Philadelphia was down by 29 points in its home opener when LeBron James, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey began hauling the 76ers back into a game nobody was expecting them to win. By the final buzzer on Thursday night, Philadelphia had taken a 114-106 decision over the Cavaliers. It was the largest comeback of James’s 24-year NBA career.

James finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The question he was asked about afterwards had nothing to do with any of it.

Earlier the same day, Trump had posted on Truth Social that the 76ers star had disrespected the country during the national anthem before Philadelphia’s season opener in New York. The president called him “a TOTAL DISGRACE” and demanded an apology to “all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag.”

James, speaking to reporters after the game, needed just three words.

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“Slow news day.”

What the cameras caught at Madison Square Garden

The clip Trump reacted to was recorded two nights earlier, on Tuesday 20 October, before Philadelphia’s 106-100 win at Madison Square Garden, James’s debut in a 76ers uniform. Cameras caught him moving through what some viewers interpreted as a golf swing and a shooting motion while the national anthem played, and in the video he shared on Truth Social Trump accused James of practising his golf swing during the song.

Nurse refuses to engage

Head coach Nick Nurse was asked about Trump’s post before tip-off against Cleveland. He did not take the bait, telling reporters that the Truth Social attack went in the same bin as every other distraction already around the team.

“I think that goes right in with other outside noise we’ve already had,” Nurse said, according to Sky Sports. His focus, he added, was practice, film and the game floor, nothing else.

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The 76ers had already drawn attention for James’s late-career arrival in Philadelphia alongside fellow newcomer Jaylen Brown, and Nurse’s framing landed the presidential broadside in the same bucket as everything else the roster has been asked to tune out this month.

The night ended with a franchise record

Philadelphia trailed by 29 before outscoring Cleveland 69-37 in the second half, the largest comeback by the franchise in the play-by-play era, which dates back to 1997-98. Brown added 21 points. Maxey scored 32 and Embiid had 24.

The win pushed the 76ers to 2-0 to open the 2026-27 season.

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