LeBron James is back in a spot where the ball is supposed to find him early and often.
At practice on Thursday, 76ers coach Nick Nurse laid out how he sees James fitting into Philadelphia’s offense in 2026-27, and the plan is pretty clear: let him create, let him set the table, and let him decide how a possession unfolds.
“I think we got several guys that what I would call grab-and-go,” Nurse said, via the 76ers. “If they get rebounds and their first advantage is to start pushing it up the floor and it stays that way, then they’re going to do it.
And I think we’ll have enough what I would call probably secondary trigger, secondary offensive triggers, that shouldn’t matter. If it’s LeBron or if it’s JB or if it’s VJ [Edgecombe], kind of on and on from there.
“But to answer the last part of your question, listen, I just think LeBron, I consider him a great offense creator,” Nurse continued. “And I don’t necessarily mean scorer.
I just mean creator and a table setter and all that kind of stuff. And I think that’s where I could see, if it isn’t bringing it up and starting, it’s probably going to be first pass anyway to the wing, and then we get into our actions, and he’s kind of seeing what’s there, and he’s creating offense for others.”
That’s a notable shift after James spent more time than ever without the offense in his hands during the 2025-26 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. Luka Doncic ran the show for that team, and even Austin Reaves eventually moved ahead of the 22-time All-Star in the pecking order.
Nurse, who has been Philadelphia’s head coach since 2023, is essentially putting James back in the role that made him such a force for so long. The 76ers entered the summer with a clear issue: they didn’t have an elite playmaker. James changed that immediately.
He signed a two-year, $8 million deal and comes off a 2025-26 season in which he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game. Those numbers still scream impact, especially for a player who has spent much of his career as one of the league’s best creators.
For a roster built around Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey, James should make the whole thing flow easier.
And James sounds comfortable with whatever the 76ers ask of him.
“Whatever the team needs for me to do,” James said. “I think the luxury of my game is that I can do everything… Literally, I can do everything.”
He’s not in his prime anymore, but James is still one of the most complete players the league has ever seen. The consistency may have dipped, but he showed against the Houston Rockets in the 2026 playoffs that he can still take over when necessary.
That probably won’t be Philadelphia’s preferred route. With this much talent around him, James is expected to be the connector, not the emergency plan. And if it all clicks, the 76ers have every reason to believe he can help chase a fifth NBA championship in Philadelphia.
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As camp winds down, the real test is about to arrive with the Blue-White scrimmage at the home arena, a setting that should say plenty about how far this group has come in a short time. For Brown and the Sixers, the question is less about talent than how quickly chemistry can take hold, and the early look at that process is one of the more important developments of camp. [Read more 🡒]
LeBrons Sixers Travel Plan Is Already Raising An Awkward Concern
LeBron James is already mapping out a season that sounds more like a business commute than an NBA routine. During the 2026-27 campaign, he plans to split his time between New York City and Philadelphia, with a helicopter shuttle between the two cities shaping how he gets around. For a player accustomed to controlling every detail of his day, it is an unusual setup, and one that instantly adds another layer of intrigue to what his next season will look like.
Patrick Beverley, James former teammate, has already floated a cautionary note, pointing to potential safety issues with helicopter landings in certain neighborhoods. For the Sixers, the broader question is less about convenience and more about whether this kind of travel plan can stay practical over the course of a long season. It is a reminder that even for a player of James stature, the logistics off the court can become just as complicated as anything that happens on it. [Read more 🡒]
Sixers Face One Huge Question As Their New Stars Settle In
After a few days of training camp, Nick Nurse has already pushed the 76ers in a different direction, shifting the emphasis from defense to offense as the team tries to sort out what this version of the roster is supposed to look like. The early work has centered on role definition and chemistry, with the coaching staff pressing the group to play fast, attack the paint and create mismatches while the new stars get comfortable alongside one another.
Jaylen Brown and LeBron James are among the players still settling into those expectations, and their presence only raises the stakes on how quickly Philadelphia can find a clear identity. The talent is obvious, but the real question is how all of it fits together once the games start and the Sixers have to turn camp concepts into something reliable. [Read more 🡒]