The Philadelphia 76ers handled their business on Sunday, beating the Chicago Bulls 126-107 behind Tyrese Maxey’s orchestration and Jaylen Brown’s power. And yet the moment the whole league is still talking about involved no basketball at all: LeBron James, chasing a loose ball into the front row, pausing to take a sip of a fan’s wine.
Maxey runs the show
Maxey finished with 26 points and 11 assists, controlling the game the way he has all season, probing, collapsing the defense and finding the open man. Brown added 25 points and 11 rebounds, and James, in the supporting role he has grown into in Philadelphia, contributed 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Rookie Caleb Wilson led Chicago with 24 points, a bright spot in a game where the Bulls were otherwise outclassed.
About that wine
The play that broke the internet came with the game already tilting Philadelphia’s way. James hustled after a ball sailing toward the courtside seats, ended up among the fans, and, as USA Today captured it, accepted a taste of a supporter’s wine before jogging back to the huddle with a grin. It was playful, it was instantly everywhere, and it said something real about this team: the 76ers are winning, and they are loose. Two nights later they would beat Detroit in a far tighter game, with Brown again at the center of it.
The bigger picture
Chicago’s rebuild has Wilson and little else to celebrate so far, and a 19-point loss to a contender underlines the gap. Philadelphia, meanwhile, keeps stacking wins with a different star each night: Maxey’s speed, Brown’s strength, Embiid’s presence inside and James doing a bit of everything, including, apparently, quality control on the courtside wine list.
Sources: USA Today’s game coverage and the official box score, November 2, 2026.