October 09, 2026
John Jones/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
LeBron James' preseason debut made it clear: he will quarterback the Sixers' offense.
NEW YORK – About two minutes into his first game with a player whose career is three years older than he is, VJ Edgecombe locked eyes with LeBron James. Neither one of them said a word, but they did all of the communicating that was necessary.
James slowly dribbled with his right hand, from the left corner to the middle of the foul line. After the brief eye contact made with Edgecombe, James' head faced Tyrese Maxey, an elite three-point marksman standing on the right wing. As James got to his spot, Edgecombe dashed from the right corner to the basket, blowing by an unsuspecting defender. James turned in a one-handed, no-look bounce pass. Edgecombe rose up for the easiest dunk of his life.
"It's just all a read," Edgecombe said after Thursday's preseason exhibition against the Brooklyn Nets. "Obviously, someone like him just requires so much gravity and attracts so much attention that I've just got to play off of him. And that's cutting, running the floor, spotting up, whatever."
In his first official contest donning a Sixers jersey, James' historic playmaking gifts were on full display in all contexts. He dropped dimes as a short roller, he made precise hit-ahead passes to create easy baskets off of opposing makes and he picked apart Brooklyn's defense for half-court assists. Whether he is called the point guard or not, he is the quarterback of the 2026-27 Sixers offense.
James, whose ability to read the game may be unmatched in the history of the NBA, has a slew of teammates ready to pick up on his instincts. That includes the 21-year-old Edgecombe.
"We made eye contact," Edgecombe said, "and I knew what that meant."
VJ Edgecombe on receiving this assist from LeBron James: "We made eye contact and I knew what that meant." pic.twitter.com/14mPILf7Fj
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) October 9, 2026
Before the Sixers fell into a lull of sloppy turnovers and ill-timed mistakes, they showed flashes of the sort of brilliance the talent on their roster can create. And James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, had no interest in hunting his own shots. He was singularly focused on creating for others.
As he totaled all five of his assists in the first quarter, it almost appeared as if James was playing with new toys – and the Sixers have plenty of ammunition for him to experiment with. At the top of the list: two of the fastest players in the NBA comprising one of the league's most dynamic backcourts. All Maxey and Edgecombe have to do, it turns out, is sprint. James can do the rest.
"You’ve got to sprint," Edgecombe said, "and you've got to be ready for the outlet pass. You never know when the ball's going to come your way."
LeBron James' long-range passing ability combined with the straight-line speed of VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey should make for tremendous synergy: pic.twitter.com/lqI6E1lc3d
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) October 9, 2026
It is no secret, given the personnel the Sixers are working with, that transition opportunities will be especially valuable. The team's clear emphasis on hit-ahead passes, advancing the ball past half-court as quickly as possible, has been evident through two preseason games. On Thursday night, the Sixers had multiple baskets or drawn fouls off of Nets makes because they executed quick, crisp hit-ahead looks.
"Get the ball up the floor, kick it ahead, and play the game the right way," Jaylen Brown said. "Run, fill the corners, basic stuff. It seems we got a really good group. We don't overcomplicate things, but the more simple details are the most effective. Sprint to the corner, get our spacing, play the game the right way, and that's 50 percent of the job right there."
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has mentioned how important he believes it is that his team be intentional about its pace. Before Thursday's game, he reiterated that belief.
"The ball travels faster through the pass. So I think if you do want to play with pace, being able to get it up the floor via the pass is always important," Nurse said. "I think the increased full-court pressure that's kind of developed over the last two seasons in the league – if you're getting jammed in the backcourt, you obviously can throw it ahead. Now you're playing in – maybe not [a] numbers advantage, but you're playing in smaller numbers, i.e., 4-on-4 or 3-on-3 or whatever. So that's always important, too."
Sometimes it will result in an easy basket like the one Edgecombe had to kick off Thursday's scoring. Other times, it will allow the Sixers to play in smaller numbers as Nurse said. It will also create crossmatches against scrambled defenses, a recipe for success for a team that has many mismatch hunters.
"I think it's always important just to be able to attack offensively before the defense is set," James said. "So anytime we can get some early transition points or early attacks against defenses that's not set, or you know, you've got VJ, you've got Tyrese, you've got JB, we're able to punch gaps, especially if they have a numbers advantage, or even a one-on-one advantage, the guys are not going to really be able to stay in front of them. So it's great we [connected] on a couple of them tonight."
MORE: How Sixers can proceed after Ariel Hukporti's season-ending injury
James' playmaking spearheaded the Sixers' flashes of excellence on Thursday night, but after the team's initial offensive onslaught it reached a buffering period. The Sixers committed a whopping 11 turnovers in the second quarter alone, and it often felt like their lineups with mixes of starters and reserves were made up of players with little to no experience playing together. Perhaps the explanation: those lineups were indeed made up of players with little to no experience playing together.
"We just had turnovers, but they're all unselfish turnovers," Edgecombe said. "It's like, we’re-trying-to-pass-to-each-other type of turnovers."
In fairness, it did appear that many of the Sixers' turnovers – eight of which were committed by Joel Embiid – came as a result of oversharing. Embiid acknowledged he has often struggled mightily with turnovers in his first few appearances of seasons. The Sixers also have five players used to being ball-dominant. Perhaps they are all overcompensating for their new circumstances. As every member of the starting group has acknowledged over and over again, this will take time.
But it is already clear that the Sixers will be better off for being able to face the challenges ahead of them with James as their quarterback.
"Yeah, I think it helps both offensively and defensively," Edgecombe said. "Defensively, he's loud, he's talking... And then offensively, he just creates plays. And obviously, he just requires so much gravity, everyone else gets open and he don't care who scores. He already got the record. He don't care to score anymore."
MORE: Notes on all five Sixers starters from first preseason game together
