LeBron James says the Philadelphia 76ers are bracing for a season of trial and error as a roster with limited shared history tries to find its footing together. And the veteran is already preparing his new teammates for the outside noise that will come with it.
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James spoke about the challenge of building chemistry during a recent podcast appearance, explaining that the Sixers will have to experiment before figuring out what works. Philadelphia enters the 2026-27 season with a new-look core that includes James, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe. The team also added players such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Anfernee Simons and Dean Wade during the offseason.
“There’s going to be trial and error because this is our first time all getting together,” James said.
James pointed to the familiarity between some of the players while acknowledging that much of the roster is still learning the system and one another.
“Obviously, you know, Tyrese and Joe has the most chemistry out of anybody. They’ve played together for what, eight years now or seven years now, but the rest of us are learning,” James said.
The team will have to figure out which lineups and approaches fit best as the season progresses. James expects some things to work immediately while others may need to be abandoned after the team gets a better understanding of its identity.
“There’s some things that we may start the season off doing that we know, okay, oh, we like that,” James said. “And then we can, you know, get to a point where, you know, December come around, we try something else. That don’t fit for our team. That’s not, that doesn’t fit for our ball club.”
LeBron James Wants the 76ers to Block Out the Noise
The challenge will not only come from inside the locker room. James knows a team with this much star power will attract opinions from the media, supporters, friends, and even family members.
Questions surrounding Embiid’s health, Brown’s arrival from Boston, and how the team’s high-level offensive players will share opportunities are among the storylines surrounding Philadelphia entering the season. The NBA’s own season preview identified Embiid’s health and Nick Nurse’s ability to make the new-look roster work together as major questions for the Sixers.
James’ answer is to create a separation between what happens around the team and what happens inside it.
“We got to have a bunker mentality,” James said.
He later explained exactly what that means to him.
“Nothing matters outside this, what we have, or either with the practice facility, or we at the arena, nothing matters,” James said. “Like, everyone’s gonna have their opinion. Family members are gonna have their opinion.”
James knows those opinions will not stop once the season begins. He even imagined the conversations that could take place in group chats after games, with people questioning shot attempts, passing decisions and playing time.
“You know you got your group chat with your boys, they’re like, man, you got 11 shots last night, you should’ve had 15,” James said. “Yeah, why Bron ain’t pass the ball more? Why Joe ain’t pass the ball more? Tyrese saw you on the wing.”
For James, that kind of outside discussion is nothing new.
“It’s gonna be all that type of shit. I already know, I already see it. I vision, I already know it,” he said. “I already know, it’s been happening my whole career.”
Instead of allowing those conversations to influence the group, James wants the Sixers to focus on accountability within the team.
“The only thing that matters is what we preach to every day, and how we’re gonna hold each other accountable,” James said.
That standard, according to James, will eventually be tested. The Sixers will have to maintain it through the inevitable adjustments and setbacks that come with putting a new roster together.
“If we can do that, if we can preach that, if we can practice that, because it’s gonna be tested,” James said.
Health will also remain an important factor. Philadelphia’s roster is built around several major pieces, with the NBA’s season preview specifically highlighting Embiid’s availability as a central question after he played just 96 regular-season games over the previous three seasons.
James knows there will be plenty to figure out before the Sixers can fully understand what this group can become. But his message is not to avoid the difficult moments. It is to work through them together.
“If we can practice and preach that every day, then we’ll give ourselves the best possible chance, along with health, obviously, which is very important, probably the most important in sports,” James said. “Then we’ll give ourselves a good chance to be where we wanna be when it’s time.”
For a Philadelphia team entering the season with a dramatically reshaped roster, James’ message is built around patience, accountability, and shutting out the noise. The trial and error will come. What matters to him is how the Sixers respond when it does.