Commentary: Jaylen Brown, LeBron James bring talent and maturity to 76ers

Nobody throws a premature party like the 76ers. From the 2012 blowout to welcome Andrew Bynum to a 2016 rally at the Art Museum after going 10-72 and getting the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft — a pick that turned out to be Ben Simmons — to the parade of big-name free agents and trade pieces who have come and gone since, this franchise has forever reveled in the shock and awe of a stunning acquisition. Its introduction of Jaylen Brown on Thursday — at a recreation center in Southwest Philadelphia, per Brown's request — featured cheerleaders, neighborhood children, dozens of boosters, members of the organization and music with a dance-party feel. The affair had the Sixers' customary pomp. Maybe this time, the circumstances are different. There's actually reason to think they might be. The trade for Brown and LeBron James's decision to sign here give the Sixers more than just two outstanding players — one still in his prime, one still capable of being great, even at age 41. They now have two players who have shown they can handle, and even thrive amid, the highest of expectations and the heaviest of pressure. The most promising Sixers teams of the last 10 years tended to shrivel up in those situations. The 2019 team had a two-games-to-one lead on the Toronto Raptors, with Game 4 at home … and lost the game and, eventually, the series. The 2021 club also was up, 2-1, this time against an inferior team in the Atlanta Hawks, this time squandering an 18-point lead in Game 4 and a 26-point lead in Game 5 and losing Game 7 … at home. The 2023 club was up, 3-2, on Brown's Boston Celtics and … well … you remember. Have Brown and James been in similar scenarios? Have they had opportunities to close out playoff series and failed? Of course. They also have five championships and 12 Finals appearances between them, and they've met the measure of those moments, too, more often than anyone else on the Sixers' roster. Few players in NBA history had as much on the line as James did in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals, when his Miami Heat — one season after losing in the 2011 Finals to the Dallas Mavericks, James still without a championship ring at the time — were down, 3-2, to the Celtics and facing a Game 6 in Boston. He delivered perhaps the best performance of his career that night: 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a 98-79 Heat victory, then another 31 points and 12 boards in Miami's Game 7 win. A comparable comeback against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 Finals, the Cavaliers' charge back to beat the Golden State Warriors in 2016. These transcendent performances have to remain in James' past and would be too much to ask of him now, but they at least dispel any ridiculous notions that any important game would be too much for him, even at his advanced age. He'll be calm. He'll be cool. It doesn't mean the Sixers are assured of winning such games, only that no one is likely to see the same sad scenes that played out here with Simmons and James Harden. No one is likely to see a Sixers star choke. "James doesn't need to work himself into a frenzy, into an angry, unnatural lather," Adrian Wojnarowski, who covered that Heat-Celtics series for Yahoo! Sports, wrote after Game 6. "He's too good, and his talent will carry him if he comes to these pressure games with something far more lasting, with far more staying power than responding to the hellacious firestorm that surrounds his successes and failures. "His personality is different than a Kobe Bryant, a Michael Jordan, and allowing for that has been a wise plan of action. There was a rage within James for this Game 6, a resolve, but it was contained within the context of the surgical way in which he took apart the Celtics." As for Brown, he's spent a decade in a market as demanding as Philadelphia's. He was the NBA Finals MVP in 2024. He has played 142 postseason games in his career and has won 58% of them. His playoff statistics are comparable to, if not better than, his regular-season stats. "At this point in my career, how I would handle pressure would probably look different," Brown said. "At this point now, I would probably ignore a lot of it or let it just be water under the bridge. "I played in Boston for the last 10 years. The pressure is high there. It's Titletown. They expect to win every single year, and they're always looking for someone to blame. Some of those years, it was me, so I've been through that. All I come with is my work ethic, my mentality, my impact on winning. That's just my approach. Nothing else matters — just, how do we win games?" It's why he and James are here. It's the only thing anyone cares about anymore with this team. Too many premature celebrations in the past. So much cynicism for so many years. It's long past time for the Sixers to prove to everyone that they're made of stronger stuff.