Kansas Professional Athletes

Kansas fans had two reasons to watch the NBA's opening week — and one of them was very, very good.

Embiid Anchors Philly's Star-Studded 2-0 Start

Joel Embiid didn't need to carry the Philadelphia 76ers this week. With LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, and Tyrese Maxey now sharing the floor, the Jayhawk center stepped into a different role — and thrived in it anyway.

Embiid posted back-to-back double-doubles to open the season. He grabbed 11 rebounds and scored 13 points in the 76ers' stunning 106-100 Opening Night win over the defending-champion New York Knicks, then followed it up with 24 points and seven boards in a come-from-behind 114-106 home victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, erasing a 29-point deficit. He capped the week in style on Saturday against the Bucks: 28 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, and a +18 in 36 minutes — one of the more complete individual performances of the young season.

The tone around the 76ers has shifted. After years of injury-marred campaigns that Embiid himself described as making him "miserable" and "depressed," the veteran center is openly crediting LeBron James' championship culture for his renewed outlook. "I've been here for a long time," Embiid said after the Cavaliers comeback, calling it among the most meaningful moments of his tenure in Philadelphia. "Past teams would've laid down."

Rival scouts aren't fully buying the harmony — at least one has predicted Embiid could grow frustrated with reduced touches as the season progresses. And Embiid confirmed he'll sit one leg of back-to-backs for load management, a reality that will shadow his season regardless of how good the Sixers look. But through the first week of play, the fit is working, and Embiid is at the center of something that looks genuinely dangerous in the East.

The 76ers' superteam made history in Game 1, becoming the first team ever to feature LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, and Joel Embiid in the same starting lineup — an NBA milestone on Night 1.

Peterson's Rough Welcome to the League

Out in Salt Lake City, former Kansas guard Darryn Peterson made his long-awaited NBA debut Wednesday for the Utah Jazz — and was promptly reminded that the league takes no days off.

Peterson, the No. 2 pick in this year's draft, logged 31 minutes against Memphis and finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. The raw numbers were respectable for a debut. The tape was more complicated: Grizzlies guard Ty Jerome torched him on multiple possessions, generating the inevitable "welcome to the NBA" social media cycle that follows any hyped rookie's first rough night.

Peterson bounced back Saturday in a 120-119 Jazz win over the Pelicans — 15 points in 29 minutes, a much cleaner showing. Sports Illustrated gave his debut a measured grade, noting the adjustment curve expected of any top pick stepping into an NBA rotation. The ceiling remains intact; the floor is still being established.

Fellow Jayhawk Svi Mykhailiuk has also been active for the Jazz, contributing 10 points and three steals in the debut loss to Memphis and chipping in 3 points in the narrow win over New Orleans.

Elsewhere in the Jayhawk diaspora, Gradey Dick logged 12 points off the bench for the Clippers on Thursday, and Kevin McCullar Jr.'s roster spot in New York is reportedly in jeopardy following the Knicks' signing of Dalton Knecht.

The most intriguing team in the NBA this preseason doesn't belong to any one superstar — it belongs to Kansas. Two Jayhawks are at the center of Philadelphia's championship experiment, and both had plenty to say heading into opening week.

Joel Embiid: Finally Healthy, and Showing It

For the first time in years, Joel Embiid arrived at training camp without an injury asterisk attached to his name — and the difference has been impossible to miss. Tyrese Maxey put it plainly: a healthy Embiid "changes everything," telling reporters that the big man's availability allows the team to actually run plays and "drill, drill, drill" in practice rather than managing his minutes from day one.

Embiid backed that up on the court during Philadelphia's preseason finale against Boston, where he delivered the week's most viral moment: an unexpected dunk that even he couldn't explain. "I kind of got possessed," Embiid said afterward, admitting he'd thought the dunk wasn't going to happen before it did. It was a small play, but a symbolic one — a 7-footer fully unleashed, not conserving anything.

Off the court, Embiid was just as emphatic. When asked whether Philly's loaded roster requires anyone to sacrifice their game, he shut the premise down entirely. "I'm against the concept of sacrificing," Embiid said after the preseason finale loss to the Celtics. His stance: Philadelphia doesn't need subtraction — it needs everyone operating at full strength. Not everyone agrees. Former NBA champion Shawn Marion raised concerns about whether the star-heavy roster can actually mesh, warning that big names don't automatically translate to cohesion. Kendrick Perkins, meanwhile, made the case that LeBron James — not Embiid — is the team's most important piece, an assessment that cuts at the heart of the pecking-order debate swirling around Philly all preseason.

VJ Edgecombe: No Backseat Needed

The other Jayhawk in the mix is second-year guard VJ Edgecombe, who addressed his role head-on this week. With LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Maxey, and Embiid all commanding attention, questions about where a sophomore guard fits on a roster this loaded are fair — Edgecombe doesn't think they're necessary. He set the record straight publicly, pushing back on any narrative that he's simply along for the ride alongside Philly's constellation of stars.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added credibility to Edgecombe's confidence, calling the young guard a "workaholic" and singling him out as one of the team's under-the-radar storylines worth watching. Edgecombe was drafted No. 3 overall a year ago; the expectation was always that he'd grow into a featured role, not disappear behind veteran star power.

That growth is happening in real time. Paul George — now a Celtic after being traded away this offseason — still counts Edgecombe among his "bros" from his time in Philadelphia, a small but telling endorsement of the kind of culture the young Jayhawk has built inside the locker room.

The Big Picture

Philadelphia enters the 2026-27 season as one of the most scrutinized rosters in recent memory, and Kansas alumni are right in the middle of it. Embiid, when healthy, remains one of the two or three most dominant players on the planet. Edgecombe, still just getting started, is fighting for relevance on a team that doesn't make it easy. Both storylines are worth tracking from tip-off. Rock Chalk, Philly edition.

Kansas alumni had a busy week across the NBA, with storylines ranging from a roster bubble battle in New York to a preseason soap opera in Philadelphia.

McCullar Fights for His Knicks Life

Kevin McCullar Jr. enters the final stretch of Knicks training camp with his roster spot far from guaranteed. According to Sports Illustrated, head coach Mike Brown has turned up the intensity at camp — and that pressure lands squarely on players on the roster fringe. McCullar, a former Kansas standout, is firmly in that category. With the Knicks carrying a deep wing rotation and competition stiff at his position, the former Jayhawk will need a strong showing before opening night to stick on the final roster.

Embiid Navigates a Chaotic Preseason in Philly

Joel Embiid's week in Philadelphia was equal parts drama and disappointment. The Kansas big man made his preseason debut alongside new teammate LeBron James in a 114-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets — and by most accounts, Embiid struggled. ESPN analysts sounded the alarm on his performance, and a frightening first-quarter collision with Jaylen Brown briefly raised injury concerns for both stars, though Brown continued playing without serious issue.

Off the court, Embiid found himself at the center of a media firestorm not of his own making. Longtime NBA broadcaster Mike Breen shared a story during the Sixers' preseason opener suggesting James had called out Embiid for arriving late to practice. James quickly and publicly denied the account, calling it "lies." Breen subsequently apologized. Embiid, for his part, addressed the report directly — calling it "unfortunate" and pushing back on what he described as being made an easy target for unfounded rumors. Head coach Nick Nurse also weighed in, dismissing the narrative as a misinterpretation.

The chaos around Embiid isn't limited to off-court noise. Philadelphia's depth behind him took a significant hit when backup center Ariel Hukporti tore his Achilles in the preseason opener against the Knicks, leaving the Sixers dangerously thin at center. That injury puts even more pressure on Embiid to stay healthy — a concern that has followed him throughout his career and one that ESPN analysts highlighted pointedly after his rough debut.

Despite the turbulence, Philadelphia's headline-grabbing starting five of Embiid, James, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe shared the floor together for the first time, giving Sixers fans a glimpse of the team's sky-high ceiling — even if the first look was uneven.

Two Jayhawks, two very different kinds of pressure. McCullar is fighting to make a team; Embiid is trying to hold one together.