LeBron James played 18 minutes, took one shot from the field, made it, and did not return after half-time. By the time the Philadelphia 76ers had lost 114-108 to the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Thursday night, the 41-year-old’s first appearance in a competitive game for his fourth NBA franchise had delivered exactly what pre-season is for: a sample, and a warning.
“It felt a little different, obviously, wearing the uniform,” James said afterwards. “But the game is the game, and the game is being played on the floor.”
The box score was tidy — 10 points, five assists, four rebounds, a steal, 1-of-1 shooting and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. He was the only Sixer with a plus-10 rating. All five of his assists came in the first quarter. His first basket as a Philadelphia player was a reverse layup off a Tyrese Maxey feed, and he marked the occasion with the chalk toss he first performed in Cleveland two decades ago.
Philadelphia led 58-56 at the break. Without James, Maxey and Jaylen Brown on the floor for long stretches of the second half, they did not lead again.
A passer first, a scorer later
What stood out was not the scoring but the distribution. James spent his 18 minutes probing early in the clock, hitting cutters before Brooklyn’s defence could set, and head coach Nick Nurse singled it out.
“He’s a great, great passer, it was certainly on display tonight,” Nurse said. “He really read the game well.”
James framed it the same way. “It helps just to be able to attack offensively before the defence is set,” he said — a sentence that doubles as a description of how this roster is meant to work. The projected starting five of James, Brown, Joel Embiid, Maxey and VJ Edgecombe outscored the Nets by two points in roughly 10 first-half minutes together.
Edgecombe, the 21-year-old third pick who finished with 11 points, described the adjustment in simpler terms. “We made eye contact and I knew what that meant,” he said of one James pass. “Someone like him just requires so much gravity.”
Brown led Philadelphia with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting; Maxey had 14 on 5-of-8. For Brooklyn, Julius Randle scored 14 and Noah Clowney 11.
Embiid’s eight turnovers
The night’s genuine concern wore No. 21. Embiid played 24 minutes, scored six points on 1-of-5 shooting and gave the ball away eight times.
“Got to do a better job taking care of the ball,” he said.
That is the central puzzle of this team, and it has little to do with James’s age. Embiid and Brown recorded the two highest usage rates of any player with 100 or more playoff minutes last spring, both at 32.5%. Add James, Maxey and Edgecombe and the starting five combine for roughly 134% of career usage — a figure matched in the modern era only by the 2010-11 and 2012-13 Miami Heat. Of 30 comparable super-usage teams, only 16 reached a second round.
Embiid has also played just 42% of Philadelphia’s games across the past three seasons, including 45 of 94 last year. He arrived at camp visibly leaner, has missed no practices and is under no restrictions — Nurse called himself “extremely happy he was out there” on Thursday — but availability, not talent, remains the variable the rest of the league is watching.
Eleven days to the opener
James signed a two-year, roughly $8m deal in July, taking the veteran minimum in year one — down from the $52.6m he earned with the Los Angeles Lakers — with a player option for 2027-28. It is his 24th season. He left Los Angeles after eight years and one championship with a stated purpose, and he repeated it on media day in Camden: “I didn’t leave my family to lose in the second round.”
Philadelphia have not advanced past the second round since 2001. They went 45-37 last season, came from 3-1 down to beat Boston in seven games, then were swept by the New York Knicks, losing the final game by 30.
There is also a personal adjustment running underneath the basketball. Asked about being away from his family, James said: “Every day it’s getting better. Obviously I’m gonna have some days where days will be better than others.”
- Preseason record: 1-1 — beat the Knicks 120-97 on 5 October with James rested
- Remaining: at Boston on Saturday, Celtics at home on 16 October
- Season opener: 20 October at New York
- Injury: centre Ariel Hukporti out for the season with a torn right Achilles
Nurse has said he wants about two weeks before fixing roles. James, asked how long the fit would take, did not pretend otherwise.
“It’s going to take some time,” he said. “Tonight was a good sample.”
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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