CAMDEN, N.J. -- With LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey officially coming together as Philadelphia 76ers teammates during the team's annual media day Monday, Brown was asked how the star-studded group would determine the "alpha" among them.
"Next question," Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP acquired in an offseason trade with the Boston Celtics, replied.
Just because Brown chose to sidestep the question doesn't mean the main stars on the league's latest superteam don't know how much interest their every move will generate.
"You got to try to stay even keel," James said. "Understand that the noise is going to be the noise. What happens outside of this building is going to consistently happen and it's going to be doubled and tripled and quadrupled now that I'm here. It just comes with the territory. I understand it."
James, 41, entering an unprecedented 24th season, said the only way to outrun the scrutiny is to outwork it.
"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," James said. "Guys will hold each other accountable.
"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."
To that end, James, Brown, Embiid and Maxey got on the court together for a workout at the Sixers training complex Monday prior to their media day obligations, Philadelphia sources told ESPN, to get a head start on the journey ahead. Even though training camp doesn't open until Tuesday.
"Going into this year, we just want to get as much time as possible with each other on and off the court, try to create those relationships, which we already have," said Embiid, the 2023 league MVP and a member of the Team USA gold medal group at the 2024 Paris Olympics along with James. "And then build from there. Every single day, wins and losses, learn something and keep evolving. Obviously, everyone has the same goal, and we've got to find a way to accomplish it. Day by day, keep getting better."
As the new group figures out the best way to win together, players will assuredly be asked to do things differently than they have in the past.
Maxey, an All-Star in two of the last three seasons and coming off a campaign in which he averaged a career-best 28.3 points per game (No. 5 in the league), said he welcomes the changes.
Which will be a valuable attitude when trying to incorporate Brown, who was No. 4 in the league with 28.7 points per game. Not to mention the NBA's all-time leading scorer in James.
"I think I'm pretty comfortable playing in any type of situation at this point in my career," Maxey said. "I've kind of played under so many different circumstances. ... I'll still play on the ball, playing ball-screen actions like that, but for me to be able to play off the ball, get some catch-and-shoots, come off some screens. Come off some handoffs. Get out in transition. I think it'll be good for our team."
Sacrificing for the greater good of the team, James says, is what it will take for the franchise to win its first championship since 1983.
"If we say that we want to do something special, there will be a collective sacrificing in a good way," James said. "Sometimes in sports, people hear 'sacrifice' and you automatically people start thinking negative about it. It's not a negative thing. ...
"So many guys that's been in our league over the course of my career have never made a sacrifice in their career and they average 20 points and 22 points a game and they've had one or two postseason appearances and zero postseason wins.
"If that's the way you want your career to be, then that's fine. Everyone has different goals. But I don't think anybody downstairs or I don't think anybody in the locker room have that feeling and want their career to be like that or we wouldn't be here."
James emphasized his point by sharing the personal sacrifice he is making by leaving his wife and family on the West Coast in order to come to Philadelphia.
"We have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable," James said. "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, then 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.' I don't want to do that. I didn't leave my family to lose the second round. I know that for sure. So, work needs to be done and I'm ready to put the work in."