LeBron James establishing the standard at 76ers camp, Gansey says

Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey says LeBron James's intensity and daily habits are influencing younger teammates in his first camp with the club.

LeBron James has brought more than star power to his first training camp with the Philadelphia 76ers. As camp continues, the 41-year-old, now in his 24th NBA season, has quickly become the player who dictates how the team goes about its work. President of basketball operations Mike Gansey said the rest of the roster has followed the example set by its newest veteran.

Gansey, drawing on his experience across many training camps, said the intensity Philadelphia has shown over the opening four or five days has stood out. His central example was James, who has thrown himself onto the floor in pursuit of loose balls despite being the oldest player in the group. According to Gansey, that level of commitment has spread, with everyone else matching it.

James may be the newest arrival on the roster, but nothing about his standing required an introduction. Everyone in the organization knows who he is and respects what he contributes, and as the group's elder presence he is the figure teammates will look to when circumstances turn difficult. Rather than coasting through another year, Gansey indicated, James is focused on lifting every player around him.

The aim of that effort is a championship. James is pursuing the fifth title of his career, and after more than two decades in the league, his experience is the resource Philadelphia intends to lean on as it develops its younger talent.

Asked to describe what James provides, Gansey suggested that no words truly do him justice. He called James the most professional person he has encountered in the sport, pointing to the consistency of his routines and day-to-day habits. That standard, Gansey said, was in place from the day James arrived in Philadelphia.

Those routines extend to the most basic elements of a workday. James is the first person in the team's building each morning and the last to leave, and Gansey offered a concrete illustration: a younger player who arrives around 10 a.m. will find that James has been on site since 7:30.

That example is already registering across the roster, according to Gansey. Young players recognize the gap and ask themselves what their own schedules say about their preparation. Gansey said the influence is taking hold across much of the group, and he hopes it lasts.

For Philadelphia, the potential return on that influence extends well beyond a single season. Any habits or lessons the younger Sixers absorb from their daily exposure to James are viewed within the organization as valuable for both the present and the future.

The 76ers' next game is against the New York Knicks on Monday, October 5, at 7:00 p.m. EDT at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The matchup airs on NBA TV.