It's quite possible that the Philadelphia 76ers have built the most impressive super team in the history of NBA super teams. While the talent caliber is high, that doesn't mean this group will be able to work together. If this crew of All-Stars can't cooperate, it will be yet another rough Philly season.
The system in Philadelphia has been running on fumes for some time. Drafting Joel Embiid third overall in 2014 was supposed to be the beginning of a new era for the 76ers. Instead, it's been 12 seasons of second-round ejections, assuming that they even made the playoffs at all.
Part of the problem without question has been Embiid's availability. He has missed 485 games in 12 seasons, mostly due to injury, while playing in 490. That's nearly a 50/50 split. To be fair to Embiid, the man has terrible luck. He missed the first few games of the 2026 playoffs due to appendicitis.
Embiid isn't the real issue. In reality, it was the front office's inability to put together a team that could capitalize on his dominance while remaining competitive without him. That has changed recently with the rise of Tyrese Maxey and the drafting of V.J. Edgecombe, as well as the 2026 offseason.
The 76ers need to be the paragon of cooperation to succeed
Philly has made two of the top five biggest moves since the end of the season. First, they somehow tricked the Celtics into giving them Jaylen Brown in exchange for Paul George. Second, they managed to sign unrestricted free agent LeBron James to a veteran minimum contract.
If you're keeping track, that gives the 76ers a starting lineup consisting of Embiid, Maxey, Edgecombe, Brown, and James. That's two NBA Champions, two league MVPs, four All-Stars, four All-NBA team members, and one of the top three rookies of 2025-2026.
The only question is if this crew can actually work together. Assuming they can all put their respective egos aside and actually play as a team, this could be the most dominant franchise in the Eastern Conference. But they could also be undone by their own hubris in two specific cases.
Fans know that Embiid, Maxey, and Edgecombe make a good team. They proved that last season. The x-factors here are James and Brown. It remains to be seen if those two in particular can coexist on the same roster. That specific relationship will define if this season leads to success or failure in Philly.
Is there too much history between James and Brown?
Brown was drafted third overall in 2016 by the Celtics. At that point, James had already been in the league for 13 seasons. The King headed to the Lakers a couple of seasons after Brown's debut. Anyone who follows basketball knows exactly how deep the rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics is.
Both players are highly competitive, and have faced off multiple times in the regular season. Their only postseason duel happened in 2018 when James was still in Cleveland. The Cavs won the series, but it was one heck of a fight. In some cases, there were literal fights. It got intense.
On top of that, there has been a bit of off-court tension between the two players, specifically relating to Brown's 2024 comments about James' son. From the outside, it seems like James and Brown are good with each other, and they are both professionals after all. Still, the proof is in the pudding.
Really, no one knows what this is going to look like until all five players hit the court and go to work. If nothing else, Philly now has a squad that can remain competitive, if not dominant, when Embiid is injured. That is something that should scare the rest of the NBA.
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