Ring night festivities, LeBron James vs. a Knicks fan, and more broadcast moments from Sixers’ opening-night win

There you have it, 76ers fans. An official look at your new Sixers in a regular-season game, and a 106-100 win over the reigning NBA champion New York Knicks.

The broadcast, which was part of NBC’s season opening triple-header, featured Mike Tirico on the play-by-play with Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford as analysts and Zora Stephenson as the sideline reporter.

If you shelled out a couple grand to be in Madison Square Garden for the season opener, or you watched from a crowded bar, here’s what you missed on the Sixers’ season opener broadcast.

There were 15 minutes left for the Knicks to soak in their title as NBA champions before turning t page on a new season, and they used it wisely. The Knicks’ ring ceremony and banner raising were shown on NBA Showtime before the game. Former members and family of the previous Knicks’ championship team from 53 years ago presented the front office with rings following a hype video narrated by known Knicks superfan Ben Stiller.

Sixers forward LeBron James and Sixers guard Jaylen Brown after James scores free throws late during the fourth quarter in the season opener against the Knicks Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in New York.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

In the video, Stiller connected the five fingers the players can choose to wear their new jewels on to the Knicks journey through the NBA Finals. Former Villanova player and current Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson has received a lot of criticism for being short for his position at 6-foot-2. To that, Stiller compared Brunson to wearing a ring on the pinky finger.

Brunson himself opted to sport his ring on his index finger, and was announced last, directly after his fellow ’Nova Knicks Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges. Once the chants of “MVP” in the Mecca subsided, Brunson offered a few words to the Knicks fans about their support throughout last season and welcomed in a new season where he and New York hope to replicate “the joy” of last summer’s championship with another.

While the broadcast spent a lot of time focusing on the “battle-tested” NBA champions on their ring night, they also discussed the first look at a new Sixers starting five in their regular-season debut.

Halfway through the first quarter, Crawford commended Philly’s starting five for their ball movement, being decisive with the ball, and executing well. By halftime, Maria Taylor was also complimenting the Sixers succinctness as a unit.

Still, it wasn’t without its hiccups, and many of them for both sides. In the third quarter, when Tirico asked his NBC team if both teams displayed the “typical sloppiness” that’s expected of teams in an opening game, Miller compared it to the NFL.

“You see this in professional football,” Miller said. “Your defense is always ahead of your offense.”

What the Sixers wasted no time securing, however, were their handshakes.

While celebrating New York’s championship and the start of the new season, Philly fans had other things they were more concerned with: seeing LeBron James play his first regular-season game for the Sixers.

With a commemorative patch for his 24th season on his jersey, James was playing a familiar game with a new team. But he said there wasn’t much that felt different going into this new season.

“It’s just about winning,” James told Stephenson after the win. “Trying to make plays to win. Very familiar with every scenario this game has to offer.”

Although he and his helicopter might reside in New York, James had no problem giving it to their fans. James exchanged words with a fan late in the first half, with Spike Lee in the middle trying to keep the peace.

That was just one of the many surprises from James. For Tirico, Crawford, and Miller, James ending up in Philly this offseason was the biggest surprise of all.

“I thought Cleveland or even the dark horse or Golden State, but once Jaylen Brown came, it made all the sense in the world,” Crawford said.

No matter what the expectations were, James is a Sixer now, and he liked “the way [they] play” as a team, he told Stephenson.

One of the biggest difference makers in the first half of the game was Andre Drummond, one of the Sixers’ offseason departures. After a stint with Philly from 2021 to 2022, and a return from 2024 to 2026, Drummond signed with the Knicks in July.

He told Stephenson during halftime that he was excited to be in New York with a new team for a new season, and he showed it in the first half when he came off the bench for Karl-Anthony Towns and recorded a double-double before finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds. He was the first Knick to hear his name chanted throughout the Garden during a game this season.