Speaker 1: The seventy Sixers put on an art show. Why in
Speaker 1: the world would they do that. We've really been probably
Speaker 1: talking about this and planning it for over a year
Speaker 1: now to find a way to celebrate the intersection of
Speaker 1: basketball with all of these cultural lifestyle elements that we
Speaker 1: believe make Philadelphia a spectacular city. And ahead of the
Speaker 1: team's nationally televised game against San Antonio, we talked to
Speaker 1: a new member of the coaching staff who spent the
Speaker 1: last seven years with the Spurns. I just wanted a
Speaker 1: different perspective on the coaching side, because that's all I
Speaker 1: knew as far as the coach. So looking forward to
Speaker 1: the rest of the season, the story behind seventy Sixers Crossover,
Speaker 1: and an interview with new assistant coach Email Doka on
Speaker 1: this edition of the broadcast, what's going on out there?
Speaker 1: Seventy six Ers pod people, How are you? I'm Brian Seltzer,
Speaker 1: welcoming you back to another edition of the broadcast. Thank
Speaker 1: you for bearing with my voice. Ever since the last
Speaker 1: episode of the pod, it's been a little bit creaky cold,
Speaker 1: passed through the system, trying to shake it out, get
Speaker 1: rid of the congestion. Some of the clogging. These are
Speaker 1: things that you don't need to know about. But what
Speaker 1: you do need to know is that to subscribe to
Speaker 1: our podcast, you can find us just about anywhere you
Speaker 1: get your pods, whether that's Spotify, Pandora, Apple Pods, Google Pods, whatever.
Speaker 1: Just type in seventy six ers Podcasts or sixers podcast
Speaker 1: Network and that should take you to our feed. And
Speaker 1: when you are there, please do subscribe all right on
Speaker 1: the menu. For this episode of the podcast, we are
Speaker 1: doing it again because it was a smash hit last week,
Speaker 1: the latest installment of the Rosen Report. We're also going
Speaker 1: to sit down with assistant coach emay Udoka, who had
Speaker 1: a good run with the Spurs before he was hired
Speaker 1: by Brett Brown this summer. But first, for our opening
Speaker 1: tip on the podcast, I want you to tell me
Speaker 1: if you've heard of any of these Stagram handles before. Well,
Speaker 1: you can't tell me, who are not in the same
Speaker 1: place together or talk to each other. But for the
Speaker 1: sake of this podcast exercise, let's bear with the figure
Speaker 1: of speech for a moment. Okay, here are the handles
Speaker 1: Park Tyson, Carmeroo, the Right Artist Fresh Royalty partably end
Speaker 1: twelve or six and Bam Bam Bam ninety nine. Together,
Speaker 1: those six Instagram handles have a combined following of over
Speaker 1: three hundred sixty thousand. What type of content do these
Speaker 1: people create that has helped them become so popular? They
Speaker 1: make art? Awesome art, cool art, different art, relatable art,
Speaker 1: the other thread that binds their art work together. Scroll
Speaker 1: through the ig feats of these six artists and you'll
Speaker 1: see the bulk of their posts are inspired by something
Speaker 1: similar NBA players, teams, or moments in history present and past.
Speaker 1: And to get even more specific, almost all their latest
Speaker 1: work has been linked to one specific franchise. For four
Speaker 1: days last week at the new Fittler Club in Center
Speaker 1: City think one stop wellness shop with a next gen
Speaker 1: traditional vibe, the seventy Sixers held a free event for
Speaker 1: fans you might have attended called seventy six Ers Crossover.
Speaker 1: It was an art exhibition presented by Reebok and it
Speaker 1: was phenomenal. There were over two hundred pieces of art
Speaker 1: produced by artists from all around the world, from Philadelphia
Speaker 1: to France, and also seventy Sixers employees too, with eleven
Speaker 1: countries represented in total. The six artists whose IG handles
Speaker 1: I mentioned at the top. They were all featured prominently
Speaker 1: in the exhibit, which was set up inside one of
Speaker 1: the Fittler Club's cozy event spaces. Paintings and illustrations, everything
Speaker 1: from oil to acrylics to watercolors, mixed media and photographs too.
Speaker 1: We're hung on white gallery walls. Throughout the exposed brick room.
Speaker 1: There were multiple installation exhibits, a series of jerseys hung
Speaker 1: from the ceiling, display stands with bronze sculptures and action figures,
Speaker 1: co branded seventy Sixers and Red Bull refrigerators, and a
Speaker 1: station where classic rebox sneakers were being hand painted with
Speaker 1: custom designs. It's great. So this is our photography wall
Speaker 1: of the exhibition, Elton, where are you? There? You are?
Speaker 1: Do you remember when they pure? But this is like
Speaker 1: a media day. Those are the voices of seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: team president Chris Heck and Chief marketing Officer Katie O'Reilly,
Speaker 1: and they're giving General manager Elton brand to toward the
Speaker 1: exhibit head of a private event for players, local influencer
Speaker 1: and some of the artists who could make it to
Speaker 1: Philadelphia on seventy six Ers crossovers closing night for as
Speaker 1: certain as I am that I should, in no way,
Speaker 1: shape or form be giving advice or opinions on what
Speaker 1: makes something cool. I'm just as confident as saying that
Speaker 1: cool is precisely what seventy Sixers crossover was. It was authentic,
Speaker 1: it was forward thinking. It was the kind of event
Speaker 1: you just don't really expect to see from a professional
Speaker 1: sports franchise. I mean, the seventy six Ers their basketball team, right,
Speaker 1: their business is hoops and winning games. Why would they
Speaker 1: want to dabble in of all things art. I think
Speaker 1: we're different. I think we're different because of the talent
Speaker 1: of the people that work for the organization. And I
Speaker 1: also think we're different because we have the opportunity to
Speaker 1: be different. That's Chris Heck, the team president of the Sixers.
Speaker 1: No good idea goes unnoticed, and we want to do
Speaker 1: great things on the court and off the court, in
Speaker 1: the community and with the brand. So this gives us
Speaker 1: another opportunity to do so. We love to do things
Speaker 1: in a very authentic but a very unique way. Again,
Speaker 1: Katie O'Reilly, we believe that Philadelphia and our fans, we
Speaker 1: believe this is the best city and that we have
Speaker 1: the best fan base in the world and that we
Speaker 1: want to bring it to life in a different way
Speaker 1: and to celebrate the city and all that it has
Speaker 1: to offer. And really the fun part also has been
Speaker 1: to get to know humanize some of the players. That's
Speaker 1: been amazing. So yes, that this art exhibit was called
Speaker 1: seventy six is crossover was no accident. More than any
Speaker 1: other sport anywhere on the planet, the NBA exists seamlessly
Speaker 1: in a cross culture space. Entertainment, aren't music, fashion, and food,
Speaker 1: you name it, the NBA has a place in it all.
Speaker 1: Not only are the Sixers an extension of the NBA's
Speaker 1: international brand, the club has produced some of the most
Speaker 1: important players in the history of the sport period. And
Speaker 1: we're not simply talking about superstars who dominated the game.
Speaker 1: Every team's got a few of those. We're talking about
Speaker 1: iconic figures, players whose reach goes well beyond basketball. Look
Speaker 1: at every era of the seventy Sixers existence and you'll
Speaker 1: find someone like this, whether it's Will Chamberlain, doctor j
Speaker 1: Alan Iverson. And there are more than a few players
Speaker 1: in the Sixers current roster who could be next in line.
Speaker 1: So to say that there was inspiration to Drawpon for
Speaker 1: a seventy six Ers them dart show would probably be
Speaker 1: underselling it. Here's Elton brand to put on an exhibition
Speaker 1: like this. It just shows the Sixers are global brand.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot of interests from around the
Speaker 1: world what we're doing. And it's the tradition the players
Speaker 1: that pave the way to the current success of players
Speaker 1: like Joe Well and Ben and Alan to Bias and
Speaker 1: what we're doing now. So it's an exciting time for us.
Speaker 1: Katie O'Reilly, I believe the seventy six Ers brand, we
Speaker 1: all believe that the seventy six Ers brand we have
Speaker 1: the most storied history of any franchise. We have these
Speaker 1: tremendous legends. You know. We always say you only need
Speaker 1: one name to be known here, and it's true. And
Speaker 1: so to see young fans millennials walk through our art
Speaker 1: show and stare at the pieces of art that feature
Speaker 1: Wilt or that feature Moses that were before their generation,
Speaker 1: it brings them to life and allows our fans to
Speaker 1: connect with our history. And that's been that's been a
Speaker 1: really ten pole initiative of ours and a huge foundational
Speaker 1: piece of our brand. And in this art show, it's
Speaker 1: just been able to come to life all in one place.
Speaker 1: That's the background on the how and the why the
Speaker 1: idea for the seventy six Ers Crossover Art exhibit was born.
Speaker 1: But what about the execution part of it? How is
Speaker 1: the team able to wrangle together a collection of like
Speaker 1: I said earlier, over two hundred pieces of six or
Speaker 1: center guard from one hundred different artists from around the
Speaker 1: whole planet. That's where Vincent Chang comes in. It really
Speaker 1: all started suddenly just wanting to learn the basketball and art,
Speaker 1: and through a year it's we started off from two
Speaker 1: artists in art for a show and now six year
Speaker 1: ladis we have eighty pus so basketball artists definitely on
Speaker 1: the rise. Chang is the person responsible for curating exhibits
Speaker 1: like seventy six Ers Crossover and has put on a
Speaker 1: couple of similar events in the past. He's also an
Speaker 1: artist himself. Chang goes by the handle at Conscious b
Speaker 1: Beyond Instagram, his work earning him nearly fifty five thousand
Speaker 1: followers of his own. Like so many other things these days,
Speaker 1: the growth of the basketball art community and its popularity
Speaker 1: has been facilitated greatly by social media. As Chang put it,
Speaker 1: everyone's now just to click away, regardless of where they live.
Speaker 1: He's constantly looking for talent to incorporate into the Conscious
Speaker 1: Basketball art exhibits. I definitely do my fair share of
Speaker 1: digging through social media and mainly on Instagram, where people
Speaker 1: brand themselves nicely and showcase the best of work they
Speaker 1: can do. And what I mainly look for through Conscious
Speaker 1: is art that has a conceptual depth, you know. Hence Conscious,
Speaker 1: we want to reach into a person's consciousness to their
Speaker 1: knowledge of basketball and make that mental psychological interaction, if
Speaker 1: you well, and to make a deeper impact for the audience.
Speaker 1: To prepare for seventy Sixers Crossover, Chang started planning in
Speaker 1: Artist about three months ago. He contacted artists, cage their interest,
Speaker 1: then finalized the list of contributors. Week by week. We
Speaker 1: have phone calls, we have you know, different plans to
Speaker 1: kind of put us in together, and we pulled it off.
Speaker 1: I would say the undertaking was substantial one that the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers in Chang made together. As compelling as
Speaker 1: the work at the exhibit was, so too are the
Speaker 1: backstories of artists who made submissions. Take Tyson Park, who's
Speaker 1: handled at Park Tyson, We talked about at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the pot less than six years ago. Park's world
Speaker 1: was more about bagging than it was brushstrokes. I run
Speaker 1: the convenience store. That's a funny story only because it's true,
Speaker 1: hard as it might be to believe, that's what Park,
Speaker 1: a fashion major in college, was doing, running a convenience
Speaker 1: store in his hometown of Busan, South Korea, where he
Speaker 1: still lives to this day. A thirty seven year old
Speaker 1: now is an Instagram following of nearly fifty five thousand.
Speaker 1: Start was just like a hobby because I saw I
Speaker 1: was running my store. Then I saw my store, and
Speaker 1: after that, what's gonna do now? So I was started
Speaker 1: this like a hobby. So I posting in the media
Speaker 1: every day. So one day some media's contact to me,
Speaker 1: So are you financa? Can you work with me? So
Speaker 1: why not? It's a big opportunity for me. So yeah,
Speaker 1: that was beginning and more grow up follows as some
Speaker 1: some players reposting my my pacas. Yeah, so yeah, now
Speaker 1: I'm here. It's amazing. It was. At each site there
Speaker 1: was Park decked out in all black, including his winter
Speaker 1: skull cap. On the closing night of seventy six is Crossover,
Speaker 1: getting the chance to meet and share conversation with some
Speaker 1: of the players who inspired a few of his pieces
Speaker 1: for the show. He said he watches the NBA every
Speaker 1: day when he's back in South Korea. Of course I
Speaker 1: met a few players before, but it's not close like this.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I talking about my pacas with them, and
Speaker 1: Doctor Jay or Ben Semons shaken with me. It's so amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm you know, I'm a long time NBA fans. It's
Speaker 1: really amazing speeds and it's exactly these types of interactions
Speaker 1: that Vince Chang had in mind when he started kicking
Speaker 1: around the concept of organizing a show like seventy six
Speaker 1: Ers Crossover. He wanted to bring people together, get them
Speaker 1: engaging with each other through art, through basketball art, regardless
Speaker 1: of whether or not these people were artists, hall of
Speaker 1: fame basketball player, or maybe a hardcore hoops junkie who
Speaker 1: had never before even entertained the idea of setting foot
Speaker 1: inside in art gallery. Overall, just in this digital age
Speaker 1: that we live in, art events are, in contrast, just
Speaker 1: a different experience and where you can see art on
Speaker 1: your phone, but you see it but you don't feel
Speaker 1: it because if you've got to feel it. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be real and tangible, and that's why we're here to
Speaker 1: do the seventy Sixers cross over the art exhibition. It's
Speaker 1: the final night of seventy Sixers Crossover and the team
Speaker 1: is closing things down with a private event for players,
Speaker 1: team executives, season ticket members, and local influencers. It was
Speaker 1: a pretty special intimate setting. On one level, watching the
Speaker 1: players interact with each other in a casual, laid back
Speaker 1: environment that didn't involve actually playing basketball was cool. It
Speaker 1: was also kicked to see them react to being represented
Speaker 1: in art. It's actually it's an honor. You know, it's cool.
Speaker 1: Didn't know a simple picture could look so cool than
Speaker 1: an art exhibit. That's seventy Sixers big man Kyle O'Quinn.
Speaker 1: He was featured in several drawings, but most prominently in
Speaker 1: a photo series that included Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson,
Speaker 1: Mike Scott emit Styble. Each player was captured immersed into
Speaker 1: passion of his away from the game. For Simmons, it
Speaker 1: was playing video games. Harris was photographed in a lounge
Speaker 1: on a leather couch reading a book. Richardson was djaying,
Speaker 1: Scott was reflecting on his tattoos. Thible had his cameras.
Speaker 1: O'Quinn was post seated legs crossed hands and lap fingertip
Speaker 1: to fingertip in a yoga studio. Being a part of
Speaker 1: that photoshoot was pretty dope and um to see the
Speaker 1: final pitcher that the photographer picked it, it's kind of like, wow,
Speaker 1: that's me most definitely. You know, it's two two different worlds,
Speaker 1: but to see them coming together and um, you know,
Speaker 1: you see like art really showcasing the expressions of a
Speaker 1: basketball player in that artist's mind. It's cool to see,
Speaker 1: you know, just the animation and not only the photography,
Speaker 1: but to drain into paintings and things like that. You know,
Speaker 1: this is how artists see the game. And you know,
Speaker 1: of course we see it from a different way, but
Speaker 1: to see it cross's, um, it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool.
Speaker 1: There was a great turnout by the Sixers on closing
Speaker 1: night of seventy Sixer's Crossover. In addition to a Quinn, Simmons,
Speaker 1: Richardson and Thible, James Ennis the third for Concorkmas and
Speaker 1: Howell Nato were there too. The evening culminated with speed
Speaker 1: painter David Garibaldi holding a captive audience as he masterfully
Speaker 1: brushed and splattered bright paint all over a Florida ceiling
Speaker 1: black canvas, and in less than ten minutes he had
Speaker 1: whipped together a portrait of Richardson in the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers new Liberty Bell inspired twenty nineteen twenty twenty City
Speaker 1: Edition uniforms. After that, the rapper Philo took the mic
Speaker 1: for a spoken word ode to Philadelphia the City Comedy
Speaker 1: of Skyscrapers and Bodies. Then came the grand finale, which
Speaker 1: was Richardson taking over a j booth to play a
Speaker 1: few songs, the guard sharply sporting his new City Edition
Speaker 1: under a camouflage buttondown jacket. It was quite the finish.
Speaker 1: Here's Elton Brand. We really want our players to enjoy
Speaker 1: the city of Philadelphia. So when we can put on
Speaker 1: an event like this, Josh Fajison has a DJ set
Speaker 1: to have all the players come out and be together,
Speaker 1: be in Philly, it just means a lot, and that's
Speaker 1: what the organization wants. We want our players to enjoy
Speaker 1: the city. Katie O'Reilly, seventy six Ers Chief marketing officer.
Speaker 1: We talk about a lot that our goal at the
Speaker 1: organization and representing this brand is to make the city
Speaker 1: and to make our fans around the world fall in
Speaker 1: love with this team and to love them just as
Speaker 1: much as we do. We obviously want them to be
Speaker 1: the best basketball players they can be, and we all
Speaker 1: have hopes of winning a championship, and it's our job
Speaker 1: to humanize them and to bring them to life, and
Speaker 1: to celebrate the history and to celebrate the brand and
Speaker 1: sort of see all of those different pieces intersect and connect.
Speaker 1: Now that the seventy six ers have successfully crossed over
Speaker 1: into the art frontier, what's next on the rise? We
Speaker 1: think that this art exhibit, it's really, you know, the
Speaker 1: first of hopefully many events in our seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: crossover platform, our first foray into the art world specifically,
Speaker 1: but we hope to bring our brand to life in
Speaker 1: different cultural ways throughout the coming season, throughout the coming year,
Speaker 1: so keep an eye out for events around cuisine and food, music.
Speaker 1: We have a bunch in store that's in the works,
Speaker 1: and this is really just the first little taste of
Speaker 1: what we have in store. In the meantime, While seventy
Speaker 1: six Ers Crossover Art exhibition is over, there's still an
Speaker 1: opportunity for you to own some of the pieces of
Speaker 1: art that were on display. You can bid on items
Speaker 1: that appeared at the exhibit through the seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: App through November thirtieth. Just download the app if you
Speaker 1: don't already have it, Go to the futured section and
Speaker 1: click on the icon for the auction. You'll get incredible
Speaker 1: one of a kind of art. Plus you should feel
Speaker 1: good about your purchases as well as a portion of
Speaker 1: the proceeds will benefit the Sixers Youth Foundation. It was
Speaker 1: kind of nice how seventy Sixers Crossover was like a
Speaker 1: relaunch of sorts for the Sixers home schedule, because the
Speaker 1: team has been on the road so much through the
Speaker 1: first month the season, and it's awesome that now looking
Speaker 1: ahead over the next couple of weeks, the Sixers are
Speaker 1: going to be in South Philadelphia way more often than
Speaker 1: they are. How can you go and see them? Why?
Speaker 1: Through seventy Sixers Flex packs. Of course, it's the perfect
Speaker 1: gift for friends, family, or as a holiday treat to yourself.
Speaker 1: Every pack guarantee seating to four games of your choice,
Speaker 1: includes an exclusive seventy Sixers gift twenty nineteen twenty playoff
Speaker 1: ticket priority, an interest free PA plan option, and two
Speaker 1: tickets to a Delaware Bluecoats game at seventy Sixers Fieldhouse.
Speaker 1: For more information or to purchase your flexpack today, visit
Speaker 1: Sixers dot com slash Flexpack. You can also email tickets
Speaker 1: at seventy six ers dot com. We're called two on
Speaker 1: five three three nine seven six seven six. From basketball
Speaker 1: off the court to basketball on the court. The seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers in the midst of a three game homestand the
Speaker 1: middle game of that homestand against the San Antonio Spurs,
Speaker 1: where Email Audoca coached the last seven years. This past summer,
Speaker 1: he was brought on board by Brett Brown to oversee
Speaker 1: the seventy Sixers defense. Now Udoka and Brown go back aways.
Speaker 1: Brown was an assistant coach with San Antonio when Udoka
Speaker 1: was still a player, and also with the Spurs. Was
Speaker 1: Brett when Audoca broke into his coaching career in two
Speaker 1: thousand and twelve. Two thousand team I coached, and then
Speaker 1: I coached with Emay and now we're in a different
Speaker 1: part of the country doing the same thing together. And
Speaker 1: he's just first good people. He's somebody that you know,
Speaker 1: I've seen for a long time, known for a long time,
Speaker 1: and I think he's an up and coming head coach.
Speaker 1: And he has brought friendship and a history that he
Speaker 1: and I both shit with san Antonio, and sort of
Speaker 1: just a new voice that that I'm grateful to have. Now.
Speaker 1: Udoka and Brown are reunited in Philadelphia and they're looking
Speaker 1: to replicate san Antonio's championship ways with the Sixers. I
Speaker 1: sat down with emay ahead of the sixers first game
Speaker 1: of the season against his old squad, San Antonio coach.
Speaker 1: We are talking the day after the seventy Sixers delivered
Speaker 1: their second straight win over the New York Knicks, and
Speaker 1: one of the lasting impressions of that victory defense clamping down,
Speaker 1: getting you guys back in the game. How are you
Speaker 1: feeling about a month in to the season, about where
Speaker 1: this squad is at right now? We're feeling okay. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're still figuring things out with our group offensively, end defensively.
Speaker 1: Last night, obviously it was the tail of two halves.
Speaker 1: We didn't bring any physicality, much aggressiveness in the first half,
Speaker 1: and you know, give them credit, they made tough shots,
Speaker 1: especially in the first quarter, but the second quarter and
Speaker 1: even to the start of the third when they built
Speaker 1: their lead, it felt like we were behind the eight
Speaker 1: ball a little bit with what we wanted to do.
Speaker 1: But end of the third quarter throughout the fourth, I
Speaker 1: think Ben set the tone and kind of upped our
Speaker 1: aggressiveness and that carried over to the second half to
Speaker 1: the end of the game. When you're coaching, what do
Speaker 1: you look at? First? You look at how's the team
Speaker 1: executing in terms of x ando schematics, in terms of
Speaker 1: how we want to play in that way, or is
Speaker 1: it holistic stuff like you said, energy, physicality, tenacity, that
Speaker 1: sort of thing. It's a little bit of both. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you want to follow the game plan execute that well.
Speaker 1: I mean, you can give them the best game plan,
Speaker 1: and if they don't bring the effort behind it, like
Speaker 1: you mentioned, it's not gonna work. So it's it's it's
Speaker 1: probably fifty fifty. You know, we try to really get
Speaker 1: a specific on personnel, you know, knowing our opponent and
Speaker 1: following you know, what we want to take them out of.
Speaker 1: But also you have to bring the effort in the
Speaker 1: execution behind it. So it's a little bit of both.
Speaker 1: When there is a new player on a team's roster,
Speaker 1: whether it's a guy like a Al Horford or Josh
Speaker 1: Richardson or Kyle O'Quinn, who will Nato In terms of
Speaker 1: the context the seventy six ers, I feel like we
Speaker 1: as members of the media are always monitoring the storyline. Well,
Speaker 1: how's that new player fitting in and getting acclimated. What's
Speaker 1: it like for an assistant coach to enter into a
Speaker 1: new situation and get settled and acclimated. Well, it is different.
Speaker 1: You know, I'd be lying if I if I said
Speaker 1: other other than that, But um, you know, you've been
Speaker 1: somewhere for seven years, done things a specific way, and
Speaker 1: then you know you have to kind of flip your mindset.
Speaker 1: But that's part of the reason I was excited to
Speaker 1: come was, you know, be around different players, different philosophies,
Speaker 1: and learn learn a different view of basketball. And you know,
Speaker 1: we know the player as well. I've been in the
Speaker 1: league long enough playing and coaching, so we know the
Speaker 1: player as well. And for me, it was just more
Speaker 1: so getting to know the coaching staff and know the group.
Speaker 1: I played for Brett in San Antonio for two and
Speaker 1: a half years, and then his last year coaching was
Speaker 1: my first year, so we coached together for one year.
Speaker 1: So we have a good relationship obviously coming here, but
Speaker 1: it's it's different when he's in the head spot, so
Speaker 1: you know, just getting to know his tendencies and what
Speaker 1: he's looking for, as well as the rest of the
Speaker 1: coaching staff. But I think we had time in the
Speaker 1: in the preseason and before the season and summertime to
Speaker 1: kind of get to know each other, put our game
Speaker 1: plan together, and now it's just kind of once you
Speaker 1: knock out the first you know, the first road trip,
Speaker 1: the first preseason game, the first whatever happens to be,
Speaker 1: you kind of get a feel for everything that Brett
Speaker 1: is looking for. It's fun to hear you say that
Speaker 1: because my first year covering the team was I think
Speaker 1: Brett's second season. I feel like generally between the ten
Speaker 1: wins season or back to back fifty win seasons, the
Speaker 1: ethos other guy has essentially been the same. But for
Speaker 1: you who encountered him first in a player coach relationship
Speaker 1: and then in a coaching perspective, even if from afar,
Speaker 1: what have you noticed some of the evolutions of bradder
Speaker 1: changes in Brettter what's different about him now that he's
Speaker 1: a head coach, Well, his energy level off top. You know.
Speaker 1: You know, as an assistant, you're there to assist a
Speaker 1: head coach. So in San Antonio, Pop does what he
Speaker 1: does and has done it for a long time, so
Speaker 1: we're kind of there to just pick up the pieces
Speaker 1: around him, and, like I said, assists for the most part.
Speaker 1: But once you're in the head head coaching role, your personality,
Speaker 1: your true personality comes out, and I think that's what's
Speaker 1: been great with Brett. His energy he brought here. Whether
Speaker 1: it was winning seasons or losing, he's been upbeat. You know,
Speaker 1: he's kept the team going and that's a credit to him,
Speaker 1: you know, playing through those tough years and now he's
Speaker 1: getting to see it to this point. So really, overall
Speaker 1: from Afar, you know, watching him the last few years
Speaker 1: before I came here, you can see his energy. You
Speaker 1: can see the enthusiasm that is who he is, and
Speaker 1: I think he's carried that over great while they were
Speaker 1: losing and up until now with the success. I feel
Speaker 1: like Pop says every season when the seventy sixers and
Speaker 1: the Spurs play and reporters ask him, well, did you
Speaker 1: ever think that Brett would have seen this whole thing through.
Speaker 1: He says something the effect of I would have been done.
Speaker 1: This is pop talking like I would have been done
Speaker 1: after maybe two weeks. I'm not sure if I could
Speaker 1: have had patience to tough it out. Did you ever
Speaker 1: talk to Brett over those years? Did you guys stay
Speaker 1: in touch at all? What was your relationship like that?
Speaker 1: More so when we played each other, Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I we would have dinners here when we came to town,
Speaker 1: he would pop in for dinners, and then obviously the
Speaker 1: same thing in San Antonio. We'd see him and catch
Speaker 1: up before and after the game. But you know, it was,
Speaker 1: like I said, we didn't have to say much. His
Speaker 1: spirit enthusiasm was great with the tough times. And we
Speaker 1: all say that, like if the team feeds off your energy,
Speaker 1: you know, when it's not going well, obviously they see
Speaker 1: what's happening now with a great team. His energy hasn't
Speaker 1: changed at all. You know, the winning is expected now.
Speaker 1: But while the losing was happening, he was basically growing guys,
Speaker 1: developing guys, and that's a credit to him, Like you said,
Speaker 1: but it is tough, it's it's something that beat you down.
Speaker 1: You know, it's hard to win the NBA and to
Speaker 1: go through a lot of losing like that. For him
Speaker 1: to keep his spirit up and keep the team up
Speaker 1: was a credit to him. What are certain areas that
Speaker 1: coaches look too evolving? And maybe you just are speaking
Speaker 1: for yourself, Like you said, you were in San Antonio
Speaker 1: for seven seasons as an assistant coach. Brett's even said,
Speaker 1: I feel like at times that's a place where most people,
Speaker 1: you know, when you get your foot in the door there,
Speaker 1: you just stay because Pop has the operation down so much.
Speaker 1: So maybe getting into that a little bit more. What
Speaker 1: are you looking to get out of an opportunity with
Speaker 1: the seventy six ers right now at this stage in
Speaker 1: your career. Just personal growth as a coach, Like I mentioned,
Speaker 1: different philosophies, different being around different players, different system you know,
Speaker 1: I think that will only benefit me and other coaches
Speaker 1: going forward, to kind of make yourself uncomfortable at times
Speaker 1: and you know, take yourself out of a safe situation.
Speaker 1: And that's what I was looking forward with this challenge.
Speaker 1: Obviously we have high expectations, but for me, it was
Speaker 1: like a lot of people said that this summer they
Speaker 1: were asked me, why why would you leave? You know,
Speaker 1: they're asking breath that and pop that the same thing,
Speaker 1: why would he leave? And uh, you know that was
Speaker 1: my personal reason. You know, growth overall, I kind of
Speaker 1: we all kind of say San Antonio's not the real NBA.
Speaker 1: It's a you know, fantasy land over there where the
Speaker 1: system runs itself. We got a bunch of great guys,
Speaker 1: blah blah blah, and you know, I wanted to get
Speaker 1: back around. You know, I played for five different teams,
Speaker 1: and I was with some good some bad organizations, and
Speaker 1: I just wanted a different perspective on the coaching side,
Speaker 1: because that's all I knew as far as a coach.
Speaker 1: So looking forward to it. The group hasn't been great,
Speaker 1: getting to know the coaches has been great. So I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to the rest of the season. What have
Speaker 1: you learned over the course of your career, And I
Speaker 1: guess it's probably even some stuff that you could dwell
Speaker 1: upon as a player as well, and then transitioning into
Speaker 1: a coaching role about relationship building and especially in the
Speaker 1: type of role you're in at this point as a coach,
Speaker 1: just the significance of relationships, getting guys to understand you
Speaker 1: articulate a message and how to deliver that. I honestly
Speaker 1: think it's the biggest piece of coaching, you know. I
Speaker 1: learned that from Pop with his relationship with Tim Tony Manu.
Speaker 1: I mean it was like a father figure there. And
Speaker 1: you see what the players will do for you when
Speaker 1: when they know you love them, care for them, believe
Speaker 1: in them. And so in my own way, I've developed
Speaker 1: a relationship piece. And I think it was always natural
Speaker 1: for me as a as a player, I was a
Speaker 1: role player, journeyman, and I always connected well with other players,
Speaker 1: so that kind of carried over to coaching. But I
Speaker 1: think it's the number one piece. Anybody can do exit
Speaker 1: and those anybody can drop a game plan, a scheme,
Speaker 1: but can you get the guys executed to believe in
Speaker 1: what you're saying. And I think that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 1: I've had a few head coaching interviews over the last
Speaker 1: few years and and that's the thing I stressed in
Speaker 1: there as a relatability piece and the relationship piece, and
Speaker 1: I learned that from Pop. I think he was a
Speaker 1: master at that, you know, getting to show guys that
Speaker 1: he cares about him and you see the results on
Speaker 1: the court, and I think that's the truth. So that
Speaker 1: relationship pieces is number one to me. Is it reading
Speaker 1: the room, reading each individual person. Are there certain general
Speaker 1: rules of thumb that you've acquired over time that you
Speaker 1: feel like, hey, for for every guy, like this is
Speaker 1: a certain way you treat an NBA athlete or does
Speaker 1: it vary case by case, year by year? Even Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it is. I think it is case by case.
Speaker 1: Everybody's not the same. Everybody's not going to respond to
Speaker 1: the same coaching, teaching, scolding or whatever. So you know, guys,
Speaker 1: just like I said as when I was a player,
Speaker 1: you know, guys, you can yell at you know you guys.
Speaker 1: You have to nurture a little bit more. But it
Speaker 1: is a case by case basis. And some things you
Speaker 1: can say to some guys you can't say to others,
Speaker 1: and sometimes they don't want to be embarrassed in front
Speaker 1: of others, So you have to do it, you know,
Speaker 1: pull them aside individually, different ways to teach people, whether
Speaker 1: it's them through on the court, watching film with them,
Speaker 1: or drawing stuff up with them. So you learn all
Speaker 1: those tactics and what guys respond to. And so it
Speaker 1: is case by case. When you get the group out
Speaker 1: there together, you have to give them one message, But
Speaker 1: while you're in there individually with those guys build those relationships.
Speaker 1: I think it is a case by case basis. What's
Speaker 1: been like working with the dynamic of the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers roster? You have obviously players like Joe Allen Ben
Speaker 1: who many would say, I think rightfully so have not
Speaker 1: fully scratched the surface of what they could ultimately become.
Speaker 1: Then at the other end of the spectrum, you have
Speaker 1: someone like an Al Horford who's been through so much
Speaker 1: and is so respected around the league, and you know,
Speaker 1: you're throwing guys like Tobias and Josh in between, and
Speaker 1: then a steady group reserves who have collectively, in different
Speaker 1: areas of their career, gained decent experience. So what's it
Speaker 1: been like with some of these guys? Have any favorite
Speaker 1: stories early on of getting to know some of these guys? Well,
Speaker 1: it's been great. First of all, I think we perfect
Speaker 1: mix of you know, young guys that are still growing,
Speaker 1: going to be in their prime, and then a good
Speaker 1: mix of veterans as well. They've been around the league
Speaker 1: seeing a lot of different things, So the mix is perfect.
Speaker 1: He's sprinkling some young guys and some new guys to
Speaker 1: the team. I think that's what makes us whole. But overall,
Speaker 1: I've had relationships with a few guys you know coming up,
Speaker 1: So coming in, I would say Ben as the one
Speaker 1: guy didn't know as well. I coached Joel in high
Speaker 1: school at Adida's Nations out in California before he went
Speaker 1: to Kansas, so had him for three days he was
Speaker 1: on my team out there, and then I got to
Speaker 1: know him well and then saw him four months later
Speaker 1: Kansas like a totally different player in the NBA, totally
Speaker 1: different players. So I've seen his growth over the years,
Speaker 1: and that relationship coming in was already good and it's
Speaker 1: only gotten stronger. Tobias is another guy. I had an
Speaker 1: AU team when I played in Portland, and we traveled
Speaker 1: and played against Tobias three times and he would come
Speaker 1: hang with our team, take him out to dinner and
Speaker 1: all that. So I've known him since high school and
Speaker 1: watched him over the years and stayed in touch with
Speaker 1: him while he was throughout the NBA. So I already
Speaker 1: had bonds with certain guys. Um you know, funny stories
Speaker 1: about taking Tobias out to eat and shooting fire works
Speaker 1: and then everything all those summers together. So I do,
Speaker 1: I do go quite a ways back with those guys,
Speaker 1: But overall, I think, um, you know, just getting to
Speaker 1: know the newer guys. You've been around the league long enough.
Speaker 1: You know Ben or you know Al, you know Josh,
Speaker 1: you know, played against Miami all those series, and so
Speaker 1: you get to know those guys from a personnel standpoint,
Speaker 1: but it's really getting to know their personalities. And so
Speaker 1: that's been good so far. How happy are you for
Speaker 1: Tobias to see where he's at in his career? I mean, listen,
Speaker 1: the guy was a first round draft pick. But the
Speaker 1: way that he's evolved and fine tuned his game over
Speaker 1: the last eight years, I mean, it's been a steady
Speaker 1: trajectory upward. And he finally this past summer land in
Speaker 1: a situation where he's now got some real stability. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's been great. Um, like I said, I've seen him
Speaker 1: since high school. You know, he's a top one hundred player,
Speaker 1: but not a top twenty player. And even if you
Speaker 1: take it back further than that, if you know his
Speaker 1: backstory a little bit, like the amount of work he's
Speaker 1: had to put in to get where he's at. I'll
Speaker 1: let him tell it, but I think he was a
Speaker 1: chubby kid that you know, would get up in five
Speaker 1: or six in the morning, swim run, changed his body
Speaker 1: and changed his mentality, and I think he's carried that
Speaker 1: over throughout. He's had a few different stops in the NBA,
Speaker 1: but it's really the end goal of where he's gotten
Speaker 1: to like you, Like you said, so he's in a
Speaker 1: great place, like you said, stability, with a great organization,
Speaker 1: and it's just a testament to his hard work and
Speaker 1: what he started as a high schooler to all the
Speaker 1: way up to this point. You've referenced your playing career
Speaker 1: and I could run through the list of all the
Speaker 1: different stops you had on your Wikipedia bio, but it
Speaker 1: is likely, but it's it's featured in Europe, it's featured
Speaker 1: in the NBA. How would you describe your career as
Speaker 1: a player for people and maybe didn't see you play?
Speaker 1: And your journey grind? You know, I was a late
Speaker 1: bloomer coming out of high school and college and all that,
Speaker 1: and just steady, steady, grinding, progressing and trying to get
Speaker 1: to my end goal. You know, I never got discouraged
Speaker 1: with the path I was on. It is always the
Speaker 1: next step, next, next, you know, I on the prize.
Speaker 1: I only had one goal growing up was to get
Speaker 1: to the NBA and do something there, and so you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't really have a plan B, and so I
Speaker 1: just put my eyes on that and and figured out
Speaker 1: a way to get there. And I carry a lot
Speaker 1: of what I learned as a player into coaching. Like
Speaker 1: I said, I've been with a lot of organizations, learn
Speaker 1: good and bad, what you would do and would not do,
Speaker 1: and so I've carried a lot of that into coaching.
Speaker 1: Beside the fact of being around a lot of different people,
Speaker 1: different organizations, whether it was some league, mini camps, playing
Speaker 1: with the team, I got to cross pass with a
Speaker 1: lot of players and coaches in front office people. So
Speaker 1: I've built relationships that way, and you know, it's just
Speaker 1: steady progression. And that's what I was trying to do
Speaker 1: as a player, and the same thing I'm trying to
Speaker 1: do as a coach is learn different things, different people
Speaker 1: and ways to connect with them. And you really have
Speaker 1: been around the game your whole life, right, I mean
Speaker 1: basically father played and all that, So I was there
Speaker 1: ever a point in time when you're like this basketball thing,
Speaker 1: that's it's it's not for me, or was it always
Speaker 1: as far back as you can remember something that was
Speaker 1: so essential to your life. Yeah, it was really, like
Speaker 1: I said, plan a since I was a kid. I
Speaker 1: made goals when I was young and sacrifice things to
Speaker 1: try to get to the NBA, and that was my
Speaker 1: you know, singular focus um um pretty much. You know.
Speaker 1: Being from Portland, Oregon growing up, I watched Clyde drexeler
Speaker 1: and once I saw him, I was hooked. You know,
Speaker 1: probably eight years old or whatever it was. And we'll
Speaker 1: listen to games on the radio with my with my father.
Speaker 1: Uh funny story. They year they won the championship in
Speaker 1: seventy seven, I was in my mother's stomach at the parade,
Speaker 1: being more than a month later, so I really technically
Speaker 1: say I was there, but you know, it was just
Speaker 1: what I wanted to do and what I that was
Speaker 1: my goal and really don't have a lot of hobbies
Speaker 1: outside of it. So work ethic and focus I took
Speaker 1: as a player. I've carried that over in the coaching
Speaker 1: and no, my goal is to be a better coach
Speaker 1: than I was a player, and that's, you know, what
Speaker 1: I'm striving for. Not that my opinion matters anything, but
Speaker 1: I think that is totally a righteous claim that you
Speaker 1: were at the parade. Because I was born in Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: Up until two thousand and eight, I hadn't been alive
Speaker 1: for championship. And if I had been in my mom's
Speaker 1: stomach in nineteen eighty three when the Sixers won, I
Speaker 1: would have one percent. Told Evonia I was at the parade,
Speaker 1: and I was, yeah, born in August. The prey was
Speaker 1: in July, so she was there tremendous. Why do you
Speaker 1: think you stuck? Of all places? You know? So if
Speaker 1: we look through your NBA career, correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: Nick's first Blazer's Spurs and your longest stretch was with
Speaker 1: the Spurs. That's probably where you got your most reption,
Speaker 1: most opportunity. You were started there for a season. Why
Speaker 1: do you think it was with the Spurs that you stuck? Um, well,
Speaker 1: take it back, I started year in Portland before San Antonio,
Speaker 1: So I started that full year in Portland and then
Speaker 1: that's what kind of opened the doors and got the
Speaker 1: opportunities in San Antonio. Um, I'd say the same reason.
Speaker 1: Pope hired me as a coach. There was similar philosophies,
Speaker 1: similar ways I thought about the game. First thing is
Speaker 1: I was a defender. You know they love defenders there,
Speaker 1: three and d guys. I'd sit in the corner and
Speaker 1: shooting threes and then have to guard the best guy.
Speaker 1: And so I got there. The year after they came
Speaker 1: off a championship, was really the only only edition coming
Speaker 1: in in like twenty nine years old. They had an
Speaker 1: older team, so I just fit in well with what
Speaker 1: they already had there. It was Bruce Bowen and then
Speaker 1: my turn to come in behind him and trying to
Speaker 1: double team a guy and so just keeping defenders out there.
Speaker 1: But overall, the more I got to work with Coach Popovich,
Speaker 1: it was a similar philosophies and I think that translated
Speaker 1: on the court as well. The way I played, the
Speaker 1: way I thought the game. Never the most athletic, biggest, strongest, fastest,
Speaker 1: any of that, but I thought the game one way
Speaker 1: and I was really competitive, and that's what they liked,
Speaker 1: and I think that's why he hired me as a
Speaker 1: coach as well player coach. In your time with the Spurs,
Speaker 1: favorite memory is there one singular man may that you
Speaker 1: have from that time. Obviously winning the championship my second year.
Speaker 1: I got spoiled early my first two years. Brett's last
Speaker 1: year we lost with the Ray Allen shot basically in Miami,
Speaker 1: So that was obviously a hard time, hard offseason, and
Speaker 1: the motivation that our team had throughout the season, it
Speaker 1: was like we didn't really even have to remind them
Speaker 1: or it was just a fuel burning throughout the year.
Speaker 1: And to get back to the same situation against the
Speaker 1: same team the next year and win it in pretty
Speaker 1: dominant fashion in five games. That's got to be the
Speaker 1: biggest biggest moment so far of my career in San
Speaker 1: Antonio or in the NBA in general. Just getting that
Speaker 1: ring and seeing what we went through the year before,
Speaker 1: the way we lost it, and then to bounce back
Speaker 1: the following year to get a ring. It's crazy because
Speaker 1: the seventy six years in somewhere are trying to write
Speaker 1: a similar story, right, you know, a heartbreaking loss in
Speaker 1: a playoff series and now trying to move on past it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was, you know, I was sympathizing with them from
Speaker 1: AFAR last year, obviously knowing Breton and um the way
Speaker 1: the way it happened. You know, it's very similar last
Speaker 1: second shot. Obviously Miami we lost in game six and
Speaker 1: had to come back and play a game seven, so
Speaker 1: it wasn't the last shot of the last game, but
Speaker 1: very similar situation, you know, where you have a championship,
Speaker 1: if they miss a shot, you possibly go to the
Speaker 1: next round if they miss a shot with Kawhi making
Speaker 1: that shot, so um, you know, it's a similar thing.
Speaker 1: The fuel, the fuels, you know, should be there behind
Speaker 1: the fire and just burn all year. And you got
Speaker 1: to remind guys at times, remember that that feeling you
Speaker 1: had and remember what you went through and losing that
Speaker 1: way it should obviously push you to your ultimate goal
Speaker 1: this year. Is it like a pre eve before game
Speaker 1: dinner with Pop this time around or just seem tomorrow
Speaker 1: when do you guys play. I'm gonna I'm gonna reach
Speaker 1: them out, reach out to them now. Like I said,
Speaker 1: when we would come here, Brett would come join us,
Speaker 1: So we're always welcome to Pop in there. They're they're
Speaker 1: on a seven game losing streaks, so it could be
Speaker 1: you know, picking up my phone call and turning now,
Speaker 1: but he's he's really to get a separating basketball from
Speaker 1: the real world, I guess, and his things dinners and
Speaker 1: wine and food and all that. So I'll reach out
Speaker 1: to him later tonight and probably go and meet him.
Speaker 1: He has the thing called the JV game where he
Speaker 1: goes to another restaurant to try some things out before
Speaker 1: he meets the coaches, So I might just meet him
Speaker 1: at the JV game. I'm sure that's not that's if
Speaker 1: there are worst case scenarios. I'm sure the JV Game's
Speaker 1: not bad, not at all cool, he may. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: Thank you good having the chance to sit down with
Speaker 1: first year seventy Sixers assistant coach Ema Utoka. Great to
Speaker 1: be bringing back for the second time in as many episodes,
Speaker 1: The Rosen Report, featuring our one and only seventy six
Speaker 1: Ers digital reporter Lauren Rosen. It's a miracle that this
Speaker 1: thing got renewed. Listen. The only thing that we're missing
Speaker 1: is a little ditty to bring you on, a theme song,
Speaker 1: something like that. I don't think I have nearly enough
Speaker 1: clout for a theme song at this point, but we'll
Speaker 1: work on it. We've got to establish in dem arcade
Speaker 1: our various benchmark segments here on the podcast. A happy
Speaker 1: belated birthday too, Thank you Salt. How does it feel?
Speaker 1: It feels good. I feel old, I am old. I
Speaker 1: guess now entering my I don't know, third phase of
Speaker 1: life now. I'm just kidding. I feel good. I feel
Speaker 1: young still and happy to be here and excited to
Speaker 1: spend this next year in Philly. There's always people older
Speaker 1: than you more often than not. That's true. So there
Speaker 1: is there is that. I'm just kidding. I'm not tripping
Speaker 1: over it. It's all good. So you spent your birthday
Speaker 1: lots of fun activities, internal brainstorming, media availability over at
Speaker 1: the training complex, and that media availability came the afternoon
Speaker 1: following a nice seventy Sixers come back when at the
Speaker 1: Center in which the defense seemed to really lock in
Speaker 1: down the stretch and our guy Ben Simmons a very
Speaker 1: big part of the Sixers come back that helped them
Speaker 1: or seventeen point deficit. Absolutely, he had a spring in
Speaker 1: his step on both ends of the floor, and I
Speaker 1: think everyone was really happy to see him excelling. Obviously,
Speaker 1: everyone's going to harp on the shot he took at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the game. There's a shot by been
Speaker 1: the crowd loves in a three by Ben Simons on
Speaker 1: the catch, the crowd rising. He had that three of
Speaker 1: the preseason, but that is his first NBA career three
Speaker 1: and the crowd loves it. That was wonderful to see,
Speaker 1: There's no denying that. But I love how he carried
Speaker 1: on with his game and had an incredible stretch. I
Speaker 1: think he played forty two minutes, which is a long time,
Speaker 1: stayed sharp the whole time. I know Brett gave him
Speaker 1: a lot of credit for powering through such a heavy
Speaker 1: load like that, And yeah, I think it's awesome to
Speaker 1: see him rounding into mid season form so early in
Speaker 1: the season. Also, a lot of talk about his leadership.
Speaker 1: There continues to be a lot to talk about that,
Speaker 1: and I think there's something to it. I think we
Speaker 1: have seen a different front type of demeanor from Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons in year number three. He got to ring the bell.
Speaker 1: That's always exciting. Absolutely, And you know, I feel like
Speaker 1: Brett is and I don't know this for fact, but
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna speculate here. I feel like he is
Speaker 1: particularly selective and judicious when it comes to choosing guys
Speaker 1: like Ben or Joel as the bell ringer. So you
Speaker 1: had to think that, and I clearly Brett Brown was
Speaker 1: he was pleased with how Ben sparked and rallied the
Speaker 1: troops in that win. Then he said last night that
Speaker 1: there were a lot of candidates for bell Ringer. You
Speaker 1: could have gone a few places and thought there was
Speaker 1: some candidates the should warrant consideration. But I thought Ben's
Speaker 1: intensity defensive intensity was as good as it's been. I
Speaker 1: think that. But Ben's performance and his stability and intensity
Speaker 1: that he was able to maintain for all of those
Speaker 1: minutes and all that time was what really pushed it
Speaker 1: over the edge for those bell ringing honors. So time
Speaker 1: to put you on the spot. Who would have been
Speaker 1: candidate number two on your list? That's tricky. I mean,
Speaker 1: for me, candidate number two last night specifically had to
Speaker 1: be Mike Scott. I think if you want to look
Speaker 1: at most important stretch as opposed to most important overall game,
Speaker 1: I think the way that Mike was able to heat
Speaker 1: up late just showed like what a veteran presence he is,
Speaker 1: someone that's that just can't be undervalued. His spot on
Speaker 1: this team can't be forgotten about in any way because
Speaker 1: he can come in and shoot four of six from
Speaker 1: deep at a very important time, and you just love
Speaker 1: to see it. The fans love it, the people love it,
Speaker 1: can't get enough Mike Scott. He's a first team, all
Speaker 1: giffable guy, absolutely all content and just the the banter
Speaker 1: that he brings to the Internet. For listeners that haven't
Speaker 1: checked out Mike Scott's social presence, it is something special
Speaker 1: to behold and the way he interacts with his teammates,
Speaker 1: his more even his more mild mannaged teammates sort of
Speaker 1: get in on the fun with him. So I don't know,
Speaker 1: nice to see. I think a lot of people recognize
Speaker 1: the intangible value of Mike Scott, but it's also nice
Speaker 1: to see a guy like that step up in a
Speaker 1: moment and really contribute on the court as well. And
Speaker 1: that's not to say that Mike Scott hasn't been doing that,
Speaker 1: but that was a really big spot. The Sixers needed him,
Speaker 1: and he did what veterans do. He answered the call.
Speaker 1: Called him silent assassin after the game, which I think
Speaker 1: is apt. He said, Mike doesn't say a lot, he
Speaker 1: keeps most of his feelings to himself, but then he
Speaker 1: can come in in a moment like that and really
Speaker 1: excel and really shine where the team needs him in
Speaker 1: a big way. Feels good. He definitely want to help
Speaker 1: to the team win and be successful, so feels good
Speaker 1: to help the team there. I'm not Chopliver so so good.
Speaker 1: I think everybody was happy to see that sort of
Speaker 1: performance from our guy, Mike. Seventy sixers have a lot
Speaker 1: of games at home up intriguing matchups as well, both
Speaker 1: home and away. San Antonio struggling coming in. Jimmy Butler
Speaker 1: returns with the Miami Heat on the road to Toronto,
Speaker 1: which is still playing well despite Kauai No Lowry Utah
Speaker 1: coming in. It's a good stretch. It's a good stretch.
Speaker 1: It's going to be fun, and playing in Toronto. They're
Speaker 1: one of the other undefeated teams at home, so if
Speaker 1: we could get in there and knock them off that streak,
Speaker 1: I think that would be extra special. Yeah, it's a
Speaker 1: great stretch. I love that they're getting so many reps
Speaker 1: in at home. I think from a continuity perspective, we
Speaker 1: keep hearing about wanting to get all the starters out
Speaker 1: there together, Ben and Joel, Joel and al out there together.
Speaker 1: Being able to play at home so frequently, I think
Speaker 1: is going to be really special, at least for the
Speaker 1: next few weeks. Also, Indiana coming in at home. I
Speaker 1: forgot about that Denvert home. Within the next two and
Speaker 1: a half weeks. You get to go to Man Square Garden.
Speaker 1: Is that an exciting opportunity for you, I do, I
Speaker 1: am excited. Yeah, I went in college once. Tell people
Speaker 1: about your background a little bit. Sure, So I did
Speaker 1: my undergrad at Duke. My first entry into the athletic
Speaker 1: department was I was a cheerleader for the basketball team,
Speaker 1: not something that I had ever planned on. I was
Speaker 1: a gymnast growing up, and when I got to Duke,
Speaker 1: it turned out they needed some people with the skill
Speaker 1: set that I had from gymnastics. One thing led to another,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, I was a pretty I
Speaker 1: don't want to say high profile but like as college
Speaker 1: cheerleading teams go, like. We went to some cool things,
Speaker 1: one of them being Madison nationally televised games every now
Speaker 1: they tend to every once in a while, and I
Speaker 1: don't know, so that that really piqued my interest, and
Speaker 1: eventually I started working for the athletic department, which was
Speaker 1: something that I took more seriously on a professional level. Obviously,
Speaker 1: and that something leads to something, leads to something, and
Speaker 1: here we are returning to Madison Square Garden in a
Speaker 1: very different setting. But yeah, really excited to go back,
Speaker 1: Really excited to spend my Thanksgiving in New York with
Speaker 1: my sixer family. It'll be great. I wonder if they
Speaker 1: light the I wonder when they light the tree at
Speaker 1: thirty Rock. It's gotta be around Black Friday. You'll be
Speaker 1: there on Black Friday. Nothing better, you know. For those
Speaker 1: few that know me know that I hate shopping. So
Speaker 1: Black Friday in New York City not where I would
Speaker 1: choose to be necessarily, but in this context, could give
Speaker 1: it a more fun spin. Okay, all right, I think
Speaker 1: I mean, does Black Friday? Black Friday in New York
Speaker 1: City is scary? Right? That's not really something that would
Speaker 1: you embrace that Selts. I'll be honest. I wonder if
Speaker 1: it's scary. I wonder, I mean, New York's just big.
Speaker 1: Could it just tend to be kind of like a
Speaker 1: normal shopping day in New York perhaps a little bit
Speaker 1: more foot traffic. You probably go to place like Bloomies,
Speaker 1: and you know, you get you get well coming in.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but it just starts earlier. I'll tell
Speaker 1: you the only deal I want to score on Black Friday,
Speaker 1: the Sixers win. There's no possible way we continue. We
Speaker 1: could continue with segment number two of the Rosen Report.
Speaker 1: That's it. That's how we're ending it, okay, with a
Speaker 1: bad punt. Thanks for having of course, Thanks Laren Rosen.
Speaker 1: Thanks to email DOCA, new assistant on the seventy Sixers staff,
Speaker 1: and again bid on the items from seventy six Ers Crossover.
Speaker 1: Download the app, go to the featured section, click on
Speaker 1: the icon. Perfect time of year to get a fine
Speaker 1: piece of exceptional seventy six ers centric artwork for yourself
Speaker 1: or someone close to you. All right, we'll talk you
Speaker 1: next time here on the podcast. See it m