A Boston Celtics View of LeBron James Going to the Philadelphia 76ers

On paper, this makes the Sixers a strong contender, but there are practical locker room dynamics that make this an interesting situation to watch

Jan 28, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) drives to the basket defended by Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown (7) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James has shockingly chosen the Philadelphia 76ers as his final stop in the NBA, Tweeting out, in part, “I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time.”

another championship.

I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time.  

Thank you LA. Miami I’ll forever love and Northeast Ohio will always home!

🙏🏾🫡👑

— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 24, 2026

It puts an immense road block in front of the Boston Celtics, who already needed a lot to go right in order to make a deep run in the playoffs next season. Now, the Sixers have gone from probably the same tier as the Celtics to the tier above, and a legitimate title contender. 

They will have a starting lineup of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid … for however many games Embiid can play. James will also probably sit on back-to-backs, but the Sixers also have newly acquired Anfernee Simons and Dean Wade to pick up some of the slack. 

On paper, it’s a hell of an offensive team. Their defense will be lacking some, considering Embiid is a year older and can’t defend like he used to (which is part of why I’m still annoyed by Boston not attacking him more in the playoffs). James isn’t the defender he used to be, either. Maxey is a flat-out target, which leaves Brown as their best individual defender, but also as a guy who is prone to mistakes on the help side. 

More than that, though, is the question of fit. That lineup is pretty nice on paper, but Brown consistently called this past season in Boston his favorite because he had a chance to lead a younger group past its expectations. His departure has seemed oddly palatable to him, partly because it seems he had a chance to lead his own team. 

But an already questionable fit with the Sixers has now become more so because of James’ arrival. He tends to dominate the locker rooms he is in, which leaves some question about where Brown fits in the hierarchy in Philadelphia. How does Embiid see himself? How do all of these high-level players figure out who the alpha dog is? 

It’s entirely possible that everyone can willingly take one step backwards in order to pursue a championship. At the same time, situations like this can easily turn into individuals expecting others to take a bigger step back than themselves. 

There is also the very real question about injuries, and how available James and Embiid will be in the long run. That could add some spice to the locker room dynamics, especially if Brown is the healthy one but he feels others are trying to trump his leadership. 

I’m very curious to see how this all lands with Brown in the long run. He has spent 10 years in Boston and has seen a locker room crumble when Kyrie Irving was in town. He could use that experience moving forward, which would be helpful to him. At the same time, he’s spent a lot of time in a very stable locker room situation, so any discord in Philadelphia could be a shock to the system. 

Again, on paper, the Sixers have a strong case to be considered the best team in the East. We need to see it in practice, though, and I’m looking squarely at Brown to see how he holds things together in a very new situation.