Hey, are you a basketball player looking to show off your skills? Can you shoot, run all day and play a little defense, too?
In that case, Sixers head coach Brett Brown might be looking for you …
OK, it’s not exactly a want ad or a Craigslist posting. But with the opening of NBA training camps coming in the next two days, the 76ers have an abundance of what many players are seeking and the team’s new coach thinks it can be a selling point to motivate his players.
“How would you like to be a young guy coming into the Sixers with an abundance of minutes available?” Brown said during Wednesday’s media availability. “Of course we need shooters, but they’re hard to find. We want people that compete.”
For the plethora of young players headed to camp with the Sixers this weekend, from high draft picks like Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams to the undrafted players trying to catch on with a team like Khalif Wyatt, Brown’s selling point sounds almost too good to be true.
If a player wants an opportunity to compete, the field is wide open.
“This year’s team is about development,” Brown said.
There will be some prerequisites, of course. To start with, players better show up in camp in shape because fitness and the ability to use that youthful exuberance will be the Sixers’ only means to compete this season. After all, the Sixers will be short on experience and talent, but they should be able to lead the league in youth and energy.
Brown’s predecessor, Doug Collins, was a stickler for fitness, routinely weighing players to see if they were getting sloppy -- or worn down -- as the season wore on. But Brown is making fitness his hallmark. It’s all about development, Brown says, and the young players are going to have to figure it out quickly.
“As a professional athlete, it’s your responsibility to get in great shape,” Brown said. “Your skin-fold test (measuring body fat) is this and your weight is this. That’s non-negotiable.”
Coming from San Antonio where Brown was an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich, the Sixers’ coach saw what focusing on fitness did for future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan. As he aged, Duncan’s weight climbed to a little more than 270 pounds. That weight mixed with his 6-foot-11 frame left Duncan ripe for injuries and ineffectiveness.
But when Duncan returned in 2012-13 at a svelte 240 pounds, it was as if he had found the fountain of youth and the Spurs were minutes away from winning another NBA championship.
So, for those young ballplayers looking for a chance to play and compete with an NBA team, get in shape. Brett Brown might have a spot for you.