Nick Nurse reveals his pitch to LeBron James before choosing Sixers

The Philadelphia 76ers have won the LeBron James sweepstakes as they were able to land the future Hall of Famer on a 2-year $8 million deal. The 41-year-old megastar is still at the top of his game as he averaged 20.9 points in his 23rd season. Despite the miles on his legs, James is still an elite player in the game.

Along with his scoring ability, James has an extremely high basketball IQ and is an elite passer. He averaged 7.2 assists per game in 2025-26 and it’s why he’ll have the ball in his hands more often than not. Coach Nick Nurse, who played a big role in James joining Philadelphia, hopped on “Takeoff with John Clark” to reveal his pitch to James:

Well, first of all, I think he’s a great player, and I think we’re fortunate to have him on the team, and that’s kind of where I started. I said I think you slot right in there perfectly. We did talk about some multi-position situations, talked to him about just his leadership in general, his professionalism in general that could help, I think, raise the level of some things. Talked about his late game play, things like that. That’s about it.

Well, first of all, I think he’s a great player, and I think we’re fortunate to have him on the team, and that’s kind of where I started. I said I think you slot right in there perfectly. We did talk about some multi-position situations, talked to him about just his leadership in general, his professionalism in general that could help, I think, raise the level of some things. Talked about his late game play, things like that. That’s about it.

Nurse will have to juggle a lot of different lineups and schemes in the upcoming season. The offensive hierarchy will certainly be an issue in the beginning of the season as the Sixers figure out how to make it work with James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe. However, James does fill a lot of roles for Philadelphia and enhances a lot of what the Sixers want to do.