LeBron James Hails 'Great First Step' with New 76ers Squad!

The Philadelphia 76ers hosted their annual Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday, providing an early and promising glimpse of the team for the upcoming 2026-27 NBA season. Dubbed the basketball equivalent of a dress rehearsal, the event attracted approximately 10,000 enthusiastic fans to the Xfinity Mobile Arena. This venue choice marked a notable change, as the exhibition was moved from their G League affiliate's home in Delaware to accommodate the significant increase in interest surrounding the new-look roster, which now features superstar LeBron James.

Anticipation was palpable, with fans forming lines over ten deep in the atrium an hour before the noon start. Once inside, they were treated to a dynamic on-court display by the team's star players, including LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and the franchise's long-standing center, Joel Embiid. LeBron James expressed his satisfaction with the day's proceedings, remarking, "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."

The atmosphere was electric as longtime Sixers public address announcer Matt Cord, who had come out of retirement after the team's historic summer, introduced the Blue team's starters. Each name, from Tyrese Maxey to VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, and LeBron James, was met with cheers, culminating in a thunderous roar for "7-2 from Cameroon, No. 21, Joel 'The Processsss' Embiiddddd!" Embiid, while stating that the order of announcement didn't matter, acknowledged the profound impact of the crowd's support. He emphasized the necessity of fan involvement, noting, "We love the fans. We want them, and we need them to be part of this... It's already hard enough to win as a group that gets together for the first year. So we're going to need all we can, whether it's from everybody in this building, the fans, the outside people, we're going to need to get together. We're going to need all the support possible."

While no official box score was maintained, the scrimmage offered compelling sequences that highlighted the early chemistry developing within the squad after just one week of training camp. Key moments included James deftly finding a trailing Embiid for an above-the-break three-pointer. Both Tyrese Maxey and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope delivered precise passes for alley-oop dunks that the 41-year-old James finished with impressive ease. Embiid also demonstrated his defensive capabilities with a block on the springy second-year guard Edgecombe, alongside contributing a powerful dunk of his own.

When questioned about his physical state compared to the previous season, a noticeably slimmed-down Embiid responded, "Pretty good, not bad," before light-heartedly adding with a smirk, "That's probably the last dunk of my career." LeBron James, despite having only four official Sixers practices and the scrimmage under his belt, confidently asserted that Embiid was a significantly healthier player than when they won a gold medal together at the Paris Olympics two summers prior. James praised Embiid's dedication, stating, "The difference between '24 and now, he's just so much more healthier. He hasn't missed a practice. He's been in damn near everything that we've done. Pretty much. They've had to sit him out at times, even when he wanted to keep going... So it's been good. Actually, great."

The scrimmage was structured into three 10-minute quarters, with each period uniquely commencing with the scoreboard set to 80-80 to simulate a high-pressure end-of-game scenario. Following the event, Sixers coach Nick Nurse extended his appreciation to the supportive crowd. The team is scheduled for a day off on Sunday before embarking on their four-game preseason slate, beginning with a home game against the New York Knicks on Monday. James commented on the upcoming preseason, stating it would be "good to get out there with some of our guys to just get a rhythm," while also emphasizing the importance of not overdoing it and continuing to fine-tune their strategies for the regular season ahead.