CAMDEN, N.J. — During a conversation with Malika Andrews of ESPN, Joel Embiid opened up about LeBron James saying he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers to help him win his first NBA championship.
Embiid has never advanced past the second round of the playoffs, while James has been to 10 NBA Finals and is a four-time champion and four-time MVP.
“You’re talking about one of the greatest players who ever played, if not the greatest,” Embiid said. “To have him say that, it kind of validates, not so much what I’ve accomplished, but the way my peers might think about me.
“I’m at the point in my career where I need to win. Between everything that’s happened, that would be a good ending for the city of Philadelphia. And they deserve it.”
LeBron On Embiid: ‘I Want To Try To Help Him Get That First One’
On the latest episode of his podcast with Hall of Famer Steve Nash, James spoke about his decision to sign with the 76ers.
While James talked about his close relationship with Tyrese Maxey and how the Jaylen Brown trade was an “intriguing piece,” the NBA legend’s desire to help Embiid win a championship played a significant role.
“One of the most important, to be honest, is the big fella,” James said. “He’s done everything in our league, and the only thing he has not done and that’s win a championship. And I want to try to help him get that first one. He’s been MVP of our league, has a gold medal, All-Stars, signature shoes, bunch of money, beautiful family, he has everything.
“He has the city on his back. It’s been the process, you know, for what, 10 years, 12 years or however long he’s been there. But I mean, I think it’s time now that we even dig even deeper into the process, and I hope that I can be kind of that final little piece that can help him get over the hump.”
James and Embiid were teammates on Team USA in the summer of 2024. The two All-Stars helped the United States win the gold medal.
Embiid is a seven-time All-Star, two-time scoring champion and one-time MVP. He has career averages of 27.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in the regular season and 24.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in the playoffs.
“Going into this year, we just want to get as much time as possible with each other on and off the court, try to create those relationships, which we already have,” Embiid said at Philadelphia media day. “And then build from there. Every single day, wins and losses, learn something and keep evolving. Obviously, everyone has the same goal, and we’ve got to find a way to accomplish it. Day by day, keep getting better.”
LeBron: 76ers Need To Sacrifice To Win It All
James not only left the Los Angeles Lakers for the 76ers, but he also left his family.
James’ son, Bronny James, is on the Lakers, and LeBron’s wife (Savannah) and daughter (Zhuri) live in Los Angeles.
The NBA icon made a prominent personal sacrifice to join Philadelphia.
At 76ers media day, LeBron spoke about leaving his family and how he and his new teammates will have to sacrifice a lot this season to win it all.
“If we say that we want to do something special, there will be a collective sacrificing in a good way,” LeBron said. “Sometimes in sports, people hear sacrifice and automatically people start thinking negative about it. It’s not a negative thing. So many guys that’s been in our league over the course of my career have never made a sacrifice in their career, and they average 20 points and 22 points a game, and they’ve had one or two postseason appearances and zero postseason wins. If that’s the way you want your career to be, then that’s fine. Everyone has different goals. But I don’t think anybody downstairs or I don’t think anybody in the locker room have that feeling and want their career to be like that or we wouldn’t be here.
“We have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. That is the best way to expedite being great. You have to fall in love with doing things that are uncomfortable. And if we can do that, then we can be a great team. If we don’t do that, then we’ll be like, ‘Oh man, that was a great team on paper and we had a lot of great talent and we lost in the second round.’ I don’t want to do that. I didn’t leave my family to lose in the second round. I know that for sure. So work needs to be done, and I’m ready to put the work in.”
The 76ers will start Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Brown, LeBron and Embiid this season.
Philadelphia opens this season on the road against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
The home opener is against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
