Before Labaron Philon Jr. ever plays a regular-season minute for the Philadelphia 76ers, he’s already making the kind of move that can speed up a rookie’s adjustment: getting in the gym with Tyrese Maxey.
That matters in Philadelphia. Maxey has built his reputation as one of the hardest workers the team has seen in a long time, and his rise is the blueprint every young guard would love to follow.
He didn’t lock down a steady role right away, but by year two he was a full-time starter. Not long after that, he became an All-Star.
For a young player trying to carve out a place on a team with bigger ambitions, that’s the kind of path worth studying.
Philon appears to be doing exactly that. He’s been working with personal trainer Chris Johnson, the same trainer who has spent time in the gym with Maxey since before his NBA days. Johnson has also recently worked closely with Maxey, LeBron James, and Jaylen Brown before getting VJ Edgecombe and Philon into workouts.
The clips that have surfaced suggest the focus has been on ball-handling, and that’s no small detail. For Philon, that skill could decide how quickly he finds his lane in the rotation.
Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, & Labaron Philon working on their handles 👀🔥
(📸: chrisjohnsonhoops / IG) pic.twitter.com/7ALkJ9hcjj
- RB (@RBPhillyTake) September 3, 2026
Philadelphia does have depth in the backcourt heading into the 2026-2027 NBA season, but it doesn’t have many pure point guards. Anfernee Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are expected to be the first veteran guards off the bench, while Philon is seen as a player who could crack the deep rotation early. If he’s going to do that, ball-handling is going to be a major part of the equation.
The 20-year-old guard out of Alabama is coming off a two-year college run that showed steady growth. As a freshman, he averaged 10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 45.2% from the field and 31.5% from three.
His sophomore season brought a big leap. Philon shot 50.1% from the field and 39.9% from beyond the arc while putting up 22.0 points per game. He also averaged 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds.
It’s still early, but Philon is taking the right approach. Working alongside Maxey and Edgecombe gives him a chance to build chemistry with new teammates while soaking up the kind of information that can help a rookie win a rotation spot sooner rather than later.
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