LeBron James isn’t feeding the idea that he came to Philadelphia with Joel Embiid on the chopping block.
That trade talk had been floating around well before James chose the 76ers, with some rumors suggesting he might not want to land in Philly because Embiid’s injury issues made the fit feel messy. Others took it a step further and assumed James would eventually push for Embiid to be replaced by Anthony Davis, his former teammate.
James shut that down in the latest episode of Mind The Game. He addressed the impact of each star teammate on his decision and, when he got to Embiid, the message was pretty clear: he’s not arriving with a plan to run the big man out of town.
James said Embiid has already done plenty in his career, but one thing is still missing from the résumé - a championship. And in James’ view, that shouldn’t be the end of the story.
"I want to try to help him get that first one," James said.
Embiid’s individual accolades are already stacked. He has seven All-Star nods, five All-NBA nods, three All-Defensive honors, two scoring titles and an MVP from the 2022-2023 season. But the postseason has remained the wall Philadelphia keeps running into, with getting past the second round standing as the biggest hurdle in the Embiid era.
James may no longer be operating at the MVP level he once did, but on paper, he still gives the 76ers a major boost as a complementary piece. With James and Jaylen Brown joining Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, the new-look Sixers have plenty of top-end talent if it all clicks.
James also made it clear he sees himself as part of the solution, not the center of the show.
"I hope that I can be kind of that final little piece that can help him get over the hump, and have him see maybe just see it a little bit differently than he's seen it in his career, as far as like the day-to-day process, the day-to-day what it takes to get there," James finished.
None of that erases Embiid’s biggest problem, though. Health still hangs over everything.
LeBron won’t magically solve that. But if James can help sharpen Embiid’s daily routine and squeeze a few more games out of him when it matters most, the 76ers could be sitting in a very strong position in 2026-2027.
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LeBron's Sixers Decision May Have Taken A Turn Fans Never Saw
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James himself has at least acknowledged what Philadelphia has had to offer in the present, praising the Sixers strong core and the kind of roster that can make a deep playoff run. For a fan base that has lived through endless speculation around stars, that kind of remark only adds another layer to the old question of how close the Sixers came to landing one of the games biggest names, and what might have followed if the decision tree had broken differently. [Read more 🡒]