How the Sixers’ ‘kids’ bonded, then injected energy into the locker room
Outside belief that the Sixers are old and washed up is primarily used as a dig at the oft-injured Joel Embiid and Paul George. But these youngsters are debunking that notion.
Adem Bona got Johni Broome’s attention from across the 76ers’ locker room, subtly interrupting a conversation ahead of their Nov. 30 game against the Atlanta Hawks.
“I’m coming, Bona!” Broome hollered in response.
It was time for the young Sixers to head to chapel, which has become a pregame ritual. Jared McCain, VJ Edgecombe, Justin Edwards, and Hunter Sallis joined them, too.
Those teammates have swiftly forged a bond through serious activities, such as tapping into their faith, and sillier ones, such as intense NBA 2K video game matchups. And everyday ones, such as bus rides and shared meals.
Outside belief that the Sixers are old and washed up is primarily used as a dig at the oft-injured (and max-salaried) Joel Embiid and Paul George. But these youngsters are debunking that notion and injecting energy — and promise — into their team’s 14-11 start.
“We’re all just kids,” Edgecombe recently told The Inquirer. “Just enjoying the moment. Knowing that we’re in the NBA, what we worked for our whole life. …
“It’s just a natural bond, for real. It’s no forced relationship.”
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This contingent of the roster is made up of rookies Edgecombe, Broome, and Sallis; second-year players Bona, McCain, and Edwards; and two-way newcomers Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow. There also is a trio of 25-year-old “tweeners” in star point guard Tyrese Maxey — who noted before the season that he has tried to pick up video games in an effort to connect with those younger teammates — along with Trendon Watford and Quentin Grimes.
The Sixers’ front office more deliberately course-corrected to this roster-building direction in the middle of last season’s 24-58 flop, citing a need for more players who were athletic and consistently available. Bona, McCain, and Edwards received legitimate minutes as first-year players. Edgecombe, the third overall pick in last summer’s draft, is averaging 15.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4 assists as an instant-impact rookie. Barlow is a starter and arguably the Sixers’ biggest surprise so far this season, and Walker is part of the rotation.
The bulk of this 2025-26 group initially linked at the Sixers’ facility for summer league practices. Conversations while sticking around for cold-tub and treatment sessions spilled over to their newly created group chat, a player’s home, or a local restaurant. They went through the two-week summer league odyssey from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas. Then to workouts in Los Angeles, which included a Disneyland trip organized by Maxey. Then back to Philly for informal pickup games.
By the time training camp began in late September, those Sixers had already spent nearly three months together. And while the rookies did not have anything to compare this early NBA chemistry building to, Walker, who is now in his fourth season, called it “a different type of bonding” while likening it to a college-team environment.
“Sometimes, in other situations, you want to hurry up and get off the court and just go home,” Walker said. “I’ve been wanting to lag behind, because there’s so many different personalities. … For things to happen like that so quick, you don’t feel like you’re just coming to a job every day.
“I actually wake up like, ‘Dang, I’ve got to tell Johni this when I get there’ [or] ‘I’ve got to tell Justin this.’”
Coach Nick Nurse grinned when this topic was broached following an early-season practice. He said he first noticed the “entertaining” connection among those players while on the bus heading to gyms in the summer. He added that they embody this staff’s 12-months-a-year philosophy, and helped set the tone for the Sixers’ commitment to “dig ourselves out of a hole” following that disastrous 2024-25 season.
These days, Nurse said, there is a row of chairs along the practice court that those players frequently occupy after their work is done.
“I go up there once in a while,” Nurse said, “and I say, ‘What are you guys doing over here?’ And they’re like, ‘We’re just hanging out, Coach.’ And I’m like, ‘All right, keep hanging out.’”
Once those players finally leave the Sixers’ facility for the day, they regularly hop on their video-game headset.
Unsurprisingly, NBA 2K is their top choice. In “My Player” mode, Broome has an “elite” 7-foot-4 big man who can shoot. Sallis plays with a point guard “trying to run the show.” Edgecombe has a variety of players, allowing for maximum versatility.
“[We’ll] be on the game 24/7,” Edwards said. “We’ll be on FaceTime, in the group chat, trying to see who wants to play. That’s a big thing that I feel like we didn’t have last year.”
When asked who is the best gamer of the bunch, most provided the politically correct answer. Yet when informed that Edwards brushed off the topic, Walker quipped that “Justin should ‘no comment’ that question.” And, while bringing his voice down to a whisper inside a mostly empty postgame locker room, Edgecombe eventually revealed, “I think I’m the best, though, to be honest with you. You can say [it].”
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Gaming is how those youngsters also roped Sixers veterans — aka “Uncs” — George and Andre Drummond into their group. The 32-year-old Drummond said that being around those players’ lingo — Edwards recently started calling him “Muddy,” an apparent reference from his New York City relatives — music tastes, and overall energy is “why I call myself a young man.” George, who is 35, added that being immersed in a virtual environment away from the facility or Xfinity Mobile Arena has encouraged them all to open up and bridge age gaps.
“That’s where kind of the trust and the relationship has grown,” George said. “ ... We shoot the [expletive] on the game, but then it carries over the next day and we’re looking forward to seeing each other. We laugh about what happened the night prior, and who [stunk], and who was trash.
“It’s a fun way and I think, for us, [it’s] just kind of expressing ourselves outside of the grind of the season.”
Now, such connections fuel aspects of those players’ game-day routines.
Bona is the unofficial leader of the chapel “safe space,” which last season quickly added McCain. The invites then extended to Broome, Edwards, Edgecombe, and Sallis, who now file out of the locker room about an hour before any game’s tipoff.
“Everyone checks on each of us,” Bona said, “Like, ‘Yo, we’ve got five minutes!’ It’s amazing. It’s a really good bonding activity together.”
Added Broome: “Obviously, I’m a rookie, so things kind of get a little tough and frustrating sometimes. So it just kind of keeps me grounded, keeps me on the right path, in the right direction. Keeps me encouraged.”
Those relationships also are noticeable inside the postgame locker room. Following a Nov. 25 blowout loss to the Orlando Magic, for instance, Barlow, Walker, and Broome sat huddled in a corner, immediately dissecting how the game got so out of hand. And after Embiid’s 39-point outburst against the Indiana Pacers on Friday, he was enthusiastically chatting with McCain and Edgecombe before heading to treatment.
“I’m happier coming in here,” Embiid said later that night. “... You look at the guy next to you, you want to always joke around, talk to them, and hang out. Being on the road and just chill, that goes a long way.
“I love all these guys in this locker room.”
A fair amount of credit for such vibes can go to the “kids,” who quickly bonded with one another and then injected energy into the start of the Sixers’ season.
“I can go [down] the list of young guys,” Drummond said. “It really just keeps our whole team spirit high.”