Let the record show that in answering the first question of his first news conference as a 76er last Thursday, Jaylen Brown invoked the word “process.” And if you listened closely, you could just about hear reporters’ eyes rolling as they hunkered down in the sweltering Francis J. Myers Recreation Center in West Philly.
Full context: Asked about a whirlwind offseason that brought him by trade from the Celtics to the Sixers, he said the following: “It’s been a process. To be honest, I’m still processing to some degree, just one, the excitement of coming to a new city, new place, new expectations, new energy, then also leaving somewhere that you’ve been for a very, very long time.”
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That word again – process. Lord help us all.
Brown continued on from there. Asked how he might incorporate his game into a nucleus featuring LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe, he said, “My focus is winning. … At this point in my career, nothing else just really moves me.” Asked about a possible schism with Jayson Tatum, his co-star in Boston, he said, “On my end, it’s nothing but respect. Besides when he plays the Sixers, I hope he does well.”
So rote. So predictable.
Brown did admit that when he learned of the deal that brought him to Philadelphia, he “just threw (his) phone across the room.” He also said that he and Tatum haven’t spoken since the move – make of that what you will – and that he didn’t appreciate some of the things others said in the wake of the trade.
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“I think,” Brown said, “people attacked my character.”
But beyond that, it was a pretty workmanlike presser – not quite out of the Crash Davis handbook, but certainly on the same library shelf. Brown said what needed to be said, addressed what needed to be addressed. No harm, no foul.
In a larger sense, his approach figures to serve the Sixers well, as they embark on a most fascinating chemistry experiment. They need a buttoned-down, steady-as-he-goes guy like him. They need the consistency and reliability of someone who scores a ton, guards hard and speaks tactfully.
What they don’t need is a prima donna. And they certainly don’t need any drama. They’ve had enough of that in recent years, with James Harden and Ben Simmons and, let’s be honest, Embiid. With everything from Markelle Fultz’s thoracic outlet syndrome to Tobias Harris’ playoff disappearances to the outlook of Jimmy Butler, perhaps the only person on the planet who didn’t like Brett Brown.
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Now the focus is on melding the talents and egos of a bunch of guys (many of them new) who don’t lack for either. And certainly Jaylen Brown would seem to be the one who will have to make as big an adjustment as anyone.
With Tatum missing most of last season due to an Achilles tear, Brown put up a career-high 21.7 shots a game, second-most in the league to Luka Doncic (22.8). Brown also attempted nearly 16 two-pointers a night, an NBA high, which resulted in a red alert at stat-nerd headquarters. One individual in the pocket-protector crowd went so far as to tell ESPN’s Bobby Marks that Brown was viewed as “the seventh-best player on a team.”
And, well, sure. All of us can see that. It’s a wonder the guy is even in the league.
Back in this galaxy, he finished sixth in MVP voting and made All-NBA Second Team, having scored at a 28.7 point-per-game clip. That too was a career best, and led to a surprising No. 2 seed for the C’s in the East (which went for naught, since the Sixers came from 3-1 down to upset them in the first round of the playoffs).
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But now he might be second, third or even fourth fiddle. Maxey took the third-most shots in the league in 2025-26 (21.4), which like his scoring average (28.3) was a career high. Combine that with the fact that Embiid (26.9 ppg) put it up over 18 times a night (albeit in 38 regular-season appearances) and Edgecombe (16 ppg) fired nearly 14 times a game, and the full scope of the challenge becomes clear.
That would appear to be where LeBron comes in. He squeezed off just over 15 shots a game for the Lakers in 2025-26, fewest in any of the 23 seasons he has played to date, while averaging about 21 points a game. Given his skill as a passer, he will have an enormous say in how successful (and happy) everyone is.
“Obviously on paper we look great,” Brown said, “but let’s all slow down. It takes real work every single day in order to make something like this happen.”
Work, he added, that has already begun. The five starters have been communicating on a text chain, which among other things led Brown to suggest that everybody go skydiving if the Sixers win the title – and James to dismiss that idea out of hand.
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Some of them have also begun showing up in the gym at the practice facility. (That includes Embiid, whose physique looked Wildwood-ready in a photo that made the rounds on social media.)
As for Brown, he said he is “looking forward to doing whatever it is I need to do,” while adding that he will talk to “whoever I need to talk to, to make sure that we get on the same page and that everybody’s focused on the same thing. Because we do that, then we’ll be where we want to be.”
He sees the big picture, in every sense. When he was coming out of Cal before the 2016 draft, an anonymous personnel guy told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears that Brown “might be too smart for the league,” a nice way of asking, Does he want it badly enough?
Understandable, since he took actual courses during his year at Berkeley (even a graduate course), and has a wide range of off-court interests beyond skydiving, like anime, chess, learning foreign languages (he speaks Spanish and Arabic) and music (he plays acoustic guitar and the piano). His philanthropic pursuits during his decade in Boston – pursuits centering on curtailing income inequality and increasing opportunities for young people in underserved communities – drew praise, and he pledged to continue that work here. (The site of last Thursday’s presser was hardly a coincidence, and as he entered the Myers Center’s gym beforehand he dapped up the dozens of kids who had lined up to greet him – each wearing a blue Sixers T-shirt with his name and No. 7 on it.)
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But basketball is the platform that allows him to do all that, and he seems well aware of that, too. In Boston he was a five-time All-Star, a two-time All-NBA selection and in 2024 a Finals MVP, when the Celtics beat Dallas for the title. Now he’s here, and part of an ensemble cast that has the entire city buzzing.
That includes a man named Lovelace Acquaye, my cabbie on the way to Thursday’s news conference. A native of Ghana, he said he’s been driving for 20 years. He has warm memories of Allen Iverson and is a fan of Embiid’s, seeing as Cameroon is not far from his homeland.
And what of this season?
“No excuses,” he said. “They got to make us proud this time.”
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A little while later, the last thing Jaylen Brown said in his first presser as a 76er was this: “Let’s get to it.”
Yes, the time is fast approaching when they will “throw the ball up,” something he has been saying on social media since the trade went down. And by all means let’s do that. Let’s throw it up and see if the Sixers can meet the moment. Let’s see if they can soar so high that skydiving becomes a realistic possibility.
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