Jaylen Brown clearly wants to wipe the slate clean with the "whose team is it anyway?" talk after dealing with years of it on the Boston Celtics.
Whether the Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum internal rivalry was real or not, Brown doesn't want to bring that energy to the 76ers. The moment the word "alpha" was even brought up, Brown was quick to move on.
There are no alphas in Philly
Tyrese Maxey is an All-Star. Joel Embiid has seven All-Star nods and an MVP trophy under his belt. LeBron James is going down as one of the most accomplished players in the history of the game. Even VJ Edgecombe is projected to become a star. Then there's Brown, who is a multi-time All-Star and an MVP candidate in the right situation.
All offseason long, there were narratives about too many cooks, too many mouths to feed. Naturally, everybody wants to know who the team will run through. Considering the situation that Jaylen Brown just came from, he feels like an easy target for that narrative. But if you ask him, "Next question" is all he has to say.
It was the wisest thing he could do in that situation. The 76ers want to preach patience and sacrifice. The mindset going into the first day of camp on Tuesday is to figure out how to click as a team. Trying to assign an alpha--especially this early on--would be an unnecessary move since the Sixers have so much talent on board.
Identity will be found over time
It's a long season coming up for the 76ers. History says that the team could see some frequent changes, depending on the health of the team over time. Joel Embiid has had his fair share of struggles over the years, and there's no telling how his knee will hold up this time around.
While Tyrese Maxey doesn't exactly possess an injury-prone label, he has had his fair share of bouts with setbacks over the past two years. The presence of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown is significant enough to give the 76ers an entirely new identity. Naturally, they'll figure out who they are and how they'll operate as the season plays out.
For Brown specifically, he comes from a situation in Boston, where he started for nine out of the last ten years. During his fifth season, he was named an All-Star for the first time. He stayed on the All-Star roster for four out of the last five years.
While Brown might not have the usage to turn in another season with averages of 28.7 points, 69 rebounds, and 5.1 assists, which earned him MVP consideration, he'll surely be a critical piece to the 76ers' success in 2026-2027.
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