The Decision in 2010.
The return to his Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014.
Then 2018 and one of the most famous jerseys in basketball – the Los Angeles Lakers.
For most of LeBron James’ career, his arrival automatically meant one thing: his new team was a championship contender.
James turns 42 in December, and his arrival alone no longer makes a team a title contender.
But are these Philadelphia 76ers title contenders anyway?
“His basketball IQ is one of the highest in the history of the game,” Nikola Vučević told SK Week. “The way he reads what other teams are doing, what his own team needs to do, how they’re going to defend somebody… That’s going to mean a lot to Philadelphia.”
No Obvious Holes – on Paper
Look strictly at the roster and Philadelphia seems to have everything.
Talent certainly isn’t the issue.
Neither is coaching. Nick Nurse has been in charge since 2023 and already knows what it takes to win a championship, having done it with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
The first and most obvious question is health.
Joel Embiid’s injury problems are well documented, particularly in the playoffs. Philadelphia’s championship hopes will once again depend heavily on whether he can stay healthy.
Then comes another question.
Is one basketball going to be enough?
One Ball, a Lot of Stars
Tyrese Maxey has emerged as perhaps the face of the franchise.
Now two more major NBA stars are joining him.
Neither Jaylen Brown nor LeBron is a selfish basketball player, but both naturally occupy a lot of space within an offense – and within a team.
James is well aware of his age and should be comfortable letting others carry a bigger share of the load, stepping forward when Philadelphia needs him most.
Brown, meanwhile, spent years sharing leadership responsibilities with Jayson Tatum in Boston.
There is reason, then, to believe all of this can fit.
But only if everyone is willing to make it fit.
“I think the biggest thing is we can’t have anybody – nobody on this team can have an ego,” Maxey told HoopsHype. “We have two guys that have won regular-season MVPs, two guys that have won Finals MVPs, multiple gold medal winners on this team, multiple 25-plus points per game, All-Stars, All-NBA. We’re all pretty accomplished. So the ego has to drop and you have to do it collectively.”
Brown’s message was even simpler.
“My focus is winning. Whatever it takes.”
The Players Who Make Stars Fit
That is also why the players around Philadelphia’s biggest names could become so important.
VJ Edgecombe can do a little bit of everything. Anfernee Simons provides shooting, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope brings years of experience and championship pedigree.
On a roster loaded with players who need touches, players who don’t need the ball to have an impact become particularly valuable.
And Nick Nurse should have plenty of different ways to use them.
Philadelphia can go big or small. They have the personnel to push the pace, which should be one of their primary weapons, but also enough skill and basketball IQ to execute in the half court when the game slows down.
The options are there.
Finding the right combinations is another matter.
Can This Finally Be the Team?
Since the beginning of the Process, Philadelphia has built talented rosters, entered seasons with huge expectations and repeatedly talked about championship ambitions.
And yet the Sixers still haven’t reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
You have to go all the way back to 2001, when Allen Iverson carried Philadelphia to the NBA Finals, to find the franchise’s last appearance on that stage.
Can this group finally change that?
It will take time to establish the hierarchy – who has the ball, when and where, which lineups work and how Nurse wants this team to play when games tighten up.
Above all, Philadelphia will need the one thing it has so often lacked when spring arrives.
Health.
The Sixers have the talent. They have depth. They have a championship coach.
Now they have to become a championship team.