The LeBron James-led Philadelphia 76ers are the NBA's traveling circus, traveling from arena to arena to give fans a dose of nostalgia (James), trolling (Joel Embiid), speed (Tyrese Maxey), stoicism (Jaylen Brown) and childlike enthusiasm (VJ Edgecombe).

Of course, the 8-1 76ers are a winning force: James, who also enjoyed some wine mid-game on Monday, was two assists away from a triple-double in a 112-106 victory over a stout Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.

There was plenty of James tomfoolery on Wednesday — including a flop and a Magic Johnson-esque pass — to go along with post-game theatrics in the locker room.

James back to his old tricks

Philadelphia up 13 midway through the fourth. James guarded Ausar Thompson on the perimeter when Paul Reed came to set a screen. The 76ers star switched onto the Pistons' big man, and their elbows became tangled. James remarkably flopped backward before falling to the floor.

As he always has, the NBA's all-time leading scorer earned the dubious offensive foul whistle. "Imma just keep gettin h*** I see," Reed tweeted postgame, sharing a video of the James flop.

Earlier in the contest, point-LeBron caught the Detroit defense napping with a no-look bullet pass from half-court to a wide-open Adem Bona for an uncontested dunk. Circus-like? Yes. Effective? More so.

Yes, James finished second in the league's 2019/2020 MVP race playing point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 10.2 per contest. But his 29.8 percent assist rate — the percentage of a player's possessions ending in an assist — is the highest of his career.

Point-LeBron

Off-ball alchemy seemed poised to be a challenge for the 2026/27 76ers, as the five starters' usage rate late season surpassed 150%. The antidote? Well, James's attitude

James is not just leading the 76ers in assists; he's coaxing selflessness from the entire lineup. After Wednesday's win, Maxey shared an anecdote from Philadelphia training camp.

"We [were] moving the ball, and I looked at Joel. I said all the ego stuff and the one ball stuff that we hear, it's going to be okay," he said. "LeBron's here and he has made everybody willing passers. When LeBron can be a willing passer, the rest of us can too."

Maxey wasn't the only one to praise James's passing this week. "I love it when Bron rebounds because he's like a quarterback," Brown shared. Looks like the vibes in this circus are cohesive.

Onn his own mortality

James, as always, found himself in a viral on-court clip last week: unheralded Indiana Pacers journeyman Jordan Slawson tracked the 41-year-old down for a chase-down block in transition on a layup attempt.

Could James have gone up for a dunk? Maybe. He told Steve Nash on their 'Mind the Game' podcast why he didn't. "If I go up and try to dunk this ball and this kid is going to f--- me up, [then] I'm out, two to four weeks," he stated.

"There's no question. I was like, 'I'm not even gonna do that,' so like those are the type of things that click into your head that would, 12 years ago, I mean for me, s---, it could have even been five years ago, four years ago, I would have probably taken off. But early in November, and as you [are] building up?' [No way].'"