Jaylen Brown’s First Comments on LeBron James Joining 76ers Were All About One Important Thing

For his entire career to this point, LeBron James has been an enemy on the court for Jaylen Brown. Now, they are teammates.

James’s second stint with the Cavaliers coincided with Brown’s first NBA seasons with the Celtics; the two faced off in the Eastern Conference finals for NBA Finals berths in 2017 and ‘18; James emerged victorious both times, a stark statement to Brown about who ruled the league at the time. The King departed the East after that but joined Boston’s chief rival in Los Angeles, ensuring he’d remain a rival to Brown in spirit even if they never again met in a playoff environment.

Now they must put all that aside (as well as Brown’s diss of Bronny James a few years ago) to play alongside one another in Philadelphia with James’s decision to join the 76ers in free agency, following Brown’s trade out of Boston. On Monday night, the typically outspoken Brown jumped on a live stream to share his first thoughts on teaming up with the all-time great and former foe.

His biggest takeaway? The opportunity to learn from James is a rare one that he’s looking forward to taking advantage of.

“I’m super excited for this upcoming season,” Brown said on Twitch. “Yo, we got ‘Bron! What an opportunity that is. Obviously everybody is going to say whatever they want to say, and there’s going to be a bunch of media this whole entire season. But for me, what an opportunity it is to learn. One of my favorite things to do is to learn ... I love learning. To have the opportunity to learn, one, from one of, if not the greatest player of all time. I get an opportunity to, on the court, off the court, learn and gather experiences that can accumulate to my own knowledge base.”

That may be understating the matter. James’s list of accolades is miles long, as we know, but only he and his fellow NBA players understand everything that went into achieving those accolades. His preparation before games, his recovery routine, precisely how he wants his squad to manipulate the floor to create openings—these are all things that can only be observed and experienced by his teammates. Nobody can be LeBron, and Brown won’t absorb those habits by osmosis to follow in his footsteps. But every bit of information about how a great player goes about their business can be wielded by a player like Brown who seeks to improve his own game.

The 76ers should also be appreciative of Brown’s mindset. Plenty of stars have chafed at sharing the court and locker room with even greater superstar talents. Brown sounds excited at the chance he has to take notes on James’s approach to the NBA and that can only help the locker room synergy, which is going to have to be high if Philly wants this to work.

If everyone is as excited as Brown to play together, progress is already being made on that front.

Brown hints at new 76ers playstyle in latest live stream

Jaylen Brow — Brown should be hunting a lot of transition chances this season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 29-year-old scorer also hinted at how he sees the team playing when they take the court together.

Brown revealed on Monday night that he’s already lost around seven pounds this offseason compared to his playing weight for last year.

“I think I lost about seven pounds,” Brown acknowledged. “Just to be a little bit more fast and nimble. I gotta keep up with [Tyrese] Maxey and [VJ] Edgecombe and LeBron this year, so I did lose about seven pounds. I feel great. I’m jumping higher, running faster.”

The Sixers don’t project to be a Mike D’Antoni-esque run-and-gun team with this roster, but getting out in transition will be a big part of producing points offensively. Brown’s desire to get faster seems to reflect that. He, Maxey and James all ranked top-five in transition points per game during the last regular season. Brown is an elite athlete, Maxey is the fastest player in the NBA and LeBron is perhaps the best transition point scorer in NBA history with his combination of size, athleticism and smarts. They all recognize the importance of getting easy buckets when possible.

With a slimmed-down frame and fewer ballhandling responsibilites, Brown should be able to prioritize those points to a degree not seen since he shared the court with Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum.

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