Superteams in the modern era of the NBA rarely work out. For a litany of reasons — chemistry, coaching, injury — a collection of stars on one team often doesn’t lead to championships.
The Heat did it, sure. The Warriors did it, of course. But for every Heat and Warriors there are many more teamups that end up in failure and dirt being thrown around in the media.
So there’s reason to be reluctant to … king the 76ers as next season’s champions simply because LeBron James decided on Friday his “last decision” was to sign with them.
But sometimes in basketball the obvious is in front of you. Of course we all should have assumed the Knicks would win the Finals after they kept blowing out all of their Eastern Conference playoff opponents. Of course Victor Wembanyama was going to live up to the hype; he did this before even making it to the NBA.
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LeBron James — the LeBron James — just joined a team with former MVP Joel Embiid, former Finals MVP Jaylen Brown and two of the more promising young guards in the NBA in Tyrese Maxey and V. J. Edgecombe.
What weaknesses does this collection of players have?
All five of them are capable of regularly putting up 20 points. Four can regularly give you 30. Three can easily get you 40 or 50 if you absolutely need them to. Oh, and Embiid went for 70 just two years ago.
The 76ers’ defense wasn’t great last season (16th in defensive efficiency) but adding Brown to play alongside Edgecombe on the wing and Embiid in the post makes that unit difficult to score on. James isn’t the all-defensive team player he used to be, but he’s who you fear like Michael Myers lurking on a fastbreak layup attempt.
The bench lacked scoring (32.4 points per game ranked 27th) but the additions of Dean Wade (5.8 points per game) and Anfernee Simons (14.3) should be enough to hold the second unit afloat.
Sure, there’s only one basketball: Brown (3rd) and Embiid (6th) were top 10 in the NBA in usage rate last season; Maxey ranked 27th and James 47th. But when these starting five are on the court you can’t double-team anyone, you can’t sag off of anyone, you can’t zone your way out of those problems. How many lineups in the league have five players who could reasonably take the last shot in a game? I’ll wait.
The one thing that can trip these 76ers up is all the testosterone in that locker room. We know James brings a media circus wherever he sets up, not to mention his style of leadership has at times been described as passive-aggressive. Embiid has no problem throwing a teammate under the bus, as he infamously did to Ben Simmons after the 2021 playoffs. Brown has publicly bad-mouthed Embiid (“[He] flops. He know it.”) and James’ son (“I don’t think Bronny is a pro.”) and overall isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind. Maxey and Edgecomb may not say as much, but their collective demeanors read: Try me if you want to.
Egos or toxicity ruined the 2003-04 and 2012-13 Lakers, the late 2000s Celtics, the 2017-18 Cavaliers, the 2021-22 Nets, and Kevin Durant’s recent stints with the Suns and Rockets.
But if no issues arise in the Philadelphia locker room, and if — big if — Embiid is playing healthy ball in April and May next year, this very well could be the year the 76ers finally do it. (And the fact that they built this team not from intentionally losing games to get high draft picks, as they did in the Process era, is certainly not lost on most Philly fans.) We could be looking at the 2026-27 NBA champions being formed in real time.
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