Five scenes from LeBron's first Sixers training camp: meetings, group chats and 'the vision'

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  Dave McMenaminOct 5, 2026, 07:00 AM ET

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  • Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN.
  • Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.

There might not be a more intriguing new-look team in the NBA this season than the Philadelphia 76ers.

It's not just the infusion of talent, but the rarity of the circumstances to acquire it that makes the Sixers so fascinating.

In any other year, signing forward Dean Wade to a four-year, $39 million contract and guard Anfernee Simons to a two-year, $12.3 million deal could be seen as a successful summer for a team coming off a second-round playoff appearance.

But then to trade for five-time All-Star Jaylen Brown two years after he led the Boston Celtics to the championship, making him just one of seven players in league history to change teams within two years of being named Finals MVP, made it an extraordinary offseason.

And adding LeBron James on a veteran's minimum contract made it potentially transformational.

With the Sixers playing their first preseason game Monday against the defending-champion New York Knicks, here are five key moments that have shaped their first week in training camp.

Monday, Sept. 28: four on the floor ... and a fifth in the group chat

Hours before media day opened with players posing for portraits and answering questions from local media members, the Sixers' four stars gathered on the practice floor.

They changed into their full uniforms later to be ready for photos. Their first order of business was a workout, not only to talk about, but demonstrate, how they can help one another.

All four had varying experience playing together, with Brown recently joining James and Tyrese Maxey for a few of their customary summer workouts in Los Angeles, and James playing with Joel Embiid on Team USA in 2024. But these first actions on the floor were tangible examples of the sacrifices this group has said it is willing to make for this season to be a success.

"Worked on getting to know each other," one team source told ESPN. "Camaraderie, rhythm, cadence and playing with each other."

With 36 All-Star appearances among them, each player has a game that commands extra attention from opposing defenses.

Philadelphia intends to exploit that by having its foursome work on two-man plays for when defenses inevitably overcommit.

"All four of those guys are going to be trapped somehow during the game, whether it's in the post or on the wing," the source continued. "We worked a lot on passing out of the post, making the extra pass to the corner."

Second-year guard VJ Edgecombe, the fifth starter on the team, was not part of these exercises, but there have been early indicators that he'll be included, too.

Edgecombe took it upon himself to start a group chat this summer for James and his new Sixers teammates.

"Before 'Bron got [here], I was like, 'Yo, I'm making a group chat: Me, 'Rese, JB, Joel,'" Edgecombe said of his initial plan he shared with Maxey. "And then 'Bron came, and obviously I don't got LeBron James' number, so ... I told Tyrese to do it. I asked Tyrese if he could [add him]. ... But it was my idea. Anyone telling you it was their idea, they're lying."

The 21-year-old's gesture seems to have gone over just fine with the vet nearly twice his age.

When ESPN asked James on media day for his first thought when hearing Edgecombe's name, he replied:

"A star."

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Tuesday, Sept. 29: "The Vision" is shared

As eager to take the floor as everyone was Tuesday morning at the team practice facility in Camden, N.J., Sixers coach Nick Nurse first had something in store for his players.

Nurse, who guided the Toronto Raptors to the championship in 2019, led a 30-minute team meeting in a conference room a level above the court to address the lofty expectations this season.

"The theme of it was to try to set the mission and vision of the team for the year," Nurse told ESPN. "That's easy to do, but then you got to have the plan right underneath that."

Inside the room, Nurse stood in front of the team. He introduced the "pillars" he expects his team to adhere to and then detailed the plans on offense and defense and what steps the players will take to execute them. He preached holding one another accountable, sources said, and that the Sixers intend to feast in transition.

"I think a lot of the points of it were so you're not wondering why we're doing this when we're downstairs," Nurse told ESPN. ".. I'm trying to give them a little bit of a head start."

Simons, another newcomer, said the meeting was helpful.

"Just setting the tone of what we expect as a team," he said. "Just pointing out the expectations for us as a unit, what it's going to take for us to reach those expectations. It was a good meeting. Obviously, it gave us a little bit of motivation to go out there."

For James, though, this discussion was a bit of a rehash.

Nurse was on the golf course in mid-July, two weeks before James signed with the Sixers, when Nurse received a text from Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, asking him if he was available to talk.

After the coach confirmed that he was, Paul called and passed the phone to James.

Nurse paused his round and took a seat in his golf cart, as the two outlined an impromptu vision.

"I think the first things were just offense and defense -- the nuts and bolts of basketball," Nurse told ESPN. "He played us a couple times [since Nurse became Philadelphia's coach in 2023] and I'm saying, 'Hey, we did this because of this and this because that,' and he goes, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, that makes sense.'

"He would kind of remember why we were doing what we were doing on offense. So that was the main thing.

"And then it kind of veered off to, 'Where's the fit? How do you see the fit?' And I was all for it. I thought there was a perfect fit for him to slot right in there and give us a lot of what we need."

Wednesday, Sept. 30: "We ain't there yet"

The collective mood of Philadelphians is often tied to the fate of the city's professional sports teams.

While the 76ers were opening training camp, the Philadelphia Phillies were closing out their season in a devastating fashion that is all-too familiar for Philly fans.

Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey has enjoyed as successful a start to a tenure as any Philly sports executive thanks to the way he has built his team since being hired in May. He showed solidarity with the Phillies last week by showing up to practice in a red, fitted Phillies hat.

But even Gansey's support couldn't help the Phillies from blowing a late-inning lead in Game 1 of the playoffs for the third straight postseason, setting up an eventual 2-1 National League wild-card loss to the Atlanta Braves in their best-of-three series.

For a group attempting to end the Sixers' 43-year championship drought, in a town used to hard-luck results, divine intervention certainly couldn't hurt.

Nurse invited pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell from 2819 Church in Atlanta to address the team Wednesday.

"He was great," Gansey said. "Talked to our team for about 20 minutes ... and the guys were really locked in."

Mitchell announced the speaking engagement on his Facebook page.

"More than professional athletes with contracts, they are men with souls and real-life challenges," he wrote. "Appreciate your prayers for them and for me."

Later that evening, sources told ESPN, the team met for dinner at Lark in the suburb of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, overlooking the Schuylkill River.

The Mediterranean-style menu is cultivated by former "Top Chef" winner Nicholas Elmi. The occasion was not just another bonding experience, but it provided inspiration for Sixers rookie guard Labaron Philon Jr. regarding the relationship he could eventually develop with an all-time great such as James.

"Did you see him and KCP's handshake when we were at dinner last night?" Philon asked during a live stream Thursday, referring to James greeting his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at the team event. "

I was like, 'Damn, that s--- hard.' ... We ain't there yet."

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Friday, Oct. 2: the farthest away but still the first

James' daily routine begins at the Sixers' training complex around 7:45 a.m., when he is met by his longtime athletic trainer, Mike Mancias, to work on his body.

There is stretching, activation and modalities to check off as he embarks on an unprecedented 24th NBA season, breaking his NBA record for player longevity with every game he plays.

And there is special attention paid to his left foot, which has chronic arthritis, sources told ESPN, and his lower back, which caused him to miss the first month of last season because of sciatica.

Practice was scheduled for 11 a.m. during the first week of training camp.

Edgecombe recalls the first time he saw James in the locker room before practice.

"He was in there before everybody," Edgecombe said. "As usual."

This, of course, despite living nearly 100 miles away in New York City.

James takes a 40-minute helicopter ride to work, with the chopper landing on the helicopter pad on top of the Sixers' business offices next to the practice facility.

The commute has invited outside curiosity but does not appear to faze anyone in the organization who are used to Sixers managing partner and primary owner Josh Harris coming and going the same way.

After Friday's practice, James' helicopter was heard inside the facility as Sixers third-year forward Justin Edwards wrapped up his media availability with reporters.

Edwards finished his final answer, turned his head toward the ceiling and joked, "Is he coming back?"

Saturday, Oct. 3: "a great first step" and a Marvel

To try to quantify the impact this revamped Sixers squad is already making on the region, consider that last fall, the team's annual Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage was held at Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Delaware -- home of the G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.

Saturday's was held at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

"We're getting people that want to come ... to a scrimmage. I think that that's incredible," said Leslie Walker, the executive director for the Sixers Youth Foundation.

"Going from having a thousand or so people at the scrimmage to possibly 13,000? ... That's really big."

The Sixers did not keep an official attendance tally, but the arena, with a capacity of 20,478 for basketball games, appeared more than half full, and there were fans lined up in the atrium more than 10 deep an hour before tipoff, waiting to take their seats.

One fan in attendance didn't have to go through the turnstiles.

Marvel Maxey, the Sixers' star shooting guard's 4½-month-old daughter, made an appearance on the bench, wearing white noise-canceling headphones while her dad held her and sat next to James. The image invited memories of James' first child, Bronny James, sharing the bench with his dad during the past couple of seasons -- as his Los Angeles Lakers teammate.

The Sixers did not keep an official box score for the scrimmage either, but the exhibition -- that the team limited to three 10-minute periods -- featured plenty of dunks, 3s and highlight plays to give the fans a show.

"To be able to take what we've done on the practice floor, bring it to a game-floor situation around our fans ... it was a great first step in the direction we're trying to go," James said. "And it was great to hear some cheers."

The fanfare will be part of it for this Sixers team. But that's why James is in Philadelphia. He made that clear at the start of their first week together on media day.

"We have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable," he said. "That is the best way to expedite being great. You have to fall in love with doing things that are uncomfortable. And if we can do that, then we can be a great team. If we don't do that, then we'll be like, 'Oh man, that was a great team on paper, and we had a lot of great talent, and we lost in the second round.'

"I don't want to do that. I didn't leave my family to lose in the second round. I know that for sure. So, work needs to be done, and I'm ready to put the work in."