Sixers

Running Thread: Sixers Media Day 2026

By Matt Schultz

Published: Sep 28th, 2026 · 1:46 PM EDT

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It’s Media Day for the new-look Sixers. A lot going on down over here in Camden. I’ll update this blog with quotes and stuff as the day goes along, but for now I’m just gonna put some pictures up and jot down some general observations/notes. Here we go:

LeBron James

Look at this. LeBron in Camden. Wild:

“You guys know who I am, right?” as he takes his name card off the table. Good stuff:

• LeBron says the big thing he’s learned in Philly so far is everyone’s on the same page, from the players, coaches, to the organization as a whole.
• LeBron put a lot of emphasis on putting in work. He mentioned it a bunch of times. A lot of “getting 1% better every day” type of talk.
• Looks like LeBron was wearing two very cool chains.
• A guy asked a Shaquille O’Neal question that LeBron didn’t seem to care much about. He kind of glossed right past it to the next question.
• LeBron mentioned the importance of staying even keel through the season, despite all the noise outside the building, and acknowledging that it’ll now be “quadruple” what it’d normally be because he’s on the team. He hit the point again that it’s all about the work they put in.
• Asked if there’s anything about being a pro basketball player he won’t miss when he retires: “The process is something I’ve aways enjoyed,” but there are aspects of being a professional athlete he won’t miss. That was all he said on that. I don’t get why someone asked about this. A fine question, but not really Sixers-related. Maybe this is par for the course with LeBron around. People just asking random-seeming, only-applies-to-LeBron stuff.
• “Jo is one of the most talented guys we have in the world.” Hell yeah.
• “(Joel) put a lot of work in on his body, his game, his mental this offseason.” Nice.
• LeBron says he’s still settling in, learning new streets, learning new people. Says it’s been eight years since he’s been on this side of the country and he has to get used to the weather again.
• On Philly fans: “They know sports. They know ball. And if you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing, they’re gonna let you hear it, and I’m excited about that. That’s holding people accountable. This is a sports town. I believe it’s the only city where all the sports teams are in the same parking lot basically. All of them. I’m excited to just be a part of this.”
• Asked about what he knows about Philly/his experience here over the years, he says he’s gotten a lot of respect from fans for how he plays the game because fans know ball here, but fans have hated him, too. “You’re not with us. We hate you.” He says he loves that attitude, and that he really thrives in that kind of environment. He got pretty animated talking about that.
• LeBron says this thing’s gonna take time, even though people want it to be “instant oatmeal.”
• “In order for us to be great, we’re gonna have to do things that just aren’t comfortable.”
• “I didn’t leave my family to lose in the second round, I know that for sure.” Hell yeah.
• “Work needs to be done, and I’m ready to put the work in.”

Joel Embiid

• Joel says he was excited about Jaylen Brown joining the Sixers, but was also sad to see Paul George go. He was happy when PG came and their kids were friends.
• While talking about JB joining the team, Joel makes sure to mention how the Sixers came back to win the Boston series in the playoffs last year. Made me laugh a little. Cool Boston dig.
• Joel says he had no hand in recruiting LeBron, then made a face that made everyone laugh. I am reading through the lines here and thinking he did, in fact, recruit LeBron heavily.
• Joel talks a lot about wanting to play as much as he can this year.
• “I’m trying to figure out if I want to troll or not.” lol

Tyrese Maxey

• Says he’s comfortable playing in pretty much any situation at this point in his career.
• When asked about how he became LeBron’s workout partner: “Who’s to say he’s not my workout partner?” Got a big laugh from the room.
• Maxey says him and LeBron became workout buddies in LA pretty organically right around the COVID bubble. Maxey was working out with Rajon Rondo a lot, who linked him to LeBron. Tyrese and LeBron started doing 6 AM workouts together, and things went from there.
• Tyrese talked about how different it is working out with LeBron now that they’re teammates. He explained that in the past, while they technically were “working out together,” that just meant they were in the gym at the same time, but they were always working on their individual games. But now that they’re teammates, they’ve been practicing actions together, working on their two-man game, figuring out how to get good looks while playing together, etc. It was interesting hearing him talk about this stuff.
• “I wanted LeBron. I didn’t want all of y’all,” Maxey says about the national media in the room. Everyone got a big laugh out of this. Think he was kind of serious, though. There are a lot of people here.
• Asked about the circus that follows LeBron: “Me, I”m focused on basketball. Doesn’t bother me honestly. Rest of that, the hoopla, all y’all people bring here, it doesn’t bother me.” He says that playing in Philly and for Kentucky has him used to the noise.

Jaylen Brown

• When asked about his adventures over the summer, Jaylen jokes that those weren’t actually him — they were A.I. This got a moderate amount of laughs. Not as many as Maxey got for his quips.
• “I think I just learn to learn. I love to learn.” Jaylen talked about this for a while.
• He mentioned he had fun surfing and did indeed lose his GoPro. That was a true story apparently.
• “I’m approaching this as an empty slate.”
• Says he’s trying to maximize his opportunities and not take anything for granted. Says he came in and is ready to work. At this point I’m kind of wondering if they were told by Sixers PR to keep repeating stuff like “I’m ready to work” and “We gotta put in the work,” etc.
• When asked about who the alpha is on the team, Jaylen said “Next question.” This was very funny. Air got sucked out of the room when he did this. Everyone seemed to get nervous.
• When asked about how people assess him game analytically: “What I value about this game is the human connection… I preach the human connection.” I don’t know what this means lol.
• When asked about misconceptions this offseason that bothered him, JB called out when Colin Cowherd said he had a disease. He called that “concerning, definitely a little bizarre.” I kind of forgot about that story. That was weird as hell. Seems like it really rubbed JB the wrong way.

VJ Edgecombe

VJ hasn’t talked yet but saw him wandering around the press area. Seeing a massive basketball player walking on carpet around among very small press people looked interesting:

VJ on the mic now:

• VJ says he’s still a kid, just trying to learn as he goes into year two.
• After pretending he wasn’t in the Sixers group text, VJ laughs and says it was actually his idea to get a big group text going. He told Maxey to get it started because VJ didn’t have LeBron’s number.
• VJ says he was getting a pedicure when he found out the news that Paul George was traded. Says it was bittersweet because him and PG are buddies and had a strong relationship. Despite that, though, he says he’s excited to have JB here.
• (Jaylen Brown) don’t answer the phone when I call, but. You know, I think I gotta get there. Sometimes you gotta earn that privilege where they pick up the phone when you call, or something. But it’s all cool, though.” I think VJ intended this to be a joke, but no one laughed so he had to proceed through the quote as if it were real.

Loose Odds and Ends from the Rest of the Guys:

• Dean Wade says he’s been focused on playing great defense since his rookie year, when his coaches pulled him aside and told him that’s his best path to success: “(They told me,) ‘The one thing that’s gonna keep you on the floor is defense. You’re big, you move lateral quick enough that you can, you know, you can stay in front of people. If you wanna play, if you wanna stick in the NBA, you gotta do that. Every team has scorers, people that can create. You gotta be different.’… That’s probably the only reason I’m still in the NBA, is those guys sat me down, had to shift my mindset a little.”
• Adem Bona as he stood up to leave the mic: “Let’s get money.” Hell yeah.
• Anfernee Simons on why he chose to sign with the Sixers over other suitors: “The genuine relationship and the belief in me. The vibe I got here is that they (the Sixers) got a genuine belief in what I do and can provide. They understood like, you know, what kind of player I am and I can be. So it was pretty much easy from there.”
• Simons on being teammates with LeBron: “Yeah, it’s crazy… It’s crazy you can say you’ve been teammates with somebody like LeBron James. I’m gonna take full advantage of it. I was talking to my parents the other day — like, I’m not the type of person to really, like, take in moments that well. I kinda brush them to the side. But I feel like, you know, this year, I need to take advantage of the experience. Cause I understand that many people don’t get this experience.”
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — a former teammate of LeBron’s on the 2020 Lakers championship team — spoke about what his advice would be to the Sixers about playing with LeBron and the media attention that comes with it: “Block it out. Focus on the team goals. The outside noise doesn’t matter.”
• KCP on what he learned from being a part of two championship teams (with the Lakers and the Nuggets), and how the Sixers can help themselves get on that same track: “I think the best thing outside of the court is just being with each other, is one of the things I learned from LeBron, playing with him in LA. Doing stuff outside of basketball with your teammates can help… building that chemistry on and off the court, goes a long way… Both championship teams, we did similar things off the court. Dinners, going bowling, you know, I picked up golf when I was in Denver, some of my teammates took me out there… Dinner is probably the biggest thing that both of my championship teams did. And we make it mandatory. Just show up. Got a few hours with your teammates, then you can go do whatever you want. I think that goes a long way.”
• KCP was asked about his dipping three-point percentage over the last few years and how he feels about his shot now. He responded,”My shot is great. It’s like riding a bike. Just keep peddling.” He said he’s done a lot of shooting this summer to prepare for the season, and hinted that he may not have done as much preparation as usual the previous couple offseasons.
• Then — and I thought this was pretty interesting — he stopped himself in his tracks and said, “Let me rephrase.” He went on to explain that he’s a rhythm player. He needs to “touch the ball, feel the ball, and last few teams it wasn’t happening how I want it to happen.” KCP said he feels hopeful that it’ll be different with the Sixers, though, and thinks that with “Bron, JB, Joel, and Max,” there will be plenty of open shots. He said he feels confident he can get back to shooting 40% from three if he can get the ball and be in rhythm.