Mind the Game - LeBron James on Choosing the Philadelphia 76ers

Episode Date: September 25, 2026

We're back with a brand-new season of Mind the Game with Steve Nash and LeBron James! In this episode, LeBron tells opens up about his decision to leave the Los Angeles Lakers for the Philadelphia 76ers. But first, the fellas pay tribute to the late great Don Nelson. Then LeBron goes through the step-by-step process of deciding to come back for Year 24. Of course, we get into the question everyone is wondering... 'Why Philly?!' The fellas discuss how they see LeBron playing with Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and the rest of the roster. After that, LeBron reminisces about his time in LA playing with teammates like Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Anthony Davis and achieving the ultimate victory with the 2020 NBA Champion Lakers. Finally, Steve and LeBron have a deep conversation about superteams. Thanks for tuning into Mind the Game with Steve Nash and LeBron James. We have a big year coming up so be sure to subscribe if you haven't and we'll see you next time.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're back. Man. Mind the game. Mine the game. Season four. Season four. Time flies quick. Philly, huh?

We rolling? Of course we are. You got me. You got me. You got me. Let me know. Let me go. I spent a little bit of time there when I was younger.

I actually played at the Pallestra in high school. Yeah, my senior year, it was, you know, growing up and being like a historian and reading stories about the Pellestra and obviously, Will Chamberlain and all the things that he did there. and how historical it was for us to go there, my senior year, being from Akron, I was like, oh man, I'm like in a building with some of the greatest ever played. So it just had an aura about it when I played it. It was fun.

AI came to the game. That was pretty cool to see Bubba Chalk at the game. What do you remember about that game? What I remember about the game was that we was playing the number one player in Pennsylvania. Maurice Rice. He had broke Wilk Chamberlain. single season scoring record.

So I'm reading all this stuff about Wilt in the history of the game. And we're traveling to Philadelphia and they say, okay, well, you guys are going against the guy who's broken Wilt single season record. And I'm like, this guy Wilt averaged 60 and 40. What the hell is this guy doing?

So it was like, oh, we better have our shoes tight and we better be ready to go. Yeah, I definitely remember. And I remember walking into that arena and just, it just, it felt like, it felt like the Coliseum. Like, like, gladiators, like, fought in this place. Like, it was an old, like, field, like, feeling about it. So you can tell, like, the basketball gods and the basketball spirits was in there

that night. Like, it felt, it felt right. History was in the building. It felt right. That's cool, man. Yeah, I always love asking you old questions like that. Yeah, yeah. How much you always remember about shit that's like that's.

a million years old. Yeah, that felt right. Yeah, that's cool. It's a shame. I mean, we always got to move on now, but those old buildings are the best for a totally different reason. I don't know if you had to plan them every day,

but this is always special. Yeah, I always think about now, like even now in the present, like, you know, playing in the new arena that Gold State has, compared to Oracle. Like, I had so many battles in Oracle, and Oracle felt like that, too.

Like, it felt like everything was on top of you. Like, it felt like, that like, so it's always like, you know, going into the, I think it's a chase arena now, I believe, but it's always feeling like a little different, you know, going in there now. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Instead of a concrete circle. Exactly.

Yeah. Before we get into Philly, before we get into Philly, before we get into Philly, before we get into Philly, I definitely want to bring up, obviously one of the greatest coaches ever played a game, someone that you play for, someone that you admired, and I want you to, we all take a time for the late great Don Nelson. Yeah. Yeah.

And just give us, you know, give me, you know, us, you know, the perspective, obviously, you play with him, being around them. You know, what did he mean for you? Nelly means the world to me. So for those who didn't get to spend a lot of time with Nellie, he's one of a kind. Larger than life, big personality, can walk into any room and own it, free spirit, but also a basketball mind and genius. I mean, the effect he had on the game, played in the league, obviously, one shot.

championships hit a game winning shot in the finals, I think, at the forum. I'm not mistaken. Hit the back room, bounced way up in the air, went in. Coached at an elite, you know, at an elite level, one of the all-time leaders and wins, was on the rules committee, always out in front of where's the game going, what are we doing, how can we affect and make the game better? But for me, it was about a coach and who took me at a time in my career that was tricky for me and where I was just trying to make a name for myself.

So I'd played two pretty good years in Phoenix, but was playing behind Jason Kid, Kevin Johnson. Second year earned a bunch of minutes, showed a little value. They thought they were going to lose me in free agency, so they traded me. And I went to Dallas and hurt my back. That's when I first realized I had back issues. So it was tricky at first, but playing for Nellie was amazing

because he would be. push you, but he also believed in you. And if you could handle it, he'd give you more rope and more rope and more rope. And so he challenged me in a lot of ways. And I remember one of the most impactful things Nellie did for me was made me more aggressive and less shy. You know, I grew up in an era where the point guard was to run the team, organize the team, facilitate. And he thought that was bullshit. He's like, you can score the ball, you can attack. I want you to attack and shoot the as many times as you need to shoot the ball. And you know, one story that I remember in the details may be a little fuzzy, but we played Atlanta,

I think. I came out pretty passive, maybe he had like five points in the first half, we're down 20. He kind of laid into us, got on me for not being aggressive. I think I had 35 in the second half, and we lose an overtime. And he comes in the locker room, and he was like, that's fucking bullshit. If you're a dominant player, dominate. And he lit me up. You know, you're thinking, you know, yeah, man, we lost but got us back in the game.

He's like, that's unacceptable. Like, your job is to attack and to kill people. And I think for me, as a young player from the West Coast of Canada, like, someone believing, like, you're as good as these guys. Don't sit and wait and playmate, go. And so that was impactful for me for the rest of my career to not be shy, to believe, to know I belong. And I think that him pushing and asking more of me and giving me more responsibility, but also letting me drown if I had to.

Yeah, you know? Remember he used to say to me if I were having a bad shooting stretch, he'd be like, sleep in the streets. Like, and I didn't quite know what he meant at the time. But he was like, man, if you're a bum, you're a bum, go sleep in the streets, accept it. It'll come back around.

And so there's so many stories. Those are just a couple. But the impact he had on me to have more belief, to have more, you know, you know, just feeling of I can do this at the highest level. And I also remember he made my first All-Star game. He kind of looked at me shaking my head like, because I had this like excitement and smile on my face.

He's like, oh, now you believe. You know, like, what have I been telling you to go do? So just he put a lot of life into me. Yeah, absolutely. Put a lot of life into me. And so one of the truly most impactful people, I think our game in our leagues had. And sorry, I went off on a tangent.

No, I love that. The guy means a lot. Absolutely. It's been a lot to our game, and we will miss you very much, Nellie, and love them. Absolutely. We send all our prayers,

our spears, our good vibes to his whole family, friends, everybody, anybody being associated with Nellie, and we lost a great one, but he's definitely going to continue to look down on us on the basketball community, you know,

for as long as he'll be up there with us. We know that. So that's awesome. Like I said, I never got an opportunity to play for him, you know, but I've been around them, obviously,

as an opponent, you know and just being around some of their teams either when he was in GS in Golden State or in Dallas, you know, so much respect, like you said, one of the most winning coaches in NBA history and that doesn't just come by luck.

That's right. No way. That is by detail, that is by knowing the game, that is by putting the work in and good things happen. So, unbelievable person. Thanks for saying that. Some cities shape you as a player, Dallas shape me as a person.

I spent six seasons there and it's where I really came into my own as a player. More importantly, it's where I met some of my best friends. Every summer, my friend hosts a celebrity tennis tournament, which always gives me a good excuse to get back to Dallas and talk a little trash to my old teammate. For this year's tournament, I booked a great home on Airbnb in the Uptown neighborhood. It was spacious, perfectly located, and put me right in the middle of some great restaurants and things to explore around Dallas. And while I love the tacos and burgers, Texas barbecue is no joke.

That's what I like about staying somewhere like Uptown. You're not just in Dallas, you get to experience the neighborhood, find your way around, and feel a little more like a local. And if you're heading out of town yourself, it's worth thinking about your home too. Instead of sitting empty, you can list it on Airbnb while you're away. Especially when something big is happening in your city, a sporting event, a concert, a festival,

fans traveling to your city can experience it like a local, while you earn a little extra cash to put toward your own travels. It's a pretty nice way to make your own travel. to make your home work for you while you're off exploring somewhere else. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.com slash host. You know, I'll give you my end of career feelings, because I want to get to the big picture of your summer.

Yeah. Like the start, I'm sure the summer started a lot different than it ended. Yeah, for sure. Right, or it's ending. You know, I retired at 40. The last year and a half or more was tough, injured. But when I got to 40 and retired, I wanted to play so bad. I wanted to play.

I just wanted to get whatever I could out of it. I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to compete. Because I knew the end is finite. Like, it's done, it's done, right? Coming out of this season, I mean, you just dominated a playoff series, right? So it's a little different. Like, health wasn't necessarily a mileage can be an issue,

but your health was good. You're playing at a high level. How did you go into the summer? And how did we get to the end of the summer? Yeah, like you said, you know, coming out of that playoff series and coming out of the postseason, I felt, you know, pretty damn good. You know, at the, like you said, the mileage that I have on my body that's all that's taking me to get to this point, I felt pretty good. But there was like a, there was a lot of moments of once we lost the OKC, is this the end, you know? Where do they show up?

Like, when are you thinking that, like, when you're in the locker, after the game, when you're playing home, just like on vacation with the fam? they show up in just like random moments like it show up sometimes the day of the game yeah you know it show up on the bus ride going or shows up like you know you're leaving home and now you got to get on a four hour flight

it'll show up there while you're on the plane and you just like reading or listen to music and you it just show up like this may be it you know so it shows up at random you know moments and random you know times of the day so you know it just always it played all the way

and obviously to the end of the season and also into the off season. Yeah. And as time goes by, you know, I'm sure you get some time with the fam. Yeah. You take your break. Yeah. You know, you do other things? By the way, did your golf game improve this summer?

It has. Here we go. It has improved. That's a good side, no? YouTube channel. Yeah, come on, now. Try out. But you go from like everything's in doubt.

Season ends, I don't know, team. Am I still playing? How do I feel about this whole thing? To what were the stages to get to like I'm playing first? Yeah, I mean, it all came down to, you know, for me, I've always told myself, like, if I feel like I can't put it in the process of waking up and training the body and training the mind and I feel good after I do that on a consistent basis, like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

Like if I feel like I am cheating that process because that's what's got me to this point, then I know for sure that I'm done. You know, and I was able to take the time off after the season. You know, it took like a month and a half, two months off of no basketball. I was still, obviously still, you know, doing certain things, whatever the case may be to try to keep the body in a good place. But yeah, I just felt like my body responded very well, you know, after the season, my mind responded better than it actually did last something. Okay. Do you attribute that to anything?

I don't know. I don't know. Like, I think the only thing that I continue to say to myself was like, if you still have an opportunity to do what you love, then why just say I'm just say I'm What is the reason and do you have a real reason? Right. If your wife is saying continue to go if you want to. Your daughter and your two boys are like, dad, do what you do. This is, you know, we're gonna be here. Like, if I have an opportunity to still do what I love to do and continue to inspire people

and what I love to do, then I think that's what it came down to. And I'm not gonna cheat it, you know, I'm not gonna just, you know, wake up and, you know, wake up and show up to practice, no stretch, no workout, no weight room, you know, no recovery, no nothing, just go on the court and play. It's like, that's your answer. Yeah, there's no way I can do that and be successful in this game. So I think it just came down to just like, like we talked to Earl, like you said, once the courage is closed, the curtains is closed. You know, and if you still have an opportunity to still play it at a higher level and compete at a high level, you know, why not?

For me, there was this two-sided nature of wanting to play, and it wasn't just loving the game. I love the game. I want to compete and perform. But as much as anything, I loved and was obsessed or addicted to the lifestyle of preparing, competing, recovering, you know, going against someone else the next night. Where's your balance between, I just love the game? Or has that love shifted to, like, I love this pursuit of trying to be my best every night?

Yeah, I think I'm more in love with the pursuit of, like, how, How much can I continue to define the odds? Yeah. You know, it's this whole like father of time thing that I'm, that I've actually like dived into and like have like a real basketball competitive thing with him. So like, you know, like last week I've been doing on the court, I've been working out Monday, Tuesday on court, take Wednesday off. And then I go Thursday Friday and then take the weekend off. Last week, I went Monday, Tuesday, and then my trainer hit me Tuesday evening.

It was like, the first two days, big fella, see you, see you Thursday morning. And I was like, you know what? Actually, I'm going to be in tomorrow morning. It was like, what? And I showed up Wednesday, and I did three days straight. Like, it was like, and I went through the workout, felt really good, responded well. And Chris, shout out Chris Johnson. And Corey, man, those are my guys, Corey Smith, those guys are awesome.

They was like, what you're doing here, three days straight? We ain't doing three days. I'm like, we don't get something done. And we got something done. It was super productive. So just like you said, Steve, I think that I'm more in love with just like the process of getting the body right, keeping the mind fresh. How long can I keep the mind fresh? And now moving on to Philly, you know, giving all the game and the blueprint to, you know, giving all the game and the blueprint to,

these guys, you know, to Embed, to Maxi, to VJ, you know, J.B. kind of, he has some of the blueprint because he experienced it, obviously, in Boston, you know, but Anthony Simons. And obviously I'm back with KCP, who I was able to give some of the DNA to when we won a championship here in 2020, you know, you know, Dean Wade and the rest of those guys. Like I'm, I'm excited about that almost more than, it's going to sound crazy, but actually get on the floor.

Right. Because if that thing clicks, this will be easy. That would be easy. So I'm excited and intrigued about that. So there's two things I'm hearing. Like one, you went three days in a row instead of two. That's because you want to push. Yeah.

And you want to say like this, you know, the smart thing to do is two. The smart thing to do is two. I want to prove I can still. So there's a father time competition. And there's a lunatic thing. Yeah, yeah. Like you, you, yeah, you don't want to insult yourself. You know, you want more.

And then the other thing is this legacy, sharing, mentoring. Yeah, man. Like you said, inspiring with your play. But it's, that's kind of our peripheral thing. Right, that's a second thing. The thing inside the locker room is to be able to share, grow, mentor. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And that still means a lot.

You still get juice from that. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You know, I've been around some, obviously, some great locker rooms, and you know, this is another opportunity to be able to share all the stuff that I've been able to gather over two decades as a professional. And, you know, over 30 years of being in the game. And believing that I was not on believing, but knowing that the game was given to me the right way and the proper way of how to play it and how to approach it and how to go after it, you know, to be able to now, you know, take that into a new locker room.

It's something that's motivating for me. That was a great comment you made about like if we take care of this. Yeah. The on the court stuff. Yeah. I mean, that's one of these. We can maybe touch on this later, but we'll talk about why Philly. But like that's one of these things that I really want to hear from you about is, you know,

you're coming into a locker room with personalities. Yeah, for a lot of success. And we're going to get to that. But first I want to hear like, how did you come to Philly? I have my thoughts on it But I'd love to hear from you What led to saying like that's my destination? Yeah

I think one of the Well first of all my relationship with Tyrese goes beyond the court You can tell every time you mention him on the podcast Yeah yeah You love it. And by the way and when I mentioned them in the past On the podcast Philly was not even in question

Like it was just like I didn't even know they would No absolutely I didn't even You know obviously and it's way before the J.B. Trade which was another intriguing piece. You know, but I just love everything about Tyrese Maxie, man. Like, he just said every day you get the same person.

And that is very rare in sports and obviously super rare in life. And I've always talked about how great of a person that he is. And obviously we know what he brings to the basketball court. But like he was deaf. When I became a free agent and we decided to let the Lakers know that I wouldn't be returning, And he was one of the first people that was on my line calling me, yo, what we're doing? Yo, what's up?

What's up, O.G.? What's up, old head? You know, come on down here, man. We can use you down here. You know, so in our relationship, like, it's a lot of times that I just, I don't answer the phone for a lot of phone calls. Because I don't even want to be swayed one way or I don't even, I already know what you're calling about.

But, I mean, he's just such a, he's such a great person that cannot not talk to him, one. But I thought the J.B. trade too was another piece that nobody, I don't think anybody seen coming. I think people saw that something was going to happen there, but I don't think anybody thought that it would be Philly that would be part of that trade package. And I love the way he approaches the game too, you know, both sides of the floor, what he brings to the game, his insight on the game.

I watched him, you know, kind of misunderstood. And that is absolutely okay. I think we're all individuals for a reason. Like, you know what I'm saying, and everyone's always trying to put everybody in the same box. And I love what he stands for and what he brings to the table, you know, in that fashion. And one of the most important, to be honest, is the big fellow.

He's done everything in our league, and the only thing he has not done, and that's winning championship. And I want to try to help him get that first one. He's been the MVP of our league. He's a gold medal. All-stars.

Signature shoes. A bunch of money. Beautiful fan. He has everything. He has a city on his back. He's been the process. You know, for what, 10 years, 12 years,

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 to hump and have him see, maybe just see it a little bit differently than he's seen it in his career as far as like the day-to-day process,

the day-to-day, what it takes to get there. Definitely one of the most disappointing things has been his health. Like for a player that is so talented, so gifted, have such a difficult time staying healthy, you know, that's the big question for me about the team is that he is such a big piece of the team, such a talented player.

I mean, he shows up for three games against Boston and wins a series. You know, just bullied them through the series, and then his body can't take it? And that's the thing is, like, can we see Joe play ball and stay with it? That's what everyone wants to see, what I want to see, I know Joe a little bit and really like him. And his talent is amazing. He loves to play ball. So it's going to be interesting. I think that's got to be one of those things on everyone's mind is can he stay healthy through a playoff?

run. So you know what's interesting about Tyrese is, you remember on the pod with Steph, like I had a comment that like as good and talented as Steph is, it's his personality, his day-to-day, like who he is as a person. Tyrese has that, some of that, right? Like, it feel like he's just, like loves to play. Yeah. Loves to, like there's a positivity to everything he does. It is. He comes across. He's been the same person since the moment I met him before he was. drafted into the NBA. The same exact person. He came to my house and at that point in time, he was 19 years old. So he was actually hanging with Bronny and Bryce. They was like playing video games at the critting inside the house. So I met him, say what's up to or whatever. He was going

into the draft. But he was actually, he was coached to Bronny and Bryce and he was to me, obviously. So he was hanging with them. But like came in super respectful to me, super respectful to me, super respectful to my wife, super respectful to everybody in the house. Bright smile and just like super, just like down the earth, you know. And from the moment he's gotten drafted to the perennial all-star superstar that he's becoming, nothing has changed. Yeah. Nothing has changed in his demeanor.

You know, and we all know how people can be the humble kid coming in and I'm excited. And then some success happening and they be totally different. Kid has been the same, same person, man. And that is, it's hard. Sometimes too, I'm not faulting anybody for having some change as far as, you know, growth is good when it's about change. But, like, you know, this kid has this young man now, I would say. This young man now is beyond his years for sure. Easy to root for it.

Easy to root for it. What about Jalen? What makes him misunderstood? Because this guy's always played hard, both sides of the ball, physical, skilled, intelligent. What do you think it is? It's made him misunderstood. I just think anytime someone kind of moves to their own beat, it makes people uncomfortable. He has his own voice.

He has his own voice. He moves to the sound of his own beat. It makes people uncomfortable because it's not what everyone's accustomed to. You know, so, you know, when it becomes misunderstood, then it becomes intimidating. And people look at it as like, you know, I don't want to be around that because they feel intimidated by it. There's an energy they don't feel comfortable. they don't feel comfortable with. Am I right?

I don't know. Am I right? I'm going to spend some time and get an opportunity to be around them even more. We've worked out three or four times this offseason. We've been in communication because we want to, we're two of the guys on the team. And obviously, KCP's on the team as well. But we're two of the guys of the team that's been through the foxhole and been through the ringer of what it takes. From the moment we step on the court for training camp to the moment we raise.

that Larry O'Brien trophy. We know what it takes. So you're just trying to make sure we're on the same page and have everybody else on the same page. But there's been nothing but good, you know, good interaction with J.B. You know, and we're going to continue that.

What do you, what have you seen or what do you know so far this summer from V.J. Edgecombe? The intel that I've got from everyone is that this kid is beyond his years. They say he was actually one of the leaders of the team as a 20-year-old rookie. Wow. And not in a disrespectful manner.

It's not like he was just speaking just to be speaking or, you know, thinking he's better than this guy. No, it's just, they say he speaks with an intelligent. Confidence. Natural. Natural, exactly. And works extremely hard. Yeah. And he's a flat-out player, man.

Yeah. He's the player. He's, I mean, other than Joe's health, I mean, he's the guy that, you know, you've got to put all the pieces together, but he's a guy that still has leaps to make, you know, with his athleticism, shot making, defense, you know. Obviously, that has to come with the right time, the right fit, how it all works, but like the playmaking, stuff like that can continue to grow different types of variety in his shot making. So that's exciting to be able to have a young player like that. There's no reason he shouldn't be able to, if he really wants to be, you know, contending for an all-defensive team. With his athleticism, with his length, with his speed, if he wants to. You know, if he wants to.

I think, obviously, I think J.B. going to set the tone, you know, with his ability to guard. But I think VJ should be right there, you know, just taking all the keys from J.B., learning all the nuances. Because he has all the tools. You know, people kind of like always want you to kind of like, you know, well, you'll, you'll get your turn or you're, you know, but why? Why can I do it now? Especially defense. Yeah, especially defense. Everyone can play, feature themselves on defense. And one thing about it, if we can get stops, if we can get in, if we can get stops or create turnovers, then it's going to benefit Vijay and Tyrese more than anybody on the team.

Those guys are so fast and so athletic, like you're not going to be able to catch up to them. You're not going to be able to catch up to those two guys. So, you know, that's going to be important for us. And that's been, you know, traditionally Nick Nurse has liked teams that turn people over. The Raptors' championship team, you know, they were in passing lanes, they were running people off the line, they were speeding people up. I think some people have thought it's going to be a challenge for you guys defensively. I think a lot of that comes down to Joe's health. But talk about those strengths.

I mean, you have, you know, speed, you have versatility, you have guys who can guard multiple positions. What do you like about it? Nick Nurse's kind of system, how do you feel it being a good thing? I've been able to be on some really good defensive teams in my career, and I think defense always comes down to the first thing, like a pride. It's a pride thing. Like, I'm not going to allow my guy to continue to exploit me or beat me or whatever the case may be.

Like, there has to be some type of pride in a sense of that. And at the end of the day, the best defense never stops the best offense anyways. And that's okay. But if we can make teams uncomfortable, if we can make teams turn the ball over, if we can make teams or just not be in a rhythm like they're accustomed to be in the rhythm versus other teams,

it gives us another opportunity. It gives us more possessions. We want to try to win the possession game. And I think with Coach Nurse and the things that I've seen with his teams in the past, especially with the Raptors team that won a championship, that's what they did.

They got up into you, they got into the passing lane. If you got around one guy, there's another guy helping you. You know, and obviously, you know, OG and Pascal and Kyle, you know, obviously Mark Gassau being on that team. Like, it was a lot of, you know, high IQ guys as well to be able to do that. And I'm looking forward to seeing, you know, if we can kind of translate a little bit of that as well. Because we have the speed.

We have the athleticism. Now it's about do we have the discipline to actually be able to take that on a defensive end and be, hold each other accountable too. Because that's what it's about. You got to, you know, force guys in the contested twos, you know, try not to give up straight line drives, don't give up corner threes, and then we got a rebound. You know, as fast as athletic as we can be, we can't do shit if we don't get the rebound. You know, so that's important. It's an attitude, you know, defense starts with, like, being organized and not giving them the easy stuff, right? If you start to take that away, then you can start to build on who are we, what's our identity.

But I think his Toronto team and I don't know if others agree with this, they remind me a little, or OKC's defense reminds me a little, that Toronto defense. We're flying around, getting people off the line, flooding the pain. Guys in the gaps, using their length and speed, and then that IQ to know, like, a lot of times it's not, it's not from the shoot around in the morning what the rotation is. It's just the next guy's on his bike. The other guy's reading off him and playing, and that takes IQ. Not every team has that type of defensive IQ. Yeah, I mean, when you have, you know, you have Kyle, who's one of the smartest guys that I've ever played against, you know, kind of at the beginning at the whole defense thing.

And then you have OG and Kauai, you know, and Pascal. You know, and those guys. And then you have the smartest of Mark, who I played with, you know, a year, maybe a year or two here with the Lakers. You know, you know what's happening before it actually happens, you know. And that's what helps out of the defense, the anticipation of things happening. We've studied the game. We've studied our opponent.

We know pros and cons. We know what they like to do. We know what they don't like to do. Let's force them and stuff that they do not like to do and make them uncomfortable. So, you know, when you compare them to what OKC does, absolutely. They make you uncomfortable. They make you do things. They speed you up.

They want you to play faster because they know that is not to your likeness that you want to play at. You know, you want to play a little bit more methodical. You want to play a little bit more, you know, smooth. No, we're going to speed you up. We're going to force you into this paint. We're going to reach from behind. And then we're going to make you take either contest the shots or we want you to go to the rim with Hartstein and Chet is right there.

And they're cleaning everything. up. And they're so good at like, those type, those defenses are so good at like when they speed you up, your pitcher closes. Oh, absolutely. But their pitcher broadens, they go, oh, he's in trouble. Now they start to pick off your thoughts and they're ahead of you and now you're in trouble and then next pass is deflected and thrown away and now it's spiraled in your own.

You get by them, you think you got one. They, they hand, good hands, strip you from behind, strip you in front, like, you know, all that. Fun defenses to watch. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Between traveling, the show, and the rest of life, things move fast. And if you've got a family at home, you want to know they're protected online. That's what stands out to me about Xfinity Shield.

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Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. Xfinity Internet and compatible equipment required. You know, you had a six-year run with the Lakers and won a championship. It's the most, if not, the most famous, it's one of the top famous franchises in all of sports and won a championship in Lakers.

You're here six years. This is a chunk of your career. No, no. I mean, listen, man, I came to, a lot of people said, you know, when I came to the Lakers, like I was just coming to be in Hollywood and movies and shit like that. But like, you know, I've always loved a huge challenge, you know.

And, you know, to come to a historical franchise that has some of the greatest basketball players that we've ever seen in the history of sports, to be a part of that, one, was it like a super duper big thing to me. It was like super cool and like humbling at the same time. I think there's a Sports Illustrated. When I signed with the Lakers of Sports Illustrated cover that they had like, all the Laker greats on it. And then I was on there, I was like, holy shit,

this is different, you know, so the expectations around here in Los Angeles when it comes to the Lakers is like, like, let's win championships. And I heard that and I understood that. And for us to be able to,

to win one, you know, that was something I would never forget. Like, obviously, you know, with that group, with that team, you know,

for this city, you know, I still think about, like, not being able to do the parade. I was going to say, scale of it. One of ten, how much does that bother you?

That bothers me, one to ten, twenty. Like, just to be able to celebrate with the Laker faithful. Yeah, absolutely. Like, you know, I don't know what the route would have been. I'm thinking go down Olympic, just like all the way down Olympic and they end up downtown right by Staples Center. Yeah. I'm gonna call it crypto and shit. I call it Staples Center to me.

Nah, it would have been, it would have been super duper dope man, man. But yeah, we did that. We did that and that banner, that banner is up there. That banner is in that arena for forever, along with the other ones that's been able to go up in the history of the Lakers franchise. And L.A.'s home. Yeah, for sure. Really, right?

Yeah, L.A.'s home. Family laid roots here. Yeah, yeah. Kids kind of grew up here, really, now. Yeah, I mean, my daughter, for sure, she don't remember a white winter. My boys do somewhat, but they went to middle school. My boys went to middle school here, high school here. Obviously, my daughter's starting from kindergarten on it.

So, yeah, this will be home for us for the foreseeable future. Let's talk a little bit about the term super team. Because people debate about what is a super team, what is a super team. The reality is, I think a super team, we should probably all agree that a super team is just a collection of players and personalities that have had a lot of success that have either been all-stars are heliocentric parts of their team. But the reality is, it's not the names.

It's where are they at this stage in their career? What have they been doing? Like some people would say this is a super team and some people say that's not a super team. Because it's been going on for a long, long time. You've had teams with three or four. Absolutely. Great players.

It's the 60s. Yeah, it's the 60s. You know, the Lakers Celtics. You know, you make the argument of super teams. I mean, even teams go under the radar. Like the Lakers who won, you know, with Gassal, buying them, Odom, you know, like these are teams you could consider super teams, but people don't want to, you know, so there's all this, some people do, some people don't.

Let's talk about, let's get past that. I wanted to set the context because it's, this is a debate that you say that's a super team, I say that's not. Like there's no real way to define which each team is of clearly some, you know, have the makings, the Warriors team, you know, a lot of that teams haven't been healthy. But that's a big issue, health, age. what stage of your career you're at. So for me, it's more about if you have players

that have had a lot of success that have either been the primary or secondary ball star, all stars, or better, there's so many factors into building a team. And so those are some elements you guys are going to have to. I think it's a success.

To deal with. How much success that they have where they are in their careers. I mean, you could look at, you know, and no one ever brings them up, but you could look at like the Brooklyn team with, you know,

Darren Williams, Joe Johnson, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry, you know, that team. You know, but they didn't get an opportunity, they didn't get an opportunity to really match it, and they didn't really get an opportunity to play much. I think they played maybe one or two years. And for the most part, they were all just past their prime.

All past their prime, too. So it's like, I think it's the where you are in your career and the success that you're able to have. You know, you can get guys that come together and it just doesn't work out, you know. So, but let's go through some of those reasons. So personality. You know, what are the mix of personalities?

Right. What stage of their career are they in? So, for example, as great as you are, you're not going to Philly saying, give me the ball and everyone watch me. Because you have an understanding, like, I can play whatever role. And there will be times when I'm, okay, I need the ball now. And there will be times when you're like, Tyrese is fine, J.B.'s fine. And you're able to accept control, mentor, direct.

From a different position, that's not always the case, right? So I think that's a big part of this is where is a player at mentally in his career? How are the personalities? Who's the leader? How does it work? Because I think what happens is a lot of teams that have had multiple players with success, it's almost like their personalities are bumping into each other. You know, how do we get someone to declare to be the leader?

Right. Is the other guys accepting? Right. Or is it natural? Right. That, you know, I'm quite happy not to be the leader. He's a natural leader. He can be leader.

Whatever it may be. So I think there's so many variables when you put these things together. What do you think with this Philly group, given the all, you know, you have such a nice mix. You know, you have obviously your success, Joel's success. Jalen's in the prime of his career.

Tyrese is kind of, if not in the prime, ascending to a prime. Same with Vijay. He's going to have a great career. What are the principles you feel are most important when you go into a season with this new group? Right. Because time is also.

Time of essence. I look at your first year in Miami. Right. The Dallas series, like a lot of it is it's the first time we've been under duress together. Yep. So how do you, with all your experience, approach it? Yeah, I think, one, it needs to be, what is our mission? What's our day-to-day mission, you know, is, are we bringing our egos to the table, our personal egos to the table for the collective group?

Or are we bringing our egos to the table for the collective individual, you know, because obviously, we all got to this point of our career for a reason. We're all who we are for a reason. But if we're coming together for one common goal, now if things happen and transpire, we can look each other in the eye and say, okay, but this is what we said, this is how we say we're gonna go about it.

And that's accountability. You know, so I am super intrigued and I'm looking forward to actually get in the locker room, getting into the film room, getting it to practice, kind of listening, dissecting, and letting it kind of just go through my database on how now I could implement myself unless some, Joe, Reese, J.B., somebody come to me and say, hey, bro, what you doing?

Like, you came here for, to be you, you know, and not a sense of like, be you 30 points or 29 or whatever. We're like, we need you to be you. We need your voice. My voice has always been one of my biggest attributes. My little league coach always told me, like your voice command so much attention and people need to hear that.

So if what I've been hearing from the guys that we're here to have championship habits and this is what we're a part of, then there shouldn't be no misunderstanding. There will be some pushback, which is okay. That's all part of the process. That's all part of the process. It might be some pushback.

There will be some, you know, there will be some good back. You gotta go through shit. And I hope we go through three-game losing streak, you know. You know, I hope we go through some of those moments where we get some shit out on the table. Yeah, get some shit on the table. We go to a couple games where, you know, it was a two-point game

and who was taking the shots, who was making the plays. We don't quite know. We got to figure it out. That's all part of it. You know, I had the same thing my first year in Miami. Had the same thing my first year back when I went back to Cleveland. You know, myself, Kyrie and Kev. You know, so those are some of the moments that we have to be able to go through some real-life battle moments in the fight in order to know really who we are and what we want to become.

We got to peel the onion. Yeah. We have to. I mean, essentially, you're saying there's got to be. We've got to be an acceptance that we're here for each other. We're here to get better. We have to put our individual kind of agendas aside and align them. The other thing is like we can talk all we want about the right way to do this or

that but ultimately is how do we work every day to get better? I have a growth mindset. Like try to improve every day. You can't say like if we do this, this and this we're champs. But if we do this, this and this we can get better every day. We get better. And at the end of the season, if we got better every day, what else can you ask for? Right.

The chips lay where they made. Like, you, you get, championship is not guaranteed. Obviously, it's been eight different champions. Right. Eight straight seasons. So, you know, so we got, but what we know, what we can control is how we show up to work. It's not going to always be there 100% physically. So when it's not, now we have our minds.

If it's, you feeling like your mind can't be there, that's where you got the guy next to you. That's when you have your brother pick you up. All right, I got you. All right, I got you. every day. If we're not on a court and we're just in a film room or if we ain't in a film room, we go on the court. We got times on the bus. We got so many moments where we can, we can jail, you know, this venom can become a person. Sure. You know, that, in a good way, it just continues the mesh into what we want to become, but it's going to take, it's going to

take sacrifice, it's going to take communication, and it's going to take all of us just understanding, okay, what are we really here for? You know, are we here to just play in a regular season? No, we're really here to win. Yeah, build a team that can compete at the end. We want a team that can compete for a championship. And I think the city of Philly wants that. This is the city of champions.

The Phillies have done it in recent years. Obviously, the Eagles have done it in recent years. Not a hockey fan, so I don't know about the flyers. I have no idea. It's been a minute. It's been a minute? It's been a minute? It's been a minute?

And I know it's been a minute for the Sixers since the year before I was born. You know, having been a part of a super team with the Lakers and coaching one in Brooklyn, you know, like it's, there's a lot out of your control, right? And the noise, though, is that everything's in your control, right? But like, coming to play for the Lakers in 2012, you know, Kobe and Powell came off the Olympics, long summers, Dwight came off back surgery. I broke my leg game one or two with the Lakers. And we also tried, how do we make these pieces fit?

And we tried to implement the Princeton offense. And it was probably at a time when the game was starting to be really a pace and space league. Yeah. And so maybe some of that was in our control. Maybe some of it wasn't. The reality is, like, you have to be healthy. We weren't. You have to have a little break or two along the way.

And the same when I coached in Brooklyn. Like, you know, at our best, we were unbelievable. I played some great basketball. But our big three played like, depending if it was James or Ben Simmons. You know, our big three, I think, played like 16 games together in two plus years. So, you know, there's always things. But, you know, I think when you look back and at the moment, the noise is loud about, well, success or fail, it's binary. But the reality, the details don't matter.

And so I think managing those situations is so important. And at the end of the day, if you don't have the bounce, you don't have the luck, you don't have the health. You know, it can undermine everything. But being inside those locker rooms, trying to recognize how do we get everyone on the same page is the challenge, that everyone can buy in that messaging like you said every day, that commitment to trust one another's motives.

Right. And it has to be some trial and error too. Trial and error. There's some things that we may start the season off doing that we know, okay, oh, we like that. And then we could, you know, get to a point where, you know, December come around. We try something else that don't feel.

fit for our team. That's not, that doesn't fit for our ball club. You know, there's going to be trial and error because this is our first time all getting together. Obviously, you know, Tyrese and Joel has the most chemistry out of anybody. They've played together for what, eight years now or seven years now. But the rest of us are learning. I mean, Vijay, one year, obviously he knows the system. But other than that, I mean, myself, J.B., KCP, Anthony Simon, Dean Wade, like, the rest of us are, we're all coming into it fresh. We're all coming into it, like, okay, we're excited. Yeah.

But we're new to the system, and we're new to the surroundings. We're new to Philadelphia. Well, what I like about that approach, too, is that there's going to be noise around your team. Of course. You know, anywhere you go, there's going to be noise. You also have Joe. You also have the questions about his health.

You got Jalen's exit from Boston. You know, you have these two young guards that if anything goes weird, they'd be like, why don't they get featured more? You can hear it already, what's happening. You can hear it already. So the important thing is to stay focused. on the task. And that's a way to simplify and get the noise out.

If you don't simplify, if you aren't focused and aligned every day, doing the simple things. Let's just build every day slowly. Let's be open on us. Let's build this thing. Let's get the dirt out on the table. Let's get back to work. Then the noise becomes louder, right?

Inside the locker room, whereas this is a nice way to just focus on getting better. I think that's really important for a team. Yeah, we gotta have a bunker mentality. It's unfortunate but very fortunate, but what the noise that comes with me, good, bad, and different, everything. It's a little different. Yeah. You know, and is it warranted?

I don't even know. But it is, it's different. But if we have a bunker mentality on like, nothing matters outside this, what we have. Either with the practice facility or we at the arena or nothing matters. Like, everyone's going to have their opinion. Family members are going to have their opinion. Friends are going to have their opinion.

You know you got your group chat with your boys. It's like, man, you got 11 shots last night. You should have had 15. why Brown ain't pass a ball more why Joe ain't pass the ball more Tyrese saw you on the wing VJ take it too many stepbacks J.B. They're gonna take you out

in the third way. Why take you out? Why Nick take you? You know, Nick need to be, it's gonna be all that type of shit. I already know, I already see it. I already know, I already know it's been happening in my whole career. The only thing that matters is what we preach to every day and how we're gonna hold each other accountable. If we can do that, if we can preach that,

if we can practice that, because it's going to be tested. If we can practice and pre-set every day, then we'll give ourselves the best possible chance, along with health, obviously, which is very important, probably the most important in sports, then we'll give ourselves a good chance to be where we want to be when it's time.

Amen. First ever NBA game. John Nelson got furious. That's a great story. You are holding the ball. Oh, he grabs it off me. He grabs it off. Can Larry gives me the ball.

And then he pumps it. And Dale Harris in the background. No, that was the best part. Because Del was like, Nelly, Nelly, Nelly. And then when he saw him, grab the ball and punched it, Dale, he goes. It just starts laughing. Oh, that's awesome.

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