After a summer of silence when it came to the motivations behind his decision to join the Sixers for the final act of his legendary NBA career – and just three days before he will be in town for Media Day – LeBron James provided some new insight into his decision to play in Philadelphia on Friday morning.

James and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash sat down for the return of the "Mind the Game" podcast. For the NBA's all-time leading scorer, it was a chance to explain in more depth than ever before why he is entrusting the Sixers with the remaining years of his historic run.

After a "WHY LEBRON CHOSE PHILLY" graphic graced the screen, James began by telling Nash a story about playing at The Palestra as a teenager, recounting his famed battle against Maureece Rice.

Finally, Nash arrived at the question: why the Sixers? James went long with an opening statement of sorts:

"First of all, my relationship with Tyrese Maxey goes beyond the court. And when I've mentioned him in the past on the podcast, Philly was not even a question. I didn't even know – obviously, it's way before the [Jaylen Brown] trade as well, which is another intriguing piece. But I just love everything about Tyrese Maxey, man. He's just – every day, you get the same person. And that is very rare, in sports and obviously super rare in life. And I've always talked about how great of a person he is. And we obviously know what he brings to the basketball court. But when I became a free agent and we decided to let the Lakers know that I wouldn't be returning, he was one of the first people that was on my line, calling me...

Our relationship - there's a lot of times that I just don't answer the phone, for a lot of phone calls. Because I don't want to be swayed in one way. I already know what you're calling about. But he's such a great person, I can't not talk to him, one. But I thought the JB trade, too, was another piece than I don't think anybody [saw] coming. I think people saw that something was going to happen there, but I don't think anyone thought that it would be Philly that would be part of that trade package. I love the way that he approaches the game, too. Both sides of the floor, what he brings to the game, his insight on the game. I've watched him – kind of misunderstood, and that is absolutely okay. I think we're all individuals for a reason. And everyone's always trying to put everybody in the same box. And I love what he stands for, what he brings to the table, in that fashion.

And one of the most important, to be honest, is the Big Fella [Joel Embiid]. He's done everything in our league, and the only thing he has not done is win a championship. And I want to try to help him get that first one. He's been the MVP of our league, has a gold medal, All-Stars, signature shoes, a bunch of money, beautiful family, he has everything. He has a city on his back. He's been 'The Process' for 10 years, 12 years, however long he's been there. But I think it's time we even get you deeper into The Process. And I hope that I can be, kind of, that final little piece that can help him get over the hump, and have him maybe see it a little bit differently than he's seen it in his career, as far as the day-to-day process, the day-to-day, what it takes to get there."

Nash commented about how disappointing Embiid's health issues have been given his talent and desire to be on the court before comparing Maxey to Stephen Curry in how he approaches the game with "positivity in everything he does." James says Maxey has been the "same exact person" since the day he was 19 years old and came to James' house, met him for the first time and was spending time with James' two sons.

"From the moment that he's gotten drafted, to the perennial All-Star, superstar that he's becoming," James said, "nothing has changed."

Asked by Nash what makes Brown "misunderstood," James said it was Brown's willingness to use his voice – and sometimes do so in unorthodox ways.

"I just think any time someone moves to their own beat, it makes someone uncomfortable. He has his own voice, he moves to the sound of his own beat; it makes people uncomfortable because it's not what everyone is accustomed to," James said, "so when it becomes misunderstood, then it becomes intimidating, and people look at it as, like, 'I don't want to be around that,' because they feel intimidated by it. There's an energy they don't feel comfortable with."

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This team has two NBA MVPs in James and Embiid, but also two NBA Finals MVPs in James and Brown. James indicated that shared championship experience will help the two of them lead these Sixers.

"We've worked out three or four times this offseason, we've been in communication – because we're two of the guys on the team, and obviously [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is] on the team as well, that have been through the foxhole, and been through the wringer, of [knowing] what it takes, from the moment we step on the court for training camp, to the moment we raise that Larry O'Brien Trophy, we know what it takes. So just trying to make sure we're on the same page and have everybody else on the same page. But it's been nothing but good interaction with JB, and we're going to continue that."

Nash then asked James what he has heard, seen and come to know about 21-year-old VJ Edgecombe.

"The intel that I've got from everyone is that this kid is beyond his years," James said. "They said he was actually one of the leaders of the team, as a 20-year-old rookie. And not in a disrespectful manner, not like he was speaking just to be speaking or thinking he's better – they say he speaks with an intelligent confidence. Natural. Works extremely hard. He's a flat-out player, man. He's a player."

Other than Embiid's health, Nash argued, Edgecombe's play is a swing factor for this team given how much room for improvement he still has.

"[There's] no reason he shouldn't be able to – if he really wants to – be contending for an All-Defensive team this year," James said, "with his athleticism, with his length, with his speed. If he wants to. If he wants to. Obviously, I think JB is going to set the tone with his ability to guard, but I think VJ should be right there, just taking all of the keys from JB, learning all of the nuances, because he has all of the tools. People always want you to, like – 'you'll get your turn' – why? Why can't I do it now?"

After Nash pointed out that every player has a chance to "feature themselves" on defense, James argued that Edgecombe will benefit offensively from the Sixers holding the line defensively.

"If we can get stops or create turnovers, then it's going to benefit VJ and Tyrese more than anybody on the team. Those guys are so fast and so athletic, you're not going to be able to catch up to them. You're not going to be able to catch up to those two guys, so that's going to be important to us."

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Lastly, asked by Nash about the Sixers' potential defensively under head coach Nick Nurse, James expressed confidence and optimism as he talked through what the points of emphasis should be:

"I've been able to be on some really good defensive teams in my career, and defense always comes down to the first thing: pride. It's a pride thing. I'm not going to allow my guy to continue to exploit me or beat me or whatever the case may be. There has to be some pride. At the end of the day, the best defense never stops the best offense anyways, and that's okay. But if we can make teams uncomfortable, if we can make teams turn the ball over, if we can make teams just not be in a rhythm like they're accustomed to being in a rhythm versus other teams, it gives us another opportunity. It gives us more possessions. We want to try to win the possession game.

And I think with Coach Nurse, and the things that I've seen with his teams in the past, especially with the Raptors team that won a championship, that's what they did. They got up into you, they got into the passing lane, if you got around one guy there's another guy helping [against] you... It was a lot of high-IQ guys as well to be able to do that. And I'm looking forward to seeing if we can kind of translate a little bit of that as well. Because we have the speed, we have the athleticism, now it's about, do we have the discipline to actually be able to take that on the defensive end and hold each other accountable, too? Because that's what it's about. We've got to force guys into contested twos, try not to give up straight-line drives, don't give up corner threes, and then we've got to rebound, you know? As fast, athletic as we can be, we can't do sh*t if we don't get the rebound. So that's important."

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