited to learn from them."
On James being drafted six months before he was born: "It just shows how old Unc is, man. Yeah, it is kind of crazy. Just since he's been in the league, six months before I was born, but like I said, I'm just excited to learn from him."
Anfernee Simons on James, who was on the Trail Blazers when James made his Lakers debut against Portland
"I mean, it's crazy. That was my obviously my first experience of the NBA is watching LeBron and that game in general was crazy. It's crazy that you can say you've been teammates with somebody like LeBron James. So, I'm gonna take full advantage of it. I was talking to my parents the other day. Like I'm not a type person to really like take in moments that well. I kind of press them to the side, but I feel like this year, I need to take advantage of this experience because I understand that many people don't get this experience, and just being around this team in general with this many great players, and so I'm going to take action every day and learn something new and try my best to learn as much as I can."
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on James
"I'm just excited just to play with him again, I think, and also just to just to play basketball, you know? I've been out since All Star break this year, and I'm just so excited just to be on the court, but just being with him, it just adds another plus to the game and to me going into being that leader for this team. So, I think he's going to be a great part for me helping his organization and him helping me as well."
Dominick Barlow on James
"I mean, it was a shock. I called a bunch of the guys to see if they know. I was just with my friends when I found out playing golf. So, it was definitely exciting. I think it'd be fun. I think we could do a lot of different things between Bron, myself, and a lot of big forwards that can switch and do a lot of stuff defensively. So I think that's going to be exciting. Offensively, his ability to get out of transition, make the right pass, and really just be a smart basketball player is going to help us a lot, and some of the stuff we can do in the half court as well, I think that we're going to be a big, strong team this year. It's going to be exciting to watch."
Labaron Philon Jr. on James
"I mean, it's been good just to see him around and stuff like that, but thoughts on that, I would say he's a leader. He's going to be someone that all the young guys and older guys on the team can ask if you need some help or something like that, or if you need advice on just like the longevity. I mean, he's been playing ever since I was born. So, I would just say having a lot of questions for him will definitely be good for everybody around him. I mean, like I said, he's been playing the game long since I was born, so it's going to be a great feeling just to ask some things and learn different things, and I feel like that's from everybody around me. Just being able to just learn from those guys is going to be important."
Jabari Walker on James
"I thought I was over it, but I don't know. When I walked in the locker room and seen him, it's like flashes all over again. I was like, OK, dang, I guess this is this is still exciting. So, I think now I'm just at the point where I want to help him. I think he's a great individual, and he's very motivated, and you just want to be a part of something special. So, I'm more in the mindset of just doing what I can every day to be an asset to this team. These are my brothers at the end of the day. I've met all of them. I have a relationship with all of them. So it's something bigger than just being being teammates. It’s more about understanding their story. Jo, Tyrese. They all they all have a certain objective that they want to get to. So I'm just just helping them with that. We all got to do it together."
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Multiple Sixers give their thoughts on adding megastar LeBron James
