Kentavious Caldwell-Pope says Sixers chemistry — liking each other — will decide the season

CAMDEN, N.J. — Oct. 12, 2026 — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has won titles with LeBron James and with Nikola Jokić. On a Philadelphia 76ers roster now built around James, Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown, the 33-year-old wing says the deciding factor will not be another star — it will be whether the group actually likes being around each other.

“Our chemistry is gonna be the biggest part for us. Us liking each other, being able to be around each other and have fun on and off the court.”

From my Tik Tok on Sixers guard Kentavious Caldwell Pope pic.twitter.com/AcGlO1PnUL

— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) October 14, 2026

Caldwell-Pope, who agreed to a buyout with the Memphis Grizzlies in July and signed a one-year, $3.9 million deal in Philadelphia, made the comments Monday to Kris Rhim. He has as clear a frame of reference as anyone on the roster for how championship teams mesh: he won with James and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, then again with Denver in 2023.

Dinners and tendencies

The bonding piece, he said, is already underway. Team dinners are on the calendar and will ramp up as the season opens, with the goal of learning how everyone prefers to play and live together.

“We have so much talent from one through 12, or 15, however many guys we’ve got, and it’s talent everywhere. So, I think our biggest thing is just communicating with each other, learning each other’s tendencies, and just trying to implement that on and off the court.”

A 3-and-D reset

Caldwell-Pope is entering his 14th NBA season as one of the league’s steadier 3-and-D wings, but last year was a grind. He had surgery on a misaligned right pinkie finger in February and missed the final 31 games with Memphis. Before the injury he averaged 8.4 points, 2.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 21.3 minutes over 51 games — his lowest scoring and minutes since his rookie year — and shot 31.6 percent from three, the second-lowest mark of his career.

Philadelphia is betting the veteran can reclaim that defensive wing role beside a frontcourt of Embiid and James and a perimeter group that now includes Brown, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. Caldwell-Pope’s message was that the talent is already there; the season turns on whether the chemistry sticks.