Speaker 1: If you've listened to a lot of Brett Brown over
Speaker 1: the years, and I have, it's a part of the gig,
Speaker 1: a really great part of the gig. They're probably certain
Speaker 1: signature isms and phrases of his that you can buy
Speaker 1: now rattle off the top of your head, things like tonight,
Speaker 1: we're gonna guard, you know, a water bug, or something
Speaker 1: such as this. We want to play with pace, we
Speaker 1: want to play with space, and we want to guard
Speaker 1: Whenever a seventy six or season comes to an end.
Speaker 1: You can also back on Brown, inevitably bringing up this
Speaker 1: next concept, the notion that the offseason ahead holds the
Speaker 1: key to a player's success the following year. When I
Speaker 1: watch our guys come back to a man, you can
Speaker 1: tell in two seconds like what did you do over
Speaker 1: the summer. The last couple of months since the Sixers
Speaker 1: playoff run ended with a second round loss of the
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics, it's been pretty well documented, especially on social media,
Speaker 1: just how much work members of the roster have been
Speaker 1: putting in in the gym. Ben Simmons has been primarily
Speaker 1: based out of Los Angeles to do anything during the
Speaker 1: season that I wasn't comfortable doing because you know I've
Speaker 1: been working this summer. I've been working a lot one
Speaker 1: certain things that I'll definitely use. The same goes from
Speaker 1: Marquel Folks, Markuel. People are going to see the results
Speaker 1: during the season and that's all that matters. And Joel Embiid,
Speaker 1: He's been a little bit of everyone. Like in Africa.
Speaker 1: I love being on the basketball card and I love
Speaker 1: doing this. That's my job, but also you gotta want
Speaker 1: to love it. That's what I'm about. Regardless of where
Speaker 1: their players have been during the summer, the Sixers are
Speaker 1: still keeping close tabs on their activities and what they're
Speaker 1: up to, and on this episode of the broadcast will
Speaker 1: speak with Chris Babcock, one of the team's coaches who's
Speaker 1: responsible for didn't just that as well as putting together
Speaker 1: He's Sixer's offseason at development program. Hey there, and welcome
Speaker 1: back to the broadcast, Bryan Seltzer. But I got back
Speaker 1: into the office last week after the Labor Day holiday.
Speaker 1: It got me thinking, I'm sure, much like many of you,
Speaker 1: that the summer for all in tens and purposes is
Speaker 1: over finished, gone by, just like that, which then got
Speaker 1: me thinking more about the team and what the players
Speaker 1: have been up to over the last few months, and
Speaker 1: this notion that Brett Brown has talked about at the
Speaker 1: end of each of his previous five seasons that the
Speaker 1: summer months the offseason in his mind, that holds the
Speaker 1: key to the foundation being laid for a players success
Speaker 1: the following season. So I figured the timing was good
Speaker 1: to try and track down our guest on this episode
Speaker 1: of the podcast. His name is Chris Babcock. He has
Speaker 1: been an assistant for the Sixers since Brett Brown's first
Speaker 1: year in two thirteen two fourteen. The season before that,
Speaker 1: the two of them overlapped in San Antonio on Gregg
Speaker 1: Popovich's staff. Chris comes from a recognizable basketball family, has
Speaker 1: a ton of experience in the sport, both playing and coaching,
Speaker 1: and one of his key responsibilities with the Sixers is
Speaker 1: helping structure the blueprint for each player's offseason regiment. And
Speaker 1: as Timey would have it, the day we recorded the
Speaker 1: podcast was the same day that NBA Twitter and Instagram
Speaker 1: erupted when both Ben Simmons and Lebron James posted photos
Speaker 1: of themselves sitting next to each other after a workout
Speaker 1: in New York City. So it was on that note
Speaker 1: that Chris and I dove into talking about the seventy
Speaker 1: sixers player development program. There's so much work that you
Speaker 1: guys put into structuring these offseason plans for the players.
Speaker 1: It can't hurt to have someone of Ben's ilk coming
Speaker 1: in still so green, but with such great potential in
Speaker 1: this game to further relationship like that and absorb whatever
Speaker 1: it could be for however long those two guys were
Speaker 1: on the court together, you would think, oh, yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: absolutely man. Obviously Lebron is one of the best ever
Speaker 1: to play this game. Though Brett Brand it seems like
Speaker 1: I feel like and you could probably do a better
Speaker 1: job at this than I could. That there are certain
Speaker 1: isms and sayings and pray is that are just staples
Speaker 1: for Brett, And it seems like at the end of
Speaker 1: the year, whenever the season ends, something that he brings
Speaker 1: up in his press conferences is that the key to
Speaker 1: the entire next season is what goes on in the summertime.
Speaker 1: And you're thrust with your responsibilities right in the middle
Speaker 1: of that. So why don't you give us a general
Speaker 1: oversight of what it is you do and how you
Speaker 1: try to help these guys causes in the summer so
Speaker 1: our whole staff is involved in all this, and each
Speaker 1: of our guys are kind of assigned certain guys during
Speaker 1: the off season, and you know, we coordinate plans with
Speaker 1: them first off of like travel plans depending when our
Speaker 1: season ended, travel plans, what guys have like commitments to
Speaker 1: whether it's weddings, you know, so be like personal vacations
Speaker 1: and uh, we have a structured plan of what we
Speaker 1: want for them to accomplish on the court for the
Speaker 1: summer and do our best to do it either with
Speaker 1: them in a certain area, them coming back here year. Um.
Speaker 1: And over the past few summers, I've um, you know,
Speaker 1: aside from just doing in Philadelphia, I've had some unique
Speaker 1: trips as well, um, going with players all over the
Speaker 1: world and uh for instance, like this summer, uh started
Speaker 1: out went with t J McConnell to his uh, his
Speaker 1: his old stomping grounds at the University of Arizona. We
Speaker 1: did a few workouts there. Uh he spoke at a
Speaker 1: one of Sean Miller's camps. But uh, you know, it's
Speaker 1: always cool to go see where guys went to school.
Speaker 1: The two years before, Todd Wright and I went with
Speaker 1: Joel to Kansas and uh, um, you know, just very
Speaker 1: it's a it's a unique experience. The you know, the
Speaker 1: guys i've are usually very very very proud of what
Speaker 1: they had accomplished there and what they've done in relationships
Speaker 1: and um, you know, those two guys we saw right
Speaker 1: like the minute they step on campus, everyone's coming to
Speaker 1: say hello to them. You know, everybody teach and Joel.
Speaker 1: I mean it's obviously separate campuses, but they are just
Speaker 1: beloved there. Um. So those were two of the college
Speaker 1: visits that we've done in the past few years. And
Speaker 1: after that, I went back and forth to the Los
Speaker 1: Angeles a few times. Some are Kel out there, saw
Speaker 1: Joel out there. I miss Ben He was actually in
Speaker 1: China at the time. Um. Obviously Los Angeles not a
Speaker 1: bad place to be during the summer, and there's a
Speaker 1: there's um you know, Joel and Mark Eli spent a
Speaker 1: bunch of time with Drew Hanlon out there and great guy,
Speaker 1: really good on the court. Um, you know, so we
Speaker 1: go out there and visit them. Uh. One of the
Speaker 1: days I actually had to Joel like incredibly obviously good
Speaker 1: guy and everybody just loves to be around he. Uh,
Speaker 1: we went to go play tennis with Steve Nash, who
Speaker 1: is in I mean it's great of a player at
Speaker 1: basketball players. He is, he is a just an incredible
Speaker 1: overall athlete. Before it went to go see TJ play
Speaker 1: in the charity soccer game, and they have all a
Speaker 1: bunch of pros out there, and Steve Nash literally looks
Speaker 1: just exactly like an ex pro soccer player. Um. And
Speaker 1: playing tennis. I mean I'd played him before and he
Speaker 1: is he isn't just an incredible athlete, but Joel plays
Speaker 1: a bunch of tennis. They went out there and played
Speaker 1: some doubles, they hit around singles wise and uh it
Speaker 1: was um you know. Then after that they went and
Speaker 1: grabbed some food and Joel does everything to pick everybody's brain. Uh,
Speaker 1: he's just such an intelligent guy and takes a bit
Speaker 1: from everybody that he that he meets, so very good
Speaker 1: obvious experience for everybody there, and um, keep building off
Speaker 1: of that. We went to Joel went to did he
Speaker 1: did the Basketball without Borders in Johannesburg. Um, I went
Speaker 1: there to and visited him there. Uh, incredible experience and
Speaker 1: I'd never been to Africa and Johannesburg was beautiful. I
Speaker 1: wish I would have been there earlier. UM, like a
Speaker 1: lot of the guys, a lot of the players that
Speaker 1: were down there are coaches went down a few days early,
Speaker 1: did their own Safari's. Um. It was just a really
Speaker 1: really cool experience that a bunch of workouts got to
Speaker 1: meet a bunch of other NBA players and coaches and
Speaker 1: everybody that was down there was fantastic. Um. We did
Speaker 1: a habitat for humanity down there. So there's a few like, um,
Speaker 1: non basketball related things that were really cool and unique.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know that Joel was they obviously I
Speaker 1: can't remembers. They called like the Africa Game and be
Speaker 1: Africa game and um, I had actually leaved that day
Speaker 1: and flew from Johannesburg to Croatia then to go visit
Speaker 1: dark So you missed the behind the back dribble sequence
Speaker 1: play that he had there. I did, I was. I
Speaker 1: was actually at the airport and I was just watching
Speaker 1: the game on on the TV there. UM, but unfortunately
Speaker 1: did not get experienced that in person. You were off
Speaker 1: to somewhere else. Another jet setting venture for you, right yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: another long flight which uh, I don't know how I
Speaker 1: didn't really understand how long those flights are but Johannesburg
Speaker 1: flew up to a head a flight through Germany and
Speaker 1: then um, Dario's from shipack and Dario apologize if I
Speaker 1: said that wrong, but uh, we flew into Split, Dario
Speaker 1: picked me up, Um went down to his home. He
Speaker 1: picked you up personally, yep, yeah, guy, oh he's oh,
Speaker 1: he's great and um. And actually he picked me up
Speaker 1: and showed me. We went to through Split and he
Speaker 1: showed me some of some of the historical sites um,
Speaker 1: and went to grab like some local food there. Um.
Speaker 1: And then he drove me to Shivneck, which was about
Speaker 1: an hour drive and I'd never been a Croatia, so
Speaker 1: we like he could have done like the forty five
Speaker 1: minute drive. We went the hour thirty minute like along
Speaker 1: the coast and unbelievably beautiful. I mean, as you're flying
Speaker 1: into Croatia, you can see all the islands and um, yeah,
Speaker 1: next time I go there, I bringing my family there.
Speaker 1: So it's a beautiful, beautiful country. Um. And then uh
Speaker 1: um Dario showed me around there. They have the draws
Speaker 1: and Petro Rich Court that's right up there. Um, you
Speaker 1: know a lot of a lot of good basketball history.
Speaker 1: That's around there's aside from it being it's a beautiful
Speaker 1: kind of travel vacation place, it's uh, I'm got a
Speaker 1: lot of good history basketball. And then he took me.
Speaker 1: He actually he does these jogs there, um that are
Speaker 1: right along the coast. Um. First of all, to see him, like,
Speaker 1: you know, hit his size, he just you know, kind
Speaker 1: of just throws on his T shirt and he's going.
Speaker 1: He has his little trail he went jogging. I feel
Speaker 1: like he has a very distinct gait about him too,
Speaker 1: you know, I could see his running form being very distinct. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's great. And um, you know it, uh the trail
Speaker 1: went up to the top of this hill if you
Speaker 1: want to call it, and overlooked. H I don't watch
Speaker 1: the show, but Game of Thrones, yeah of course, of course.
Speaker 1: Yeah whatever looks like one of the one of the
Speaker 1: sites there. And it's mean, it's incredibly beautiful. And uh
Speaker 1: so we did that. His whole family had me over
Speaker 1: for dinner and to like they the food they had
Speaker 1: was on believable, Like they're they live right next to
Speaker 1: the sea, so everything was like freshly caught and uh
Speaker 1: it was it was a very good experience. What type
Speaker 1: of casine. Is it is anything like the stink to
Speaker 1: that um particular region or is it influenced by other
Speaker 1: scenes in the area. What would you compare it to.
Speaker 1: I don't have a good answer for you that we're talking, Like,
Speaker 1: are the other pastas or their fish dishes? There's fish,
Speaker 1: there's pasta, there was. It was a wide variety. It
Speaker 1: was incredibly good. Like it. Uh, his mom did mostly cooking,
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken, it was it was really good.
Speaker 1: There were a lot of you know, mostly seafood is
Speaker 1: what we had. It's awesome. Yeah, well there's a ton
Speaker 1: to unpacked from all that. Um, two things I need
Speaker 1: to ask about before I forget Based on what you
Speaker 1: just said, Um, I can imagine t J. McConnell will
Speaker 1: get a hero's welcome on campus at the University of Arizona,
Speaker 1: But how is Dario received at home in Croatia. I
Speaker 1: gotta think it's like rock star level. I would think
Speaker 1: I could be wrong. Yeah, yeah, it's a I mean
Speaker 1: he is. Um, it's different, you know, like well, like
Speaker 1: we were walking around splits, you know, people do come
Speaker 1: up and ask for their picture. Um. The culture there's
Speaker 1: different though, like they're not like uh, he didn't get
Speaker 1: bothered a ton. Um. I mean, ever, everybody knew who
Speaker 1: he was, the kind of like I mean they said
Speaker 1: stuff and crows. I try to pick up a few
Speaker 1: words that. Um, but uh, I mean he's the I
Speaker 1: mean he's he's everybody there knows who he is. I
Speaker 1: could see him being like, um, I don't know, I
Speaker 1: guess like in high school or colleges are just the
Speaker 1: things that I'm thinking of. There's like use that expression
Speaker 1: phrase like oh it's it's the mayor of campus or
Speaker 1: it's like I could just see him being the gregarious,
Speaker 1: outgoing person that people they just know and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: obviously he's the terrific athlete basketball player, but just has
Speaker 1: that type of disposition that that people gravitate to. Um.
Speaker 1: The other thing I wanted to follow up on, uh,
Speaker 1: just to make sure I heard you set correctly. Steve
Speaker 1: Nash and Joel and Need were a doubles pairing. It
Speaker 1: was actually, uh, Joel and I versus Steve and his
Speaker 1: wife and she's also very good. Yeah yeah, um, so
Speaker 1: it's Joel. Um, he would be a servant. You would
Speaker 1: do serving volley with Joel? Right or no? Or do
Speaker 1: you keep him back. Uh, we did a lot of
Speaker 1: serving volleys. Uh. His serve was good that day. Um.
Speaker 1: When he had been playing, Um, I think maybe it
Speaker 1: was two summers ago. He got to a point he
Speaker 1: was playing a lot and he was his serve was
Speaker 1: very good, topspin, slice flat. How does he h? How
Speaker 1: does he do it? Um, he's got a very good
Speaker 1: for so fourhand. He's got a I mean so so
Speaker 1: servey gun. It does like he has a pretty good
Speaker 1: kick serve with a little spin on it. Um. And
Speaker 1: obviously with his heights he's just hitting down so it
Speaker 1: comes at you had a very good speed. But uh, um, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's actually despite his size, he actually more of a
Speaker 1: finesse tennis player when you play him in singles. Um,
Speaker 1: like loves to do drop shots. He's got a good touch.
Speaker 1: But it was It was a fun experience. And this
Speaker 1: seems too in your role as assistant director player Development,
Speaker 1: it seems to be all encompassing. And I'm sure that
Speaker 1: in season you have a lot as the team does
Speaker 1: more control over what these guys are doing or just
Speaker 1: direct contact, but in the summer, clearly there's a lot
Speaker 1: of effort being made to stay in touch with these guys.
Speaker 1: For as much as you can share. Going back to
Speaker 1: putting together the individual programs for each of these guys,
Speaker 1: I remember Brett saying after the Boston series that each
Speaker 1: player the morning after. I mean, it sounds incredibly efficient.
Speaker 1: It starts, it sounds like pretty early in the morning,
Speaker 1: and guys are given a folder with a couple of
Speaker 1: different documents. Can you kind of break down exactly what
Speaker 1: you guys craft and when you start planning their offseason development? Yeah, so,
Speaker 1: I mean in past years we had unfortunately been able
Speaker 1: to start playing their off season at the known date
Speaker 1: that our season was gonna end. And um, you know
Speaker 1: this year with the playoffs, Um, obviously we were hoping
Speaker 1: to go further. But um, you know, when we have
Speaker 1: days in between, we were we were playing our guys
Speaker 1: um offseason developments and already kind of communicating with them
Speaker 1: just a little bit just of what big stuff they
Speaker 1: had and you know, weddings and such. But um, we've
Speaker 1: we uh once, you know, I mean we didn't we
Speaker 1: we didn't intend to end on that date. So um,
Speaker 1: when that happened, you know, like you know, but just
Speaker 1: like obviously the you know, not a good feeling to
Speaker 1: get it not your your season ended. UM. But uh yeah,
Speaker 1: right from there, I mean I like we had to
Speaker 1: pull up the documents, get everything ready and UM, you
Speaker 1: know we communicated not only with them, with our agent
Speaker 1: UM and like most of the guys, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: Brett's great with like like it's not just us telling
Speaker 1: them of like, this is what you need to do.
Speaker 1: It's it's a collaborative UM decision on what's what what
Speaker 1: needs to be done in the offseason. And we're talking
Speaker 1: more it's not just Uh, I would think it's probably
Speaker 1: not just hey, get on a court and do this.
Speaker 1: Is it more nutrition base, how holistic? What are what's
Speaker 1: everything that goes into it? Yeah, so each guy will
Speaker 1: get uh you know there's usually four four to five
Speaker 1: very detailed on the basketball court, UM, skilled acquisitions that
Speaker 1: we'd like them to focus on. UM. Todd, Todd, Wright
Speaker 1: and toador usually come up with strength and conditioning UM.
Speaker 1: And they communicate uh with whoever they're also going to
Speaker 1: be with throughout the rest of the summer. That like
Speaker 1: if they have to go home for you know, three weeks,
Speaker 1: they communicate with whatever guys can be working them out
Speaker 1: down there. And UM. Yeah, so everybody's on the same
Speaker 1: page and gets done very efficiently. Before I ask you
Speaker 1: about some specifics, Um, how did you notice the way
Speaker 1: the season ended, because you just reference that affect the
Speaker 1: mindset that guys went into this offseason with. Um, well,
Speaker 1: I mean obviously it's significantly different from the past. I
Speaker 1: mean we were able to you know, we don't want
Speaker 1: to ever do it again, but to be able to,
Speaker 1: you know, we knew when our season was ending, and
Speaker 1: then we were able to tell them what date to
Speaker 1: come back. And you know it's just you knew when
Speaker 1: everything was gonna end, and you know, we get knocked
Speaker 1: out of the playoffs and uh, you know, it's a
Speaker 1: it's a very long season. Um. Guys have a lot
Speaker 1: of obligations too. I mean like currently right now, Dario
Speaker 1: and fur Connor still with their national teams right now,
Speaker 1: and you know, guys just have to Um, you know
Speaker 1: that when you start playing deeper into the playoffs, there's
Speaker 1: definitely a lot more that goes into taking care of
Speaker 1: your bodies. Um. You know, it's just a different plan
Speaker 1: in the off season then prior. All right, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: ratle off some names and as much as you are
Speaker 1: able and willing to share Uh, go ahead, So let's
Speaker 1: start with Uh, let's start with the big man, Joel Embiid.
Speaker 1: What was his offseason? Itinerary as far as he's to do. Listen,
Speaker 1: what you guys wanted to see him achieve? Um, I mean,
Speaker 1: Joel obviously is a unique player. He's uh, he's so
Speaker 1: dynamic in many certain ways, and uh, you know, one
Speaker 1: of it is just like a lot of balance in
Speaker 1: the post um. He's obviously a very very very good
Speaker 1: post player as it is right now. We um, he's
Speaker 1: worked a ton. I worked an absolute ton and paying
Speaker 1: off right now. I mean, looks great right now. And uh,
Speaker 1: a lot of it was just as balanced in the
Speaker 1: post um. Really, he's got, you know, two moves he
Speaker 1: really focused on. Some of it was attacking closeouts as
Speaker 1: three point shot. Um. He he had a very very
Speaker 1: good summer. He was in Philadelphia for a good amount,
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles a good amount, like until he was
Speaker 1: over in Africa and he went from Johannesburg and spend
Speaker 1: time in Cameroon as well. Back at home, you're a
Speaker 1: pretty modest guy, but it seems like you you two
Speaker 1: in particular, have really developed a pretty strong relationship over
Speaker 1: the last four years. That would that be accurate to
Speaker 1: say Joel's the best? He is? Uh? He is, I
Speaker 1: mean forever really gets to know him, Like he is
Speaker 1: just an unbelievably good human being. UM, funny, extremely competitive. Um,
Speaker 1: I mean like anybody that's ever played him in a
Speaker 1: video game or just any sports. Um, you know, he
Speaker 1: you know, it's a it's a characteristic that you do
Speaker 1: see in a lot of like the top top top
Speaker 1: athletes of any sport. There's so competitive and a lot
Speaker 1: of stuff they do. And you know, Joelson, he's also
Speaker 1: just a great human being. I mean all anytime I'm
Speaker 1: out jogging around and I have my little one year
Speaker 1: old daughter, like you know, we'll stop by Joe's place.
Speaker 1: You know, he hangs out with her. She he makes
Speaker 1: her laugh and everything, and he's a great guy. Would
Speaker 1: you have expected him Joel to be at this stage? Um,
Speaker 1: as far as I'm talking, like All Star, All NBA,
Speaker 1: All Defense. Um, did you see that even from the
Speaker 1: beginning when he first came into the organization. UM, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's fair. Yeah, yeah, he uh, he had
Speaker 1: so much, he has so much talented. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: he's only gonna keep getting better. I mean, Um, he's
Speaker 1: extremely competitive, works hard. Um, it just checks all the
Speaker 1: boxes that's gonna make it has made him a great player.
Speaker 1: And you know he's you know, he doesn't he doesn't
Speaker 1: settle either, tries to keep getting better. Um and obviously
Speaker 1: can't get better in a lot of areas. And uh yeah,
Speaker 1: so I mean I did see it. I you know,
Speaker 1: you never know how quick that's gonna happen though, And
Speaker 1: he's good, he's been great. Another guy who made an
Speaker 1: impact real quickly. Rookie of the Year, Ben Simmons. He
Speaker 1: seems like anywhere he's been on this planet, a basketball
Speaker 1: in a gym are within pretty close access for him. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Ben.
Speaker 1: Ben's great, you know, and he's got uh, he's got
Speaker 1: um you know, comes from a great family like you know,
Speaker 1: but Ben's Ben Ben Ben also you know, it's just
Speaker 1: very good at a lot of different sports. And uh, um,
Speaker 1: you know he had he's had a very good summer.
Speaker 1: I'm you know, we're we're all really excited to see
Speaker 1: this whole team next year. And he's been he's been great. Um,
Speaker 1: he's been back here too. What were Ben's points of emphasis? Um,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously he's working a bunch on his shot. Um,
Speaker 1: and he's also a you know, extremely dynamic player. He
Speaker 1: can play multiple positions. Um. You know, Um, so he
Speaker 1: worked on his shot, I know, a lot of different finishing.
Speaker 1: He put in a ton of work, like, um, a
Speaker 1: ton of work. I was very very impressed. Um. We
Speaker 1: all have been very impressed. And UM yeah, I'm a great,
Speaker 1: great person too, like we're we are very very fortunate
Speaker 1: to have a lot of great people. And it's got
Speaker 1: to be so refreshing and encouraging for you guys as
Speaker 1: coaches to see two of the most talented players you
Speaker 1: have on the rosters so highly motivated, like Joe Allen Ben.
Speaker 1: I would think because a for their own benefit, be
Speaker 1: for the team's benefit, but there's got to be a
Speaker 1: residual effect for other guys in the roster too, seeing
Speaker 1: them work as hard as they're working. Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I always always helps when you're
Speaker 1: you know, some of your top players are put in
Speaker 1: the time and commitment that they are he u Ben said.
Speaker 1: I think I read recently that he felt like last
Speaker 1: year as a rookie, there were certain areas and things
Speaker 1: that he felt pretty confident that he could do to
Speaker 1: affect the game at the NBA level and have success
Speaker 1: with and that year one he didn't want to branch
Speaker 1: too far outside of his comfort zone. But he said
Speaker 1: this summer he really tried to zero in on some
Speaker 1: things that he might not have been comfortable doing last
Speaker 1: year that he wants to apply to this year. Is
Speaker 1: that exciting to hear as a coach knowing that a
Speaker 1: player feels confident to dip his toes into a different area. No,
Speaker 1: I mean we encourage and we see we see a
Speaker 1: lot of it that's not seen out there, And yeah,
Speaker 1: it's very very encouraging. You mentioned earlier obviously alluding to
Speaker 1: Marquelle Faults being out in Los Angeles and much like
Speaker 1: the other two guys and Beat and Simmons, Faults looks
Speaker 1: like he's been a gym rat Um and you allude
Speaker 1: to the working relationship he's had with Drew Hamlin. What
Speaker 1: did you guys see there? How did that all come
Speaker 1: together and why did it seem like it was the
Speaker 1: right fit? Um definitely been a good fit. Drews worked
Speaker 1: with Joel Um as well. Drew's great I mean, does
Speaker 1: the like unbelievable job of communicating with me, and uh
Speaker 1: with Brett's and um, um you know that they have
Speaker 1: a very good stet up there in Los Angeles. Um,
Speaker 1: he's he's really good. And uh, we're all in the
Speaker 1: same page. You know, it's not like one one person's
Speaker 1: doing something and like it's been very very very good
Speaker 1: for for everybody. Um, you know, Mark Hel's back now,
Speaker 1: and um, you know it's Uh I went and saw him,
Speaker 1: I think three three times. Um Todd Todd wins and
Speaker 1: we we we Bret one on. I mean people have
Speaker 1: gone out to see him and spent time with him.
Speaker 1: You know, mark El's great. We went to, you know,
Speaker 1: get a little rest out in Los Angeles after one
Speaker 1: of the workouts and it's been a good little aunt
Speaker 1: of time. He's it's a it's a funny, really funny guy.
Speaker 1: Um well they I mean his spirit seems good. And
Speaker 1: again I hope that I'm not misremembering this, but I'm
Speaker 1: just trying to think back to the ear ending press
Speaker 1: conference that Brett Brown had and he was asked about
Speaker 1: what do you want to see from Mark cal for
Speaker 1: the summer, and he was like, being the gym as
Speaker 1: much as you possibly can and maintain the spirit and
Speaker 1: if those were numbers one and two. From the outside,
Speaker 1: it seems like that's mission accomplished obviously. Embid and Simmons
Speaker 1: and Faults. They are relatively on the younger side, up
Speaker 1: and coming players still very much in this league. What
Speaker 1: do you do for an offseason development plan for let's
Speaker 1: say someone like a JJ Raddick or an Emir Johnson,
Speaker 1: Guys who have been mainstays in this league for a
Speaker 1: while and are clearly at a different point in their
Speaker 1: career than some of those three youngsters are. Um, so
Speaker 1: each each guy kind of as their coach that uh
Speaker 1: they work with. Um uh, I haven't been with those two,
Speaker 1: but uh like John Bryant works with Amir Johnson and um,
Speaker 1: you know he's been in been in touch with him
Speaker 1: a bunch. They went over the whole plan over the summer,
Speaker 1: texting back and forth. JJ. Um, he just spend a
Speaker 1: bunch of family time He's got, you know, with Todd
Speaker 1: and everybody, Like everybody's on the same page with his
Speaker 1: a lot of It's like taking care of your body
Speaker 1: at that point. Um, you know JJ was here today, Like, um,
Speaker 1: you know, they they they it's just not putting it
Speaker 1: in the the you know the full contact that uh,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of the younger guys will you know,
Speaker 1: it's a lot of taking care of your body over
Speaker 1: the summer and prepping up for the for the upcoming season.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have to wait a little bit to see
Speaker 1: Zaire Smith in an NBA game. But what did you
Speaker 1: observe from him? Um in the limited time that you
Speaker 1: did get to check him out in summer league? Uh,
Speaker 1: incredible athlete. Um, he's got a ton of upside. Um,
Speaker 1: he's he's he's actually his skills are very good. He
Speaker 1: had didn't show it a bunch during his just the
Speaker 1: college clips that I watched, Um, he's he's got a good,
Speaker 1: good skill set. Um, he works his tail off, which
Speaker 1: is you know, obviously something you want to see and everybody. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm really excited for the Kid's a great kid and
Speaker 1: uh yeah, yeah, unfortunate injury. Um, but he's I mean,
Speaker 1: as hard as he was working on the court, he's
Speaker 1: already doing all in his rehab and everything, and the
Speaker 1: kid has just got a good head on his shoulders.
Speaker 1: And excited for the future for him. Awesome. Did you
Speaker 1: always have a track for player development? Was that something
Speaker 1: that you were always keen on. So I played like
Speaker 1: small college and then when I got done, I coached
Speaker 1: junior college, which was actually one of the best experiences
Speaker 1: I've ever had at Minneapolis Community College coach for a
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame coach, his named Jay Pivocum. It was
Speaker 1: a great experience. And I went from there down to
Speaker 1: the University of Texas and was down there and as
Speaker 1: a GA and then special assistant before going to the Spurs,
Speaker 1: And um, yeah, I would just just love being on
Speaker 1: the court. I love being on the court of the
Speaker 1: guys and learning as much as I can in the
Speaker 1: in that process and still trying to learn as much
Speaker 1: as possible, and everybody should be trying to, like learning
Speaker 1: from all sorts of you know, I still go back
Speaker 1: and learn from high school coaches or college coaches or
Speaker 1: other NBA coaches, players, et cetera. Can always keep learning. UM,
Speaker 1: correct me if I'm wrong on the timeline. But Brett
Speaker 1: Brown's last season in San Antonio was your season with
Speaker 1: the Spurs. Did you guys hit it off pretty quick
Speaker 1: or had that relationship develop? Um? I mean I mean
Speaker 1: that their their whole staff there was fantastic obviously, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Brett's obviously I made UM. Aside from just
Speaker 1: being a great coach, he's a just a very very
Speaker 1: good human being to be around. He has so many
Speaker 1: life experiences and it's been all over the world. Um yeah, so,
Speaker 1: I mean the whole staff there, like you, it was
Speaker 1: it was literally like just being in like uh, like
Speaker 1: a basketball school with all the great brains around that
Speaker 1: program during that time. And you know, it was a
Speaker 1: experience that I'll never forget being there for that year.
Speaker 1: And UM yeah, And obviously now I'm here with Bret
Speaker 1: and uh it's uh. I learned more and more from
Speaker 1: them each year. It's amazing that it seems like there
Speaker 1: is no challenge er situation that really seems to face
Speaker 1: him much this summer taking on more responsibilities with the team. UM,
Speaker 1: how do you think he's handled? What's what's he like
Speaker 1: on a day to day basis? Around you guys, we
Speaker 1: get the glimpse of him in front of um A
Speaker 1: step and repeat, media press conference, drop backdrop. But what's
Speaker 1: he like? UM? You know, as a coach to deal
Speaker 1: with him, he's UM, he's like a great combo. He's
Speaker 1: very intense. UM, but he's his his humor is like
Speaker 1: none I've ever been around. He is a really really
Speaker 1: funny guy. Um And like I said, he's been all
Speaker 1: over the world, So he has experiences and stories that
Speaker 1: like you could just you know, sit in a chair
Speaker 1: and listen to for days or I think it's just
Speaker 1: really good to just listen to. Um, you know, not
Speaker 1: only just basketball experiences, but just a bunch of life experience.
Speaker 1: He has traveled all over the world, and he shares
Speaker 1: it with the team a lot, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a long NBA season. Um, it's not like we
Speaker 1: just go in the film session watch basketball stuff every
Speaker 1: single day. He spends a lot of time letting either
Speaker 1: him telling some stories or he lets players, you know,
Speaker 1: do presentations. I think maybe we showed some of that stuff,
Speaker 1: but he lets players do presentations on stuff that means
Speaker 1: that's meaningful to them. And you know, to aside from
Speaker 1: spicing it up a little bit during the long NBA season,
Speaker 1: it helps educate everybody about everybody that's in this program here,
Speaker 1: and it seems like there's a joy factor that he
Speaker 1: really puts a lot of emphasis on maintaining for everyone
Speaker 1: that despite all the demands and the intensity, he wants
Speaker 1: to make sure people are still having fun and getting
Speaker 1: something out of it. And I it's it's like even like, um,
Speaker 1: the coffee pregame sessions that you because you're one of
Speaker 1: the ring leaders of that with the players that you have.
Speaker 1: To me, that seems like it's an offshoot of just
Speaker 1: who knows that could have happened organically, but that sort
Speaker 1: of thing seems to be the type of um offshoot
Speaker 1: of Brett's philosophy that just happens organically because the tone
Speaker 1: that he sets. Yeah, I mean one hundred percent. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know he's a big coffee drinker himself. We always
Speaker 1: invited him to go, but uh, um has he ever attended.
Speaker 1: Uh Occasionally we'll run into him. He does, uh you know,
Speaker 1: he's got his morning area. That morning, he's got his
Speaker 1: Uh he always goes on that job during that time.
Speaker 1: So um yeah, which he always you know, you know,
Speaker 1: he's NBA coach, but he always, like when we're in
Speaker 1: cold areas, he still will use socks as as a
Speaker 1: gloves and his runs. But uh yeah, the um you know,
Speaker 1: we unfortunately have lost Timmy to the Coffee Club, but
Speaker 1: he he actually did trip to Bali during this summer
Speaker 1: and Tim I mean, like I said, we've been extremely
Speaker 1: fortunate to have so many great guys. He he actually
Speaker 1: got uh. I don't want to miss quote this, but
Speaker 1: it was like it's like the most expensive coffee in
Speaker 1: the world that's there, and he got some for t J,
Speaker 1: Dario myself, and uh he had it left here for us. So,
Speaker 1: UM yeah, I mean, you know, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you can say this. Are we talking more than double
Speaker 1: figures in price tag? But I didn't. I didn't even ask.
Speaker 1: I didn't I didn't even ask. I didn't even ask.
Speaker 1: But uh, that was um, you know, Timmy and wish
Speaker 1: him the best. I think I think he's gonna do
Speaker 1: a great no casey, I was with him in Africa
Speaker 1: and we had coffee Johannesburg every day. Um so we
Speaker 1: I probably should have done a better job of explaining
Speaker 1: that right off the bats, the Coffee Club? Is there
Speaker 1: an official name for the Coffee Club? Now? All right, well,
Speaker 1: just for the purposes of this podcast, called the Coffee Club,
Speaker 1: it's usually you, Dario, t J, and Tim As you said,
Speaker 1: those are the main stays, right, am I missing anyone else? Joe?
Speaker 1: Joe will definitely join at times, um JJ you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see him a bunch. I mean, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of guys that just grab copy. But yeah, like the
Speaker 1: four we we literally always always have a little spot
Speaker 1: that we go to and try to get someplace local
Speaker 1: and on the road. It's usually right before the first
Speaker 1: bus goes to the arena, right, so some time middle
Speaker 1: of the afternoon. Um, how did that start? I don't
Speaker 1: even remember. I don't even remember, but um, yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't even remember. It seems uh like you've just had
Speaker 1: so many great experiences in the sport. Obviously your family,
Speaker 1: um is a recognizable name in the game. Uh, your
Speaker 1: brother's been with the nets, you got uncle's uh, your dad.
Speaker 1: I mean, how how meaningful has that been to just
Speaker 1: go through life, um and see the sport do what
Speaker 1: it's done for you guys, and uh the effect that's
Speaker 1: had on your family, Um, it's been great. So my
Speaker 1: father and then two uncles have all been in the
Speaker 1: front office. So uh, um my brother and I, but
Speaker 1: they were all coaches before they did that. UM, so
Speaker 1: my brother and I got into coaching. UM. I had
Speaker 1: a cousin that was in the agency for a bit.
Speaker 1: He's just getting out of that. Um. But my brother's
Speaker 1: actually now he was went with a coach Pierce down
Speaker 1: to Atlanta. Um, who loves it down there. They have
Speaker 1: an unbelievably good staff down there, and um, he's really
Speaker 1: excited down there. And UM also to mention that coach
Speaker 1: Pierce did have his uh baby girl this past month.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, t J and I went to go
Speaker 1: see her the other day. Um, maybe two weekends ago.
Speaker 1: But it's a beautiful little girl. And they're they're making
Speaker 1: their remove down to Atlanta, coming up here soon. Um.
Speaker 1: Their whole family looks great and doing great moving down
Speaker 1: to Atlanta. And it's the coolest thing because it sounds
Speaker 1: like you're role in particular it really allows for interpersonal
Speaker 1: relationships to grow and get stronger. Not to say that
Speaker 1: other assistant coaches are other coaches don't have that opportunity,
Speaker 1: but specifically, you really seem to get some quality time
Speaker 1: and get to know these guys. And I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna lie like it's just been also incredibly lucky
Speaker 1: to you know, not just saying to say like we've
Speaker 1: had great people all across the board. Yeah, players, coaches,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's a hopefully the luck continues and you
Speaker 1: know we keep having really great people here. It makes
Speaker 1: work and a lot easier. Um obviously great people, but
Speaker 1: competitors too then on the court, just makes everything easier
Speaker 1: and makes it fun. Well put believe it at that, Chris,
Speaker 1: thanks so much man, appreciate you for having me now.
Speaker 1: I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, hope that
Speaker 1: everyone out there listening had a great, refreshing, exciting summer.
Speaker 1: But I'd have to think that not many of you,
Speaker 1: myself certainly included at a summer that hold up to
Speaker 1: the summer that Chris Babcock can have at that traveling
Speaker 1: from South Africa to Croatia, thrown in a doubles match
Speaker 1: with Joel Embiide and Steve Nash, and pretty cool stuff.
Speaker 1: I want to thank chrispher taking some time to talk.
Speaker 1: As always, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to
Speaker 1: you next time you're on the broadcast.