Jaylen Brown on star-studded Sixers: ‘To win, you got to be able to sacrifice’

Jaylen Brown knows what everyone is wondering about the new-look Sixers.

There is one basketball. There are a whole lot of stars. Brown doesn’t seem particularly concerned.

Speaking Thursday at his introductory press conference in Philadelphia, Brown acknowledged that a lineup featuring himself, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe will require some adjustment.

“Obviously it’s a lot of guys with talent and egos,” Brown said. “But to win, you got to be able to sacrifice, you got to be able to have trust and communicate.”

That’s easier said than done, of course. Brown is coming off an All-NBA season in which he finished sixth in MVP voting. James and Embiid have spent much of their careers as the focal points of their respective offenses. Maxey has developed into a star in his own right.

Brown insists none of that matters as much as winning.

“My focus is winning,” he said. “I don’t care about the MVP awards or the Finals MVPs. None of that stuff really moves me. It’s nice, but the only thing that’s gonna move me is doing something collectively, so a championship.”

Brown also said he’s looking forward to learning from James, calling it an opportunity to soak up knowledge from everything the NBA’s all-time leading scorer has experienced during his career.

The 29-year-old isn’t ready to crown the Sixers offseason champions, either.

“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.”

Brown knows something about that. He spent his first 10 NBA seasons in Boston, winning a championship alongside Jayson Tatum in 2024 and earning Finals MVP honors along the way.

He admitted Thursday that he’s still processing the trade that sent him to one of the Celtics’ longtime rivals.

His phone went flying across the room when he initially heard the news. Now he’s ready to move on.

“I want to come in transparent,” Brown said. “This is what I’m here to do. This is what I want to do. I want to win.”

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