NBA MEDIA DAY BELONGED TO LEBRON IN A SIXERS JERSEY

The NBA opened its season the way it always does, with thirty rooms full of folding chairs, step and repeat backdrops and players answering the same four questions. Then Philadelphia sat LeBron James down in a blue number 23 jersey and the rest of media day turned into background noise.

The Name Card Went on the Floor

James took his seat in Camden, fidgeted with the microphone, and then picked up the placard with his own name printed on it and dropped it on the ground. You guys know who I am, right, he asked the room.

It was the first time he had appeared in a Sixers uniform in public, and he is about to start a 24th NBA season, which is not a number that has ever been attached to a player arriving somewhere new. He said he was happy to be here and happy to play alongside Tyrese Maxey. Then he set the actual terms of the season.

I didn't leave my family to lose in the second round, he said.

That is the whole thing in one sentence. James left Los Angeles after eight seasons, moved his life across the country at 41, and is not interested in a farewell tour framing. Philadelphia has not been past the second round in a very long time. He named the floor, not the ceiling.

How He Got Into That Jersey

The deal itself was small in every way except consequence. James signed with Philadelphia on July 24, 24 days into free agency, for two years and roughly 8 million dollars, with a player option and a full 15 percent trade kicker. He called it his last decision and said he had weighed retirement seriously before taking it.

The Sixers then spent a week turning the number into an event of its own, revealing the 23 with a single crown. On Monday the jersey finally had a person inside it.

What surrounds him is the part Philadelphia will be judged on. Joel Embiid is still the franchise center. Maxey is the engine. Jaylen Brown arrived from Boston in the trade that sent Paul George the other way, which is the kind of deal that only makes sense if you believe the window is now. VJ Edgecombe fills out a starting five that did not exist in this shape three months ago.

The Rest of the League Still Had a Day

Toronto held the second most interesting session in the league. Kawhi Leonard spoke at his first Raptors media day and said he wants to move forward after an NBA investigation, which is a sentence that will follow that team into October whether or not anyone in Toronto wants it to.

In Detroit, Jalen Duren simply did not turn up. The Pistons held media day without their starting center during a contract dispute, and an empty chair at media day has a way of becoming the story of a training camp.

Indiana got the answer it wanted, with Tyrese Haliburton declaring himself fully healthy going into the season. Golden State supplied the comic relief, Stephen Curry with a dance move and Jimmy Butler III with new jewelry that ESPN put in its headline alongside LeBron. Dallas leaned on a slogan, bring joy back to basketball, which tells you roughly how last season went there.

And Steven Adams, asked to look ahead at the season, suggested that Grand Theft Auto VI landing in November might do more damage to league wide performance than any defense will. He is probably not wrong, and he is definitely not the only player who has thought about it.

What Monday Actually Told Us

Media day is theater. Nobody has played anybody, every team is healthy in the photos, and every quote is a prediction with no cost attached to being wrong. What it does give you is the tone a team picked for itself, and Philadelphia picked a loud one.

A 41 year old on a minimum contract threw his name card on the floor, said he did not come to lose in the second round, and left the league the rest of the week to respond. Practices started Tuesday. The first real answer comes in October, when the jersey stops being a photo and starts being a rotation.