Basketball star LeBron James left the sun of Los Angeles for Philadelphia, northeast of the United States, attracted by the spotlight of winning his fifth title in the American Basketball League (NBA) at the age of 41.
“The King” lives up to his title because he owns four crowns, including two with the Miami Heat (2012 and 2013), one with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2016), and one with the Los Angeles Lakers (2020).
LeBron, even though he has been named the best scorer in the history of the league and has the Best Player Award on his record four times, remains hungry for more titles.
“What am I playing for at this point? I still want to sacrifice myself. I still want to work. I still want to give it my all. I still want to fight and win and have a chance to regain the feeling that a new title provides,” LeBron said after his move from the Lakers to Philadelphia at the end of July, and before he began his 24th season in the “NBA,” on Tuesday.
The task will not be easy, with the opening match against the defending champion New York Knicks, but the reputation of the Philadelphia 76ers precedes them, as they arrive with a “super team” designed to win, and are seen as one of the most exciting clubs in the 2026-2027 season. In addition to “King” James, the “Philly” lineup is full of stars, and it has all the weapons to make its competitors tremble, starting with the giant Cameroonian-American center player Joel Embiid (26.9 points on average last year), through Tyrese Maxey, the dazzling playmaker (28.3 points), all the way to the new arrival this summer from Boston, the deadly Jaylen Brown (28.7 points). But the most important condition remains for this harmony to succeed, because everyone has the mentality of a leader.
During the preparatory matches, the team showed positive glimpses in some periods, but harmony between the players still needs time, and the group movements are not complete, and it seems that each player sometimes tends to showcase his individual capabilities when building organized attacks.
Nick Nurse, coach of the 76ers, admitted after losing in the last preparatory match against the Boston Celtics 125-120: “We want to play fast, and I think there is a little neglect, which is more like a kind of passivity.” “The harmony in tactical sentences is good, but we have to trust it more and continue to practice and develop it.”
LeBron James was seen in a different role, closer to the playmaker, facilitator of attacks, and the link between his teammates, while Maxi took on the task of advancing the ball and building the attack from the back.
Coach Nurse seeks to implement a dynamic and fast playing style, based on the principle of passing the ball one last time to the teammate in the best position before shooting.
In order to win a title that Philadelphia has missed since 1983, everyone will also have to put aside ego and vanity and accept sharing the ball and teamwork.
“Everyone is on the same wavelength,” James said. “We want to do our best, and that is the most important thing.”
Rising player LaBaron Philon Jr. (20 years old) expressed his amazement with LeBron James’ mentality, saying: “A player at this age continues to give everything he has for us, even in a preseason match, and that says a lot. Hopefully he can repeat that Tuesday and throughout the season. "It really motivated us, that's for sure."
During an almost imaginary career full of victories and titles, “King” James played 1,622 games, averaging 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists.
Last year, he finished a new season in which he scored more than 20 points on average, a level he is accustomed to maintaining, and his coach confirms that “if he feels good, he will play.”
If James succeeds in winning the league title, the three-time Olympic champion with the US national team (2008, 2012 and 2024) will become the first player to be crowned with four different teams.
LeBron James asserts: “I did not leave my family to be eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. There is work, and I am ready to continue putting my efforts into achieving it.”
Australian Ben Simmons' return to the NBA suffered a severe setback on Sunday, after his club, the Sacramento Kings, announced that he had suffered a rupture in his right Achilles tendon during training.
The Kings said in a statement: “Ben Simmons, a Sacramento Kings player, was injured during a live training drill in Sunday’s session. An MRI showed a rupture of the right Achilles tendon. Simmons will undergo surgery. Additional updates will be provided as necessary.”
Simmons missed last season due to recurring back problems, but last September he agreed to a one-year contract with the Kings.
The Philadelphia 76ers selected the 30-year-old first overall in the draft in 2016, but he missed the 2016-17 season due to a fracture in his right foot.
He won the Best Rookie Award in 2018, but his career, which was hampered by injuries with Philadelphia, ended in a tense manner in 2022, and his last participation in the league was in early 2025 when he played as a reserve with the Los Angeles Clippers.
During 8 seasons in the league, Simmons averaged 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game, and he recorded his best numbers with the Philadelphia 76ers before he missed the 2021-2022 season, then he moved to the Brooklyn Nets, where he suffered a decline in his level, before the club let go of him in 2025, so he completed the season with the Clippers.
Simmons increased club interest in him in August after a strong training camp with the Australian national team.
The Kings finished last season with a record of 22 victories versus 60 defeats. He has only reached the playoffs once since 2006, when he was eliminated by Golden State in the first round in 2023.
