August 06, 2026
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Jaylen Brown was officially introduced as a member of the Sixers on Thursday.
PHILADELPHIA – Across his 10 years in the NBA, Jaylen Brown has faced the Sixers more than any other team. It makes his sudden exit from the Boston Celtics all the more jarring. Brown is not just turning the page on his time in Boston; he is also learning to love a team he was taught to hate.
"I have nothing but respect for the city of Boston," Brown said at his introductory press conference at a local recreation center on Thursday. "But now it's time to move forward."
Brown is officially part of Philadelphia, but this Sixers team looks a lot different than the ones he has grown familiar with as an opponent. Yes, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, two of his longtime foes, remain. But the Sixers dealing Paul George and four draft picks to Boston for Brown was what opened the door to make an even more stunning acquisition.
"I think they did a great job," Brown said with a laugh when asked about the work of a front office led by new Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey. After acquiring Brown and signing Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons and Ariel Hukporti, Gansey landed the biggest free agent of them all: LeBron James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer.
So after a decade of wearing green, Brown is not just joining forces with a famed Celtics foe in James, but he is doing so on the team trying to flip the script of its own historic rivalry with Boston.
"I think they did a great job."
— NBA (@NBA) August 6, 2026
Jaylen Brown gives the @sixers front office his stamp of approval 💯 pic.twitter.com/MF5tqW4IPm
Brown's exit from Boston was messy, and the Sixers' shocking 3-1 series comeback to eliminate the Celtics from the 2026 NBA Playoffs set it into motion. After failing to deal Brown for two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Celtics quickly pivoted to lesser packages as they surveyed the market for Brown. That market deteriorated enough for the Sixers to shockingly close a deal.
Does Brown anticipate having extra juice going into matchups against his former team?
"Yeah. I'll just say – just one day at a time," Brown said. "That's all I got."
It's official!
— NBA (@NBA) August 6, 2026
Welcome to the @sixers Jaylen Brown 7⃣ pic.twitter.com/1zOhrfFRQM
But more than a month has passed since Brown learned he would be joining the Sixers – he said he threw his phone when the news first broke – but he has started to process everything. James deciding that the final chapter of his NBA career would be written in Philadelphia has added a massive amount of excitement around the team, and Brown has been riding that wave. Brown said he wants to "lead with my heart, lead with my work [and] my mentality," but he loves to learn, and he is eager to do that by picking the brain of his 41-year-old teammate.
New Sixer Jaylen Brown arrives at his intro press conference. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/L4zs3bcsUv
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) August 6, 2026
"I'm looking forward to learning from LeBron," Brown said. "I'm looking forward to learning from all these guys, but LeBron, just everything that he's endured during his career on and off the floor – one of my favorite things to do is learn. I can't wait to just soak up as much information as I can and apply that to myself."
While Brown was focused on his new team, the circumstances surrounding his exit from his former team were impossible to ignore. What did Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, make of the extent to which his game and character have been scrutinized since Boston decided to move on?
"Obviously, it got to a threshold this offseason that was a little bit higher than it's been in the past, where I think people attack my character," Brown said. "...So it's been a crazy transition, to be honest. But none of it is completely surprising... And then obviously getting traded to the Sixers, somebody that you competed against for the last 10 years, someone that has been a rival, that was a process, too."
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Some thought Brown would welcome a trade out of Boston because, without Jayson Tatum by his side, he could "have his own team." But now, Brown may slot in as the Sixers' fourth-highest-usage player when Embiid, Maxey and James are all available.
While many have wondered what impact this would have on the five-time All-Star, he did not sound all that concerned. Brown is aware of what it would mean to win a championship in Philadelphia, and professed a willingness to do whatever he must in order to help make that happen.
"To be honest, it doesn't have to be anybody's team," Brown said. "It just needs to be based in respect and work. And that's my approach: I want to earn everybody's respect and trust, which takes time. Obviously, [there are] a lot of guys with talent, egos. Well, to win, you've got to be able to sacrifice. You've got to be able to have trust and communication."
Yes, there is only one ball, and yes, the exact hierarchy of this team when it comes to scoring is to be determined. But Brown is not worried about any of that.
"We have a lot of talent compared to the other teams in the league. But I've been around a long time - long enough to know that just what you have on paper don't really mean nothing," Brown said. "It can if you put the work in, but if you allow distractions, if you allow the media to get into your locker room, if you allow certain things and personalities don't work, it can be a detriment. So I'm aware that it could go either way. It just takes the amount of work and the transparency, and the leadership can really guide this thing or not. So, for me, I'm just focused on that."
Now, the work begins.
"Obviously, on paper, we look great," Brown said. "But let's all slow down. It takes real work every single day in order to make something like this happen. For me, the work has started already. I'm looking forward to doing whatever it is I need to do, whoever I need to talk to, to make sure that we get on the same page and that everybody's focused on the same thing. If we do that, then we'll be where we want to be."
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