Tyrese Maxey helped bring LeBron James to Philadelphia. Now, James is helping explain how the Sixers guard influenced his decision beyond sending a few text messages.
On Wednesday, Time Magazine named Maxey to its 2026 TIME100 Next list, recognizing him among the world’s most influential rising stars. His new teammate, James, wrote the accompanying tribute.
“Tyrese Maxey gets better every season, and he’s really just getting started,” James wrote.
James pointed not only to Maxey’s development as a player, but also to his growth as a leader. He acknowledged something that has become increasingly clear since James arrived in Philadelphia this summer: Maxey played a significant role in getting him here.
Congratulations to @TyreseMaxey for being named to the TIME100 Next 2026 list, recognizing the world’s most influential rising stars! 👏
James wrote that the two have trained in the summer together for five years and said their relationship away from basketball influenced his decision to sign with the Sixers.
It is a relationship years in the making. Maxey first worked out with James before entering the NBA in 2020, and they continued training together each offseason.
Maxey had even floated Philadelphia to James during a previous free-agency period, though the possibility became much more realistic this summer after the Sixers acquired Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics and James decided to leave Los Angeles.
James said at Sixers media day Monday that he had a “great relationship” with Maxey and confirmed they had multiple conversations about Philadelphia before he signed.
Sixers player Tyrese Maxey visited his barbershop, Faheem’s Hands of Precision, to promote his new signature sneakers, New Balance Maxey V1s earlier this month.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The latest honor among honors
The Time recognition is the latest marker of Maxey’s continued rise.
The 25-year-old averaged career highs of 28.3 points and 6.6 assists last season. He earned his second All-Star selection and started the game for the first time. He was later named third-team All-NBA, the first All-NBA honor of his career.
Earlier this month, ESPN ranked Maxey as the NBA’s No. 11 player entering the 2026-27 season — ahead of new teammate Brown, who ranked 14th, and James, who came in at No. 18. Maxey is a two-time All-Star, the 2023-24 NBA Most Improved Player, and was All-NBA third team last season.
Video: Sixers players react to being teammates with LeBron James at media day
Maxey joins another Philadelphia star who recently made the jump onto Time’s radar.
Jalen Hurts was selected for the TIME100 Next list in 2023, with Peyton Manning writing his tribute after Hurts led the Eagles to the Super Bowl and signed a five-year contract extension. Two years later, following the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX championship, Hurts graduated to TIME’s main list of the world’s 100 most influential people, with Derek Jeter writing his tribute.
After a first postseason appearance in five years and a captivating surge to the second round of the NHL playoffs, Flyers hockey returns Wednesday night with the Orange and Black hosting the rival Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2026-27 lid-lifter at Xfinity Mobile Arena (7:30 p.m., TNT, HBO MAX, and TruTV).
Increased success brings increased expectations, and general manager Danny Brière has been the first to caution his young players that it only gets harder the second time around.
On the eve of the Flyers’ opener, Brière sat down with The Inquirer to chat about the momentum around the Flyers, some of his top young players, and much more.
Q: Why were you comfortable running it back with basically the same roster, especially with increased competition expected?
A: We have a young team that took a big step last year. You want to see how far they can take it. I think the players also earned it; they took a big step. I mean, it’s not like we didn’t try to improve the team. You’re always looking. You want to help take that next step. We did, but it just didn’t work out. There’s other things that were in the books. But at the same time, I know fans love to see trades, but I’m not going to make trades just to make trades. It has to make sense. We’ve worked hard building the culture around here. We have a group of young men that bought into that, and we’re not just going to dismantle that just to please the few fans that just think we’re playing fantasy hockey.
The goal is to improve the team, and we think we did that. Maybe not at the top, first line or first pairing, but I think Joseph Woll is going to be a huge addition to our team. I think Simon Benoit and Noel Acciari will bring us a lot of depth. You look at last year, starting the year, our fourth line was putting us in a tough spot at times. I think now we have a fourth line that’s much closer to the other three; whoever you want to use as the fourth line. So to me, I think we’ve improved the team. But like I’ve said [previously], I’m worried. I’m worried all the time about some of our young guys, especially, thinking that they’ve made it. Every team is trying to improve, and we’re still looking to improve if we have the chance.
The Flyers believe goalie Joseph Woll will make a major difference, and alongside Dan Vladař, form one of the NHL’s top goaltending tandems.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Q: Do you look at what other teams in the Metropolitan Division are doing, and does that put any added pressure on you?
A: No, I don’t see it as pressure. You see it as OK, every trade brings in some kind of comparison to other trades. So that’s why we’re always looking at it to see, OK, what’s a fair value now if we’re talking about this guy vs. that guy and what they did? So, yeah, we’re keeping a close eye on everything that [teams are] doing, but I don’t try to make trades to compete with the other GMs. I make trades to improve our team.
I don’t see it as a competition vs. the other GMs; it’s a competition as far as on the ice. The goal is not who makes the most trades; it’s winning. You look at a team like Carolina, they’ve been pretty steady, and they’ve given the chance to their young guys to take the next step. I know it’s not always sexy, but you have to be careful with what you have sometimes. You don’t realize, and one day you wake up and they’re better elsewhere, and you’ve missed. But there’s also a case sometimes where prospects need a fresh start, and they need to go somewhere else to expand their game. So we’re aware of that, too.
Q: You said Saturday that David Jiříček’s camp was ‘OK.’ Are his defensive warts maybe more pronounced than you first thought?
A: No. We’re working with David. We’re going to try to help him. He’s working, he’s trying, and he’s still a young guy. He’s going to make mistakes. Yes, after I had my comments, he had a tough second half of the game [Saturday], and that’s going to happen. It’s going to happen with young guys. It doesn’t change what we think of them. We just have to keep working with him and try to build him up. It’s been a rough go for him the last few years, bouncing around a lot, new systems, new coaches, new teammates. So we’re going to keep working with him.
Q: It seems like Matvei Michkov’s whole mentality has changed. Take us through your first meeting with him this season, and what are your expectations for him?
A: I was really pleased with the way he showed up, the work he put in this summer. It really stood out when you saw him on the ice. It stood out when you saw him in street clothes. He really put in the work, and I’m really pleased with the fact that he’s trying to speak more English. He spoke to you guys [the media] here, in English without a translator; that’s a huge step. And I think it’s all part of it, right?
He feels better about himself. He’s more confident. He’s trying to close the gap with you guys [the media], close the gap with his teammates, and in return, he’s going to feel more confident on the ice. So I think it’s all part of the development that we see in young guys, and everybody has a different path. Not too many players go through what he had to go through in his short career. He’s been through so much already. We don’t have a template to prepare someone to go through what he has gone through. So we’re trying to stay cognizant of that, and again, working with him and realizing everybody has a different path.
The Flyers have been blown away by Matvei Michkov’s preseason, which has been a product of the work he put in this summer.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Q: With Rasmus Ristolainen’s age and contract situation, if the team is in contention, would you be comfortable keeping him and then potentially losing him for nothing?
A: Yes, absolutely, because part of the reason is the protection he gives our young guys, and I’ve said that before. And I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s too early, and so many things can go different ways, but yeah, if we’re in a playoff spot at the deadline, it’s something we have to consider as well. The value of protecting our players, our young players, might be greater than acquiring a future asset. But maybe not, and that’s something that we’ll evaluate as we get closer.
Q: With LeBron James choosing the Sixers, does it have any impact on the Flyers? And do you think having the NBA’s biggest star choosing Philadelphia can help you lure big stars too at some point?
A: That’s a good question. I think it shows, and you look at all four major sports in the city, they’re all very competitive teams. They want to win, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to win. LeBron signing here, I think it shows that Philadelphia is a sports hub. So I think it’s good for the other three major sports to have a superstar-level player come in to Philadelphia like that. So I think it’s a good thing.
The Flyers say they are in the business of trying to lure a star to Philadelphia. They believe LeBron James’ arrival can only help.Gabriela Carroll /
Q: Is there someone who was a big surprise for you at camp?
A: Matvei, the way he showed up. I was very pleased last year with a lot of guys — Dan Vladař to start with. I hope Woll can come in and play at a similar level as he does to have one of the best tandems in the league. I thought Jamie Drysdale took a huge step last year; that was good. Even Cam York, I thought, was a much better all-around defenseman last year than he was the year before, so that pairing was a big reason why we took the step that we did last year as well.
Q: What’s your message to guys like Cole Knuble and Oliver Bonk, who look so ready for the NHL, but were sort of victims to the numbers game?
A: Keep pushing the envelope. We told them, and everybody knows, the short camp has kind of played against them. That’s what it does; it protects the veteran better. But we’re not going to stop evaluating because the season starts. We’re going to keep watching them.
The other message to them and Jett Luchanko was, I don’t think it does any good to keep them in a sheltered role here at this point in their career. We felt it’s better for them to have the chance to play heavy minutes, play against the other team’s top lines, play on the PP, play on the PK, touch every situation. For Jett and Cole, they’re starting their pro career. Oliver has one year under his belt, but he was injured for the first, I think, two months of the season. So I think they’re in a great spot. They’re getting closer to being ready, but they still have a lot to learn, and I don’t feel it’s going to hurt them to spend a little bit of time in the minors.
Q: What is your overall message to the fan base heading into the year?
A: We feel we’re still going in the right direction. We’re still building. They have an exciting team in front of them. Now, I don’t know exactly where it’s going to go, and that’s what happens with a young team. We’re still a young team, but I really feel they have an exciting team that they’re seeing develop right in front of their eyes.
Nick Nurse began the 76ers’ 2026 training camp the same way he always has: With a 30-minute presentation of his “vision” for the season before players and coaches hit the practice floor.
It is safe to assume Nurse sees immense potential in the group that, after adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown during a stunning offseason, finally assembled in an official capacity Tuesday. Now they have begun their initial steps to put together this star-studded puzzle, including a practice Nurse described as competitive and defense-focused.
“From start to finish, the intensity never dropped,” standout second-year guard VJ Edgecombe added.
For now, outsiders must take the Sixers’ words for it. The massive media contingent was permitted to enter the gym only at the end of the practice and, by then, Edgecombe and newcomer Anfernee Simons were the only notable players still on the court going through individual shooting work.
James emphasized during Monday’s media day that the revamped Sixers cannot expect to make “instant oatmeal,” that it takes “uncomfortable” repetition and “collective sacrifice” to turn on-paper talent into on-court contention. When James has changed teams during his historic 24-year career, they have traditionally gotten off to mediocre-to-shaky starts while figuring out roles and rhythm in real time. The goal, of course, is for the Sixers to be peaking in mid-April, not late September, as part of a suddenly deep Eastern Conference headlined by the defending champion New York Knicks.
Yet weeks before arriving in Camden, James and several other players attempted to begin building their foundation as Sixers.
Edgecombe boasted Monday about creating a get-to-know-you group chat when the Sixers traded for Brown — but had to ask All-NBA guard Tyrese Maxey to add James once he signed later that month. Though Maxey has consistently spent summers working out with James, a fellow Klutch agency client, this year they could experiment with two-man actions to run as teammates and drill nuances such as angles and the timing of cuts. Brown joined for some sessions that circulated on social media. Maxey also linked with Edgecombe and Simons for on-court work.
“That’s pretty dope in the summertime,” Maxey said. “That’s not common. … [We] tried to build that camaraderie early, and I think it’ll help us in the long run.”
Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe talks with members of the media after practice.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
The excitement from outsiders for training camp’s start also permeated the Sixers’ staff conversations leading up to Tuesday, Nurse acknowledged. The team chose not to go off-site for this week’s practices, with the coach half-joking that they are “still trying to recover” from last year’s preseason trip to Abu Dhabi.
Tactically, Nurse focused Tuesday on defensive fundamentals such as quickly setting up in transition and ending possessions by blocking out for a rebound. Those principles feed into his philosophy to win the possession battle by forcing turnovers and crashing the glass, and would be a welcomed complement to the Sixers’ offensive firepower.
And throughout Tuesday’s session, Nurse said, players’ “individual qualities [got to] shine at different moments.”
Former NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid was a full participant, which Nurse called “very, very good news” compared to how his health has entered previous training camps. James was a vocal “example-setter,” the coach added, while Brown looked like the All-NBA wing the Sixers recently competed against in the playoffs’ first round. Edgecombe said he did not move as timidly as in his first training camp last year.
“I want these guys to be who they are,” Nurse said. “I want them to not have rigid roles.”
Perhaps nothing will be more valuable than the repetitions of the coming days and weeks, allowing players to organically learn teammates’ tendencies. Nurse is sure to tinker with various lineup combinations, acknowledging again Tuesday that the aging (and injury-conscious) James and Embiid will miss games throughout the season. On-the-floor communication and collaboration, between teammates and coaches, will lead into post-practice film study.
Those are all components of the initial steps for this star-studded roster with soaring outside expectations and attention. And with Tuesday’s much-anticipated “vision” presentation and first practice complete, Nurse stressed the need “to get up tomorrow, like 98% as excited as we did today.”
“It’s going to be hard to get as excited as we all were today, right?” Nurse said. “But we need to come back, and we need to keep climbing that mountain. That’s a daily process.”
As Anfernee Simons was discussing the first day of training camp for the 76ers, the noise from outside the Sixers practice facility began getting louder.
The sound of a helicopter mixed in with the soft-spoken responses from Simons, and there could not have been a more obvious metaphor for what awaits the Sixers this season. The external chatter, or noise, will be loud; the Sixers have to deal with it.
The helicopter was there to whisk LeBron James away as he will split his time between Philadelphia and New York while at home this season. James himself acknowledged at media day Monday that his arrival comes with a lot of noise, noise that will be “doubled, tripled and quadrupled now that I’m here,” he said.
He wasn’t talking about actual decibel levels, but that also increased in the gym Tuesday.
“Ultimate professional,” Simons said of James. “I think he’s built that for 20-plus years now. You hear the stories about him being here early, getting his work done, and saw that today. He was here already getting warmed up by the time I walked through the door. Just speaks to how he’s able to play like this for 24 years.”
The helicopter was one part of what was hardly a typical practice day for the Sixers. Dozens of media members attended Tuesday with camera operators lined up in a small hallway just outside the practice courts, waiting for the door to open so they could rush at practice’s end to get the best spot to film interviews.
Leaving Sixers practice today. As LeBron walked outside toward the building. Two plus two? pic.twitter.com/YRRYZRVG1X
But so many were present that the Sixers called an audible before coach Nick Nurse spoke post-practice and moved their media setup away from the corner of the facility to create more space for the assembled horde to circle around Nurse.
“It’s going to be different,” Nurse said of the attention. “Just … more people, more eyes, more stories, more national TV, all that kind of stuff. I mean, it’s the same. It’s just a little more, right?”
When the team let reporters in for the last few minutes to watch players go through individual workouts, James and some of the other big names, like Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown, had left the floor, a slight disappointment for those hoping to catch some B-roll of the stars working out.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse said he understands the team will experience ups and downs. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
No one is under any illusions that the Sixers will be under the media and social media microscope, the kind of pressure cooker that examines every interaction and dissects body language looking for internal points of friction.
“I’m just trying to get to the practice floor and to the game floor. If we can do those two things, all that other stuff, we just kind of handle it as smoothly as we can,” Nurse said. “We understand there’ll be some ups and downs. Let’s look out for each other. Let’s connect if there’s any bumpy stuff happening outside this wall, let’s get back in between the lines and let’s get to work.”
To Simons, blocking out the proverbial noise means not letting the outside world define what the expectations are for this team.
“Focus on our goals that we got inside this building,” Simons said. “Everybody’s gonna set outside expectations on us, but if we fulfill our own expectations that we set for ourselves, and focus on that, I think we’ll be fine.”
As James pointed out this week, that will take “honest conversations” and “doing things that [are] uncomfortable.” He also mentioned how he spoke to Tyrese Maxey before joining the team and asked if he thought his personality would be a good fit with the franchise.
“Because I understand my personality and what comes with me,” James said. “Sometimes it can be a negative. You know, I understand some people maybe can’t handle what I may bring to the table, and I was just … asking all the questions that I could ask to him.”
As the helicopter noise faded, Simons finished his media session a few minutes later. The team took down its interview setup, and the gym was quiet. Day one of practice was in the books, a few hundred more to go.
In 1964, I was a) only 5 years old and b) living in the New York suburbs, so while I’ve been hearing all my life about the notorious collapse of the Phillies that September, I didn’t get to experience that feeling of existential dread in real time. But I was almost there last week, as the 2026 Phillies nearly became the first team to blow a four-game playoff lead with five games to play. Almost. Sunday’s 7-3 win over Tampa Bay sent my beloved/cursed midlife baseball team back to the playoffs for the fifth straight year. The chill of the offseason has been delayed for at least two more sure-to-be-heart-attack-inducing games in Atlanta. ‘Woke 1.0′
The only thing wrong with ‘Woke 1.0’ was that it wasn’t implemented
People participate in a Caribbean-led Black Lives Matter rally in June 2020 at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza in New York. Kathy Willens
It’s a war almost nobody wanted, and yet it never, ever seems to end. Just thisweekend there was yet another spontaneous incident that caused the conflict to flare back up again, as an entire platoon of keyboard commandos mobilized for action.
Yes, the utterly ridiculous “war on woke” is back on again. The equally senseless fighting in Iran is almost certain to end sooner than this boondoggle.
The flashpoint was something appropriately trivial enough for this war of distraction: a decision by the Boston Globe to report on the, yes, somewhat silly fight consuming a western Massachusetts lesbian tavern called the Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue. The hangout continues to require all patrons to wear COVID-era KN95 masks, as a gesture that everyone is welcome at all times, including the immunocompromised.
The fracas that broke out when the owners of the Last Ditch sought to make just one night a week “mask-optional” in a bid to boost business didn’t just make for a widely read Globe scoop (supposedly it brought in several thousand new subscribers). It also spread great joy among the nattering nabobs who continue to see COVID-19 overreaction as the avatar of a far-left conspiracy to make America ungreat.
Suzy Weiss, writing for the Free Press founded by her sister and now CBS News honcho, Bari Weiss, emailed with glee that “what happened at Last Ditch shows that Woke 1.0 never ended in some parts of America. It just got crazier.” The Washington Post’s Megan McArdle — who can thank her colleague Kathleen “Donald Trump Will Be a Normal President” Parker for not having the worst columnist batting average of all time — declared that, groan, “The Great Awokening Is Over.”
This nonsense rekindled a fire that’s been smoldering since the summer among a certain crowd — six-figure-salaried pundits who call Trump “uncouth” and pat themselves on the back for their brave liberalism before picking up their kids at the Dalton School and catching the last train for the Hamptons — who insist America’s downfall didn’t peak with the 2016 election of a demagogue with dictatorial ambition.
No, the real crisis hit in 2020 when, in their telling, our great Fortune 500 companies were blackmailed into tweeting “Black Lives Matter,” when someone at the far edge of a protest march carried a sign that read “Defund the Police,” and when some tripping-on-idealism sophomore at Oberlin complained that serving bahn mi in the cafeteria was “cultural appropriation.”
Trump might be uncouth, they argue, but America will never be whole without a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a public apology for the crimes against humanity of the “woke era.”
The accelerant, if not the trigger, for this insanity was possibly the most unlikely of sources:U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, heir apparent to the progressive movement, whom many would like to see run for president in 2028. Like her allies on the left, AOC has been undergoing a kind of Spanish Inquisition from journalists demanding an explanation for why — at a time when millions were marching against U.S. cops killing more citizens than anywhere else in the developed world — some folks on the far-left wanted to abolish not just the police but maybe Thanksgiving.
Ocasio-Cortez laughed off the question by quoting another New York progressive that “Woke 1 was crazy” and arguing that the madness of monthslong COVID lockdowns caused some people to voice extreme ideas they shouldn’t be judged upon six years later.
To say AOC’s comments were a mistake would be an understatement. She gave the critics an inch, and they’ve taken about 87 miles and counting. It gave a boost to a bevy of “both sides” columnists who’ve been dying to say the left and the right are equally to blame for everything that’s wrong with America.
“Restitution, if only in the form of honest contrition and perhaps even a public apology, is in order,” demanded conservative New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, who may have been referring toa few other journalists or professors who today blame “Woke 1.0” for their career setbacks, although he also may have been thinking about his own epic fight with the college professor who called him “a bedbug.”
Look, we all can laugh at the worst foibles of the far-left; that’s why Portlandia was such a popular show, even among liberals. We should cringe when some professor calls people “folx,” and get mad at more serious illiberal crimes against free speech, like stealing student newspapers or shutting down campus speakers over their politics.
But it’s a massive false equivalence to compare these offenses by low-wattage college students and a few professors to the high crimes and misdemeanors of an American fascist movement that includes the president,big chunks of Congress, and the U.S. Supreme Court. What’s more, the people making these comparisons want to make you forget what the upheavals that peaked in 2020 were actually about, which was upending the status quo of which they are card-carrying members.
They want you to remember that “Defund the Police” placard so you’ll forget that millions marched in the streets in 2020 because George Floyd was just one of more than 1,000 Americans killed by the police that year — or that at least 1,000 people have died the same way in every year since then.
They want you to get mad about the “bahn mi kids” at Oberlin, so you won’t get angry at the gross unfairness of an educational system that’s tilted toward the kids of those writers and politicians demanding apologies for “wokeness” — the privilege that gives their pampered offspring SAT prep and legacy admissions while the rabble attends lousy public schools.
They have ridiculed, mocked, and called for the police suppression of every social movement from Occupy Wall Street to No Kings — maybe because they don’t want a higher marginal tax rate, but definitely because they are terrified that a more equal society for everyone means less status for them. Heck, some plebe might call them a “bedbug” and get away with it this time.
AOC got it totally wrong. “Woke 1″ wasn’t crazy. Its biggest problem was that the heart and soul of the movement — no more militarized police, better wages and health insurance, billionaires paying their fair share of taxes, and colleges that are accessible and affordable — was never implemented. The bad guys won, and the good guys gave up too easily.
No one needs to apologize for saying that maybe we should improve society somewhat. But meanwhile, hey, look over there — it’s a crazy lesbian bar!
Yo, do this!
Over the years, as I’ve called on my love of American history to try and explain what went right and then went terribly wrong in the 80-plus years since World War II, there is one place that keeps popping up again and again: the University of California, especially its flagship Berkeley campus. In a time of free tuition and rising postwar optimism, the UC system was the crown jewel of U.S. public higher education, only to become ground zero for 1960s protests and the rise of Ronald Reagan, followed by fights over affirmative action, rising college costs, and much more. My good friend and former Newsday mentor Miriam Pawel has just published a much-needed chronicle of all this — California Dreams: The Making and Remaking of the University of California — that just now was enthusiastically downloaded by me.
The crisis of press freedom in the United States has recently become a front-page story, with Donald Trump’s stunning and typically ham-handed efforts to ban news organizations he personally doesn’t like — CNN, MS NOW, and Politico — from the White House. At the same time, I chronicled the growing threats and harassment as well as actual violence against U.S. journalists that is endangering the First Amendment. I am asking you today to make a contribution to The Philadelphia Inquirer High-Impact Journalism Fund. Your gift ensures we have the resources to not only execute deep, investigative reporting that holds the powerful accountable, but to do so while keeping our journalists safe from the escalating legal and physical threats that have become a daily reality in this business.
Ask me anything
Question: How can Article I [of the U.S. Constitution] reassert itself when Article III seems intent on creating a unitary executive with vast, uncheckable powers? — Jackie Gardina (@jackiegardina.bsky.social) via Bluesky
Answer: Jackie, that’s a good question — what you’re basically asking is how can Congress (the subject of Article I) undo the power-grabbing role of the judiciary, and specifically the U.S. Supreme Court, that was created in Article III? No doubt, Donald Trump’s dictatorial ambitions have been fueled by a series of high court rulings that have placed the president above the law and expanded White House powers. But America’s founders clearly gave Congress the tools to reassert control, if only they would use them. Lawmakers have the authority to expand the Supreme Court, impose term limits on justices, mandate a code of ethics, and take other measures to bring this star chamber back to reality. And I believe a majority of voters are more than ready to sign off on such radical changes.
What you’re saying about …
There was pretty much unanimity among responders to last week’s question about Donald Trump banning reporters from his least favorite news outlets from the White House — an action that was quickly (and predictably) overturned by a (Trump-appointed) federal judge. Readers thought the entire press corps should walk out in solidarity, with no need to hurry back and record the president’s every utterance. “Not only should the White House press corps walk out in solidarity, but they should also start standing up for their colleagues when the president insults them,” wrote emailer David (full names, please!). “A few white guys saying, ‘Mr. President, that is not acceptable’ might actually register with Trump and his advisors.” Added Stephen R. Rourke, “Moreover, it would deprive Trump of the only thing he cares about: visibility.”
📮 This week’s question: Major League Baseball has scored TV ratings wins with games in unlikely settings, such as the Iowa cornfield that hosts the Field of Dreams game. Now MLB has approached the good people of the Trump regime with a new idea: a baseball field in anational park, possibly Wyoming’s Grand Teton. Brilliant marketing, or another crime against Mother Nature? Please email me your answer and put the exact phrase “National Park baseball” in the subject line.
Backstory on the Christian wealth scam with ties to the Eagles
Brandon Graham, Nick Sirianni, and Saquon Barkley are among the Eagles past and present scheduled to speak at Life Surge on Saturday.Staff Photographs
It was already a bad look in May 2025 when some of the brightest lights of the then-Super Bowl-titlist Philadelphia Eagles — including head coach Nick Sirianni and star running back Saquon Barkley — pocketed large appearance fees to talk about football and God at an event at the now-named Xfinity Mobile Arena called Champions of Faith. The rally, as reported at the time by The Inquirer and other news outlets, existed to promote a Christian wealth scheme called Life Surge whose founder had left behind a trail of deception and fraud allegations. My colleagues Olivia Reiner and Ryan W. Briggs reported growing allegations that Life Surge “exploits the Christian faith and the allure of the famous speakers as a cover for ‘bait and switch’ sales tactics pitching a series of weekend investing seminars.”
The Eagles-laden event — which also featured speeches and a chance to meet stalwarts such as Brandon Graham, Cooper DeJean, and retired Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins — went ahead despite the negative coverage, but you could already sense the Life Surge saga was not going to end well. Last week, a scathing exposé led by podcaster Pablo Torre, who was just awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his investigative reporting that led to a massive fine against the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, turned Life Surge’s dodgy practices and the deep involvement of Heisman Trophy-winning retired quarterback Tim Tebow into a national scandal.
The joint project by Torre and Mother Jones investigative reporter Kiera Butler reported that “hundreds of attendees swap stories of high-pressure sales tactics infused with Christian messaging” on a large Facebook group of unhappy Life Surge customers, Reddit threads, and elsewhere. Some said they withdrew retirement funds or went deep into credit card debt to pay for “SurgeU” classes in wealth management that can cost as much as $40,000.
The story, boosted by Torre’s podcasting clout and the focus on Tebow’s role as a frequent featured speaker who’s earned an estimated $2 million to $4 million from his involvement, garnered immediate results. Tebow has already announced he is pausing any future involvement with Life Surge, noting “the allegations are extremely serious.” It’s doubtful any of the Eagles will face any consequences for their one-day fling with Life Surge, and yet maybe this scandal will finally convince Philly athletes to stop saying anything for another fistful of dollars.
It was stunning to see that the newest and arguably brightest star in the city’s sports firmament, the new 76er LeBron James, signed a $15 million deal — far more than the reduced salary he accepted to help the Sixers finally win another title — with the online prediction market Polymarket. This despite the fact that New York state (where James is apparently living, by the way) and others have accused Polymarket of running an unlicensed gambling operation, in an era when betting addictions are wrecking far too many lives.
James’ new ads for Polymarket dropped just weeks after The Inquirer reported that the Phillies’ highest-paid slugger, Bryce Harper, who has a 13-year, $330 million contract, was paid to film a personalized Cameo video that the sports-betting company FanDuel then sent to a gambler who was racking up $1.5 million in debt.
Harper said FanDuel slapped its logo on the video with neither his knowledge nor permission. Meanwhile, Eagles legend Dawkins, one of last year’s Life Surge speakers, found himself embroiled in controversy this week when Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security lifted a hype video of the footballer to promote its mass deportation efforts. The use of the video without Dawkins’ permission was an outrage, but then it’s easy to fool the public when our sporting heroes won’t stop running their mouths to inflate their already bloated bank balance.
What I wrote on this date in 2020
Thursday will mark the 56th anniversary of the night that forever defined Philly “attytood”: The Phillies’ final home game at iconic Connie Mack Stadium in 1970, which prompted fans of the team that still has the most losses in major-league history to rip everything — even the toilets — out of the rusted ballpark before rioting on the field. I wrote on the 50th anniversary six years ago that the chaos was “a pivot point in how the nation would see Philadelphia — no longer either the place of history-class field trips or boring Quaker blue laws but now the U.S. capital of blue-collar attytood, with sports fans who were in your face, with a wooden slat if someone was dumb enough to hand them one.”
Only one column this week, as I also toiled on my latest investigative reporting project on what’s really happening with immigration arrests in Pennsylvania. In that column, I looked at Donald Trump’s increasingly erratic and outlandish public statements and argued that — instead of news coverage that soberly looks at every bat-guano crazy outburst or rambling speech — it’s time for the media to start seriously questioning the president’s mental health. The moment for real talk about Trump’s disordered mind — and whatever remedy is possible — is now, before the crisis implodes.
Speaking of Donald Trump, one defining feature of his second presidency has been the fearfulness of newspaper editorial boards — including many that had called for Richard Nixon or even Bill Clinton to resign back in the day — to aggressively challenge the current POTUS even as he flagrantly violates both laws and common decency. I’m proud to work with the exception: the award-winning editorial board of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Spearheaded by my friend and colleague Paul Davies, The Inquirer this week has been publishing the latest in a six-part series of major indictments of Trump’s massive wrongdoing called “The Art of the Steal.” The recent broadsides included “It’s all about him,” which digs into Trump’s obsession with wasteful Washington, D.C., vanity projects, and “The family that grifts together,” which aims to chronicle the endless parade of crypto scams, defense contracts, and other financial schemes that have made billions of dollars for the president’s kin. These outstanding works of opinion journalism are just the latest example of how a newsroom funded not by billionaires but by a nonprofit foundation created in the public interest can’t be bought off or cowed by a corrupt government. You can support this important work — and enjoy reading it — when you subscribe to The Inquirer.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
The three words that have long defined Tyrese Maxey were also the ones that landed LeBron James with the 76ers. They were spoken a little more than six years ago by Rajon Rondo, the longtime NBA point guard who’d starred at the University of Kentucky before embarking on a pro career that saw him win a championship and make four All-Star teams with the Celtics.
This was the summer of 2020, and the world was on hiatus, and Rondo found himself sharing the court with a 19-year-old kid who was about to become the latest in a long line of first-round draft picks from his alma mater. Maxey liked waking up early, and he liked working late, and the kid could ball a little bit. Rondo was impressed enough that he mentioned Maxey to James, his then-teammate on a Lakers team that would go on to win the NBA title once play resumed that summer.
In hindsight, maybe we shouldn’t have been so floored three months ago when James announced that he would be continuing his Hall of Fame career with the Sixers. Those of us who’d witnessed Maxey’s rise over the last seven years were well aware of his irrepressible good nature and earnest commitment to his craft. There may not be a more likable player in all of professional sports, let alone the NBA. It isn’t just his magnetism and work ethic, but also the genuineness with which these traits express themselves. What we didn’t know was the extent to which James, too, valued such things. Turns out, he values them a great deal.
“Our relationship, when I broke a lot of the teams and franchises down I could possibly play for, he was one of the main deciding factors,” James said Monday in his first official public appearance as a Sixer.
Video: LeBron James on how much Tyrese Maxey played a factor in his decision to choose Philly
It’d be easy to interpret that solely as an endorsement of Maxey. But, in a funny way, James’ relationship with Maxey speaks as much to his own character as vice versa. Most of us here in Philadelphia know James only from afar, which means our impressions of him are inevitably shaped more by secondhand narratives than by firsthand witness.
In the weeks leading up to his decision to sign with the Sixers, local airwaves and social-media feeds crackled with skepticism from a contingent of fans who not only doubted James’ intentions but also recoiled at the idea of seeing him in a Sixers uniform. However genuine some of those skeptics were, others were undoubtedly reacting to a heroes-and-villains caricature that develops with all superstars who reach a certain stature. James’ relationship with Maxey doesn’t necessarily square with that caricature.
“He’s worked for everything he’s gotten,” Maxey said. “He was put on a pedestal where a lot of guys don’t succeed. And he probably surpassed expectations. For myself, I kind of had the opposite start of my career. I was put on a different pedestal, and I felt like I had to work my way up to where I am.
“But still, at the end of the day, both of us had to work to get to where we were. I believe in the work, he believes in the work. Like I’ve been saying for years, we’ve got to get one percent better [every day], and not just on the court, but as a group, the camaraderie. It’s gonna be new. It’s gonna be different … But it’s gonna be good.”
The most striking thing about James’ first news conference as a Sixer was both his maturity and the way in which it echoed Maxey’s.
“You got to try to stay even-keeled, understand that the noise is gonna be noise, what happens outside of this building is gonna consistently happen, and it’s going to be doubled and tripled and quadrupled now that I’m here,” James said. “And it just comes with the territory, I understand it. So the work that we put in in this building, the work that we put in when we’re on the road, watching film, the work that we put in, will take care of itself. …
“Guys will hold each other accountable. We put the work in, we have honest conversations, things of that nature. So, you know, just staying even-keeled and everything that’s going on out there does not matter. It does not matter at all, it’s about the results and the things that happen in this building for us. And if we do that, we’re a really talented team, but the talent will only get you so far.
“But if you put the work in, and you continue to be better and better every day, and you have this championship approach every day to get one percent better, and then it definitely will work in our favor.”
LeBron James dons a Sixers jersey for the first time as he speaks to reporters on Monday in Camden, N.J.Gabriela Carroll /
Whatever your preconceived notions about LeBron, he is clearly an athlete who treats his craft with the utmost sincerity. As Maxey said, plenty of athletes have begun their careers on pedestals similar to the one James occupied as a generational schoolboy star at Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary and the eventual No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. The dividing line between the greats and the coulda-been-greats is more often than not an internal will that manifests itself in both work ethic and competitive drive. Both are evident in the words James speaks and the manner in which he speaks them. One suspects his new teammates will have no choice but to listen.
Maxey wasn’t blessed with the same raw physical gifts as James. He had the misfortune of entering college the year the world shut down, which limited his exposure and precipitated his fall to the Sixers at No. 21. But there is clearly something kindred between the two players. Listening to them talk, seeing them side-by-side wearing the same uniform, it suddenly seemed obvious why James ended up with the Sixers. That says something about Maxey. It says more about James.
The long wait to see LeBron James in a Sixers jersey ended. Joel Embiid got back to his Troll Embiid roots. And Tyrese Maxey’s role in the Sixers’ offseason became even more amplified.
Here are five takeaways from Monday’s media day.
LeBron doesn’t commit to a ‘final decision’
James signed a two-year, $8 million deal with a player option to join the Sixers in July. And when he described his move to the Sixers in his initial announcement, James called it his “final decision.” But when asked if this would indeed be his final contract, James said: “We’ll see what happens.”
James acknowledged that he’s entering his 24th season and said he needs to give himself grace.
Video: LeBron James is focused on ‘living in the moment’ with the Sixers
“Honestly, I’m just looking at it, every single day, on how I can be the best version of myself for this franchise while I’m here,” he said. “I don’t want to speak into the future right now. I would be doing a disservice to myself on just living in the moment, especially knowing that I am where I am in my career.”
Embiid followed James on media day, and their handling of the dais couldn’t have been more different. James’ first public address was fairly serious, with the discussion centering on his legacy, his deep relationship with Maxey, and where he sees himself in the future.
Embiid was similarly asked serious questions. He handled them differently. At one point, he paused before flashing a smile and blurted, “I’m trying to figure out if I want to troll or not.”
When he wasn’t having a little fun and pretending that he didn’t help recruit James, Embiid was honest about his health and how refreshing it was to finally have a surgery-free offseason.
Video: LeBron James on how much Tyrese Maxey played a factor in his decision to choose Philly
Maxey’s role in landing LeBron can’t be overstated
Maxey’s recruitment of James started years ago.
Maxey spent time in the gym with James before his rookie season and admitted that he shot a text to James a few years ago even though it was clear the future NBA Hall of Famer was set to return to the Lakers in free agency. Maxey joked that he knew it was a long shot but still asked James if he was interested in “coming back to the Northeast.”
Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey receive information from the photographer during media day.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Those moments paid off this summer. When the Sixers traded for Jaylen Brown and James made it clear he wouldn’t return to Los Angeles, things became more serious. Those conversations took a different shape and happened more often, according to James, who said he didn’t have just one conversation about Philly with Maxey.
James was clear that his relationship with Maxey played a pivotal role in his decision to join the Sixers. So did the presence of Brown and conversations with Joel Embiid, a former Team USA teammate of James who joked at media day that they didn’t speak this summer.
“Our relationship, when I broke a lot of the teams and franchises down I could possibly play for, he was one of the main deciding factors.”
Maxey’s role in adding James was lauded all summer. Yet he was still surprised it happened.
Video: LeBron James on Philly sports fans: ‘They know ball’
“I see him in the summertime every year,” Maxey said, “but to see him here in Camden, New Jersey, in the facility with a Sixers jersey on, it’s a cool experience.”
After hearing James speak, Maxey’s part in making that happen can’t be overstated.
Sixers stressing camaraderie
The Sixers are bringing together a lot of new players, with James, Brown, Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope all joining the franchise this summer. Unsurprisingly, it was common for players to mention off-court camaraderie and the importance of team building.
James, Brown and KCP, who have all won NBA titles, spoke about the issue at length. And while Maxey hasn’t won the big one yet, he played a particularly outsized role in gathering teammates even before the season started. He recruited James, worked out with Simons in Texas, spent time with VJ Edgecombe, among other activities this summer.
The Sixers have referred to their starting lineup as the Big Five, yet the common refrain has been that second-year star Edgecombe will need to sacrifice.
Several Sixers players dispelled that notion on Monday, starting with James. He asked why Edgecombe would need to sacrifice and recognized that the word can carry a negative connotation.
VJ Edgecombe during a photo shoot at Sixers media day at the Penn Medicine Training Complex in Camden on Monday.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Maxey said similarly that the Sixers might need different things from Edgecombe on different nights, but admitted that will apply to several players.
“I’ve been hearing that things are going to change for him,” James said. “I don’t understand why things would change for him … I don’t think his role should change.
“With the group of guys we have, no one mentioned that everyone’s role will probably be different. And that’s for the greater good, if we want to accomplish something that’s really, really important. If we say that we want to do something special, there will be a collective sacrifice.”
LeBron James grabbed and glanced at the name tag perched on a table, then quipped, “You guys know who I am, right?”
Those assembled inside the 76ers’ practice facility did, of course. James, one of the NBA’s all-time greats and a mainstream international celebrity, generally commands such hubbub. But the blue No. 23 jersey that James wore Monday amped that attention up even more. New teammate Tyrese Maxey even called seeing his friend and summer workout buddy’s new professional attire “really just weird.”
In James’ long-anticipated first day inside these walls — and first time speaking publicly since he chose the Sixers in a stunning free-agency move in July — the future Hall of Famer touched on needing to learn new streets and new people. The Northeast Ohio native mentioned reacclimating to weather in this part of the country, on the tail end of the weekend’s Nor’easter storm. James acknowledged the outside noise surrounding the Sixers will be “doubled and tripped and quadrupled now that I’m here.”
Yet James reemphasized that his goal, in perhaps his last destination in a storied NBA career, is to seize the Sixers’ newfound super team status. The four-time champion hopes to provide the “blueprint” for the “collective sacrifice” and consistent work habits required to reach the NBA mountaintop, a feat the Sixers have not accomplished in more than four decades.
“Everyone wants, like, instant oatmeal,” James said at the Sixers’ media day ahead of the start of training camp. “You just put the oatmeal in the bowl, you put water in it, throw it in the microwave, and in a minute-and-a-half, you’ve got something to eat. You’re ready to go.
Video: LeBron James on Philly sports fans: ‘They know ball’
“If you want to do something special, it takes time. And it takes, every single day, doing things that you may not want to do. Because it’s the same thing, over and over and over and over and over, repetition after repetition after repetition. …
“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, 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.’”
LeBron James wore a Sixers jersey for the first time on Monday. Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
When asked directly Monday if the 41-year-old James, who signed a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option, views Philly as his “final stop,” James did not fully commit. He said “that would be doing a disservice to myself on just living in the moment” entering season No. 24.
James did give a brief recap of why he chose Philly in July, including agent Rich Paul’s infamous white board breaking down his contenders in a podcast episode. James reinforced that multiple conversations with Maxey, an All-NBA guard and fellow Klutch client, was “one of the main deciding factors” in him selecting the Sixers over previous teams the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat, among other suitors.
Video: LeBron James on how much Tyrese Maxey played a factor in his decision to choose Philly
James hopes his vast experience — he is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and a four-time league Most Valuable Player — can aid new teammates such as Joel Embiid, also a former MVP, and an organization with rich history seeking its first NBA title since 1983. James also still provides top-notch on-court production, basketball IQ, and versatility. He averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists with the Los Angeles Lakers last season — and said he is willing to do “whatever the team needs for me to do.”
“I think the luxury of my game is I can do everything,” James said, candidly. “Literally, I can do everything.”
Added Maxey: “He’s worked for everything he’s gotten. He was put on a pedestal [as a prospect] where a lot of guys don’t succeed, and he’s probably surpassed expectations.”
James’ illustrious career has included numerous trips to Philly, even dating back to a high school game played at The Palestra. He commended that the city’s passionate sports fans “know ball,” and that, as an opponent, he felt “a mutual respect … but we hate you.”
“I actually really love that,” James said. “I really thrive under that circumstance. … I’m happy to be on this side, though.”
Video: LeBron James is focused on ‘living in the moment’ with the Sixers
During conversations and workouts in the weeks since choosing the Sixers, James said he has felt that the organization’s key figures are “on the same page.” Training camp opens Tuesday, ahead of an Oct. 20 opener at the defending champion New York Knicks.
James cautioned against expecting “instant oatmeal.” But his ultimate goal — for this newly assembled super team, and in perhaps his legendary career’s final chapter — was clear.
“I didn’t leave my family to lose in the second round,” James said. “I know that, for sure. Work needs to be done, and I’m ready to put the work in.”
At the end of last season, Joel Embiid was optimistic about what a summer without a major injury for him to deal with could do for the Sixers heading into next season.
So, what did he spend his summer doing?
“Nothing,” he said with a smirk. “Gained a lot of weight.”
Embiid looked up toward the ceiling and debated whether he wanted to keep trolling when asked for further clarification about his summer.
Video: LeBron James is focused on ‘living in the moment’ with the Sixers
“I feel good,” Embiid said Monday. “I won’t get into all the details of what I did, but I felt like I did the right things to put myself and the team in a position to succeed.”
Contrary to his jokes, he looked lighter and said he wants to play “as much as possible” this season after struggling with injuries on and off through his entire NBA career. He said his knee issues were “behind him.”
“Jo is one of the most talented guys we have in the world,” LeBron James said. “For him, it’s just about health.”
Embiid might have kept his summer purposefully low-profile, but the Sixers did anything but, trading for Jaylen Brown and signing James. Commenting for the first time on the moves, Embiid could barely hold in a laugh while saying that he “didn’t talk” to James as part of the recruiting process.
Video: LeBron James on how much Tyrese Maxey played a factor in his decision to choose Philly
The trade with Boston for Brown was a bit “bittersweet,” due to the personal relationship between Embiid and Paul George, and the relationship between Embiid’s son Arthur and George’s son Paul.
But adding a player of Brown’s caliber provided a needed shakeup to the Sixers’ roster.
“I was excited because you’re getting a guy – first-team All-NBA,” Embiid said. “The job he did, especially when [Jayson Tatum] was hurt, was huge, obviously we played against him, but what he brings on the defensive, offensive end … to be able to add that, combining that with everything he does on and off the court, I think he’s going to be good for the city of Philadelphia.”
Jimmy Butler (left) was among the stars Joel Embiid has played with previous with the Sixers. Here in 2019, they played together for half of a season.YONG KIM / Staff Photographer
This is perhaps Embiid’s most talented group of teammates yet. But the Sixers have had other stars during Embiid’s tenure, including James Harden, Jimmy Butler, and George.
Embiid said he didn’t want to characterize those previous star experiments as “not working out,” despite the lack of playoff success. He has preached for years that a big reason for the Sixers’ struggles even with talented rosters is the lack of consistency.
“Like Jimmy, we only had for half a year,” Embiid said. “Some things could have happened to build on that, but we didn’t.”
But Embiid thinks these Sixers have the right mix of youth, with Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, and veteran experience. He wants to start fast and get as much practice time as possible with this group. Some of that has already happened, with Maxey and James’ close training partnership.
“It’s hard to win, man,” Embiid said. “You need that consistency, you need to get guys on the same page. I feel like this year, we have that.”
The Sixers are moving their Blue X White scrimmage to Xfinity Mobile Arena for the first time ever.
After a summer of big moves that have led to historic demand for Sixers basketball, fans will get their first chance to see new stars LeBron James and Jaylen Brown in action on the court at noon on Oct. 3 at Xfinity Mobile.
Admission will require a $10 donation to the Sixers Youth Foundation, similar to the Eagles’ $10 annual open practice at Lincoln Financial Field. Season-ticket holders will have first access, followed by a general on-sale allotment on Monday, Sept. 28 at 3 p.m. The Sixers will also donate 5,000 tickets to Sixers Youth Foundation grantees. Parking will be complimentary.
The event will kick off with a pregame fan festival outside the arena, which will include giveaways, shooting challenges, and more starting at 9:30 a.m. before the scrimmage.
In previous years, the scrimmage was hosted in Wilmington at the home of the Blue Coats, the Sixers’ G League affiliate. But the unprecedented demand — including unprecedented regular-season ticket prices — led to the expanded interest and capacity for this year’s scrimmage, in collaboration with new team sponsor BodyArmor.
