Philadelphia 76ers Playing For The Love Of The Game

With the team eliminated from post season weeks ago, and with a recent wave of injuries, what could possibly motivate the Philadelphia 76ers to press on for the remainder of the season? Simple enough, the love of the game.

Have you ever walked past a game of pickup basketball at an outdoor macadam court? Perhaps you were heading to the YMCA weight room and paused at the squeaks and squeals of basketball shoes gripping tightly to the hardwood floors near a basketball net. You might even have paid for a ticket to see a high school or minor college team play, outside of the vision of scouts and agents, a game of basketball for fun. Have you noticed how infectious such a game can be? The audience is quickly mesmerized by the unseen choreography, while even the most novice of skills can captivate a passer-by, sucking them into the drama unfolding from a simply game of one group trying to place the basketball through the suspended hoop more often than the other group.

No playoffs, no big money payouts, not even an award ceremony afterwards.  The competitive nature of the game is revealed in these chance encounters at the purest essence of true conflict.  Man vs. Man in a peaceful but determined clash of wills and skills, each hoping to best the other simply out of the love of the game.  Nothing more, and nothing less, just a passion for an opportunity to gauge oneself against an opponent.

When you look up and down the Philadelphia 76ers organization, and see that the team has spent countless hours and dollars in building, training, developing, working, analyzing, recording, compiling, discussing, and playing the game of basketball, only to end up with two thirds of the roster healthy and with just nine wins for the season as it draws to a close, you could rightfully ask why would anyone go to such lengths for such modest results. What could possibly be their motivation. What could keep players going? How could any coach possibly say yes to the frustrations that come with losing at a pace which continuously flirts with the historic worst of the sports long history?

The challenges of coaching a basketball team stocked with rookies, late round and undrafted talent, and complete roster overhauls for the past three seasons has taken their toll on head coach Brett Brown.  His priority to win had to be pushed to the back seat as the more important task for this team has been, in his own words:

"I don’t even think about it (losing NBA games, I’m pretty numb to it. We’re trying to grow young kids, grow young players. How many streaks have I been a part of? I’m truly numb to it. It’s a new dawn and a new day and we just move on. It’s just part of our world over the past few years and that’s not our purpose. Our purpose is to try to grow these young guys and find some players who are truly NBA players who can grow with the program in the future. I love coaching those guys, and I bleed for them.” – head coach Brett Brown discussing the challenges of coaching a losing NBA team"

A head coach who loves coaching his players sets the tone for the team. Passion. Love of the game beyond the immediate gratification of playing the sport purely for the post-season accolades. But how do the players handle it? Can today’s competitive athlete truly go beyond the big payday and play the sport for the love of the game?

Venerable Elton Brand, whose NBA career is certainly as accomplished as any, was offered an opportunity to return to the NBA and play for and with the Philadelphia 76ers once more. Having earned the right to retire with grace after a long and lauded career, he stepped back onto the basketball court as a Sixer once more. But this time it was not for the money, the fame, the chance to hoist the championship cup skyward. What was the reason? I’ll let his own words from an extract from an article he had authored in an article of Sports Illustrated The Cauldron:

"“I know what you’re thinking. Dude, you’ve made over $167 million in your career. You’re not a good player anymore. No one wanted to sign you. What possible reason could you have for joining the Sixers, a team with a 3–33 record?! The truth is, my decision to return to the NBA isn’t about money, and it isn’t about rings. It isn’t even about me, really, although every athlete would like to go out on his or her own terms. It’s about repaying what’s owed, about making sure that the young men who follow in my footsteps get what they’re entitled to (and what I haven’t always given them). It’s not so much that I failed the guys I was tasked with mentoring over the years; it’s that I barely even tried. I never took the time to share the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s writing with them. I never sincerely answered their questions about what David West was trying to warn them about during NBPA meetings. I didn’t tell them why they should be reading Etan Thomas’ essays.I was simply too busy following the NBA blueprint that had been ingrained in me from the beginning: Play well, keep your head down, offend as few people as possible, and get paid. Now, here in Philadelphia, my adopted hometown, I’m excited to have a chance to do things differently — be a positive influence and help the organization get back on track…”"

Passion. The love of the game. Perhaps the summary of which is best exemplified in a tweet Elton Brand made at the start of the new calendar year:

And so it goes. The City of Brotherly Love is amassing talent who simply love the game.  But is it simply easier for an accomplished player to profess love for a game that has rewarded him with a small fortune of wealth?  What about the guys who have not yet seen their stars rise in the very competitive world of the NBA?  What about players who have been part of the Philadelphia 76ers this season, but who have been released from their contracts along the way?

We checked up on the status of those fringe players, whose dream of starring in the NBA had not yet been realized.  Players who did not make the Philadelphia 76ers would certainly not catch the attention of any other NBA team, would they?  If you nodded your head yes, you will be surprised to learn that virtually all players who had been associated with the Philadelphia 76ers at the beginning of the season have landed back on a basketball team.  How can this be so, when so many more accomplished players remain availabe?

Passion.  The love of the game.  Philadelphia 76ers players share that common thread, that deep respect and affection for the sport which so many others take for granted somewhere along the way in their careers.   This team knows the rare opportunity to compete in the NBA.  When they forget, as they had in some effortless losses after the All-Star break, Brown flips his lid and reminds them of their NBA privilege.

Next: Philadelphia 76ers Are Limping To Season’s Finish Line

As most professional sports continue to skew further and further to the business side of the sports equation, the current situation of the Philadelphia 76ers is a cool breath of refreshing change.  Yes, decisions on this team will eventually be driven by the business end of the organization.  Yes, the team will emphasize wins as their roster continues to scale the NBA wall of talent.   Yes the team will someday be driven by playoff win and championship medals.

But for today, it’s simply about the love of the game.   Enjoy it while you can Philadelphia fans.  This is truly one of the rarest events in modern day professional sports.  Some day, you will, as I often find myself doing, look back to this team with a deep affection.  They play for love, the greatest and rarest motivator in sports.