NBA Players Remain Silent On Philadelphia 76ers

Mar 14, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers dance team alumni perform at center court during halftime of a game against the Brooklyn Nets at Wells Fargo Center. The Nets won 94-87. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

NBA Players Remain Silent On Philadelphia 76ers, Despite One Of Most Player Friendly Organizations In Professional Sports

Is it all about the money? Is it all about the jewelry? Perhaps it’s all about the wrappings, packages, boxes and bows? (okay, that’s not it, but the Christmas season should be recognized occasionally, and this line from that Grinch movie is a classic)

To me, any job is about the benefits. And if I were an NBA player, I would take notice that the Philadelphia 76ers are loaded with benefits. Solid benefits. The types of benefits the Sixers have loaded up on encompass a player throughout his career. You can talk about the money, the fame, the awards, and the recognition, but to the astute minds in professional basketball, they consider the benefits of an organization. The opportunity to play with the brightest minds of the NBA. The assurance that if an injury occurs, there won’t be a nickel and dime effort to short-change a player’s health and recovery. The access to knowledge, the planning of how to become a personal best, the oversight of how to improve that gives constant feedback of how to do it better.

Health benefits? Just ask Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid. The Sixers signed players knowing that they needed a year to recover. In Embiid’s case, it required finding a team of specialists and redoing the surgery to promote a healthy recovery. That kind of loyalty is tough to find in any industry, let alone the dog eat dog world of professional sports.

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Some of the brightest minds of the NBA? Try Sam Hinkie, Brett Brown, Jerry Colangelo, and Mike D’Antoni on for size – a cornucopia of basketball knowledge and savvy.

Want to improve your shot selection? The Philadelphia 76ers have invested heavily in basketball analytics. Fitness and nutrition? Sports Science. Gymnasium? The new training center is being build as we speak. Young talent? The Philadelphia 76ers have the youngest team in the NBA and are on pace to become YOUNGER next season with a projected influx of four first round draft selections, including two of the first five picks.

But its just another day at the office for the Philadelphia 76ers. They’ve committed themselves to building a championship team by investing expertise in all aspects of a basketball program. What remains a mystery to me is why the NBPA has not officially supported the Philadelphia 76ers for their efforts to support players beyond the basketball court.

Greed. Avarice. Getting the best financial deal available. Optimization of earnings. Call it what you want, but it all comes down to the money.

Plain and simple. Professional athletes have their business interests handled by agents, and agents are paid on the dollar value of the contract – NOT on the benefits of the team. For the moment, huge dollar contracts are NOT in the Philadelphia 76ers business plans. Why? They are not “there” yet. The Sixers team is still about two-three years from becoming a force in post season basketball. For now, they are learning who will become part of that team, and who will not. So Sixer contracts remain team friendly. Sam Hinkie manages to do this by paying a premium for a players services – more up front cash than any other team offers. That is the enticement to players to sign a contract with no guarantees in the future. Pay for play… a Sam Hinkie contract specialty.

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Articles are written about the adversity between agents and the Philadelphia 76ers front office, which is more rooted in public relations and perceptions than reality. When the time comes for the Sixers to lock up talent for multiple years to ensure post-season competitiveness, you can be sure articles about how NBA players have suddenly “noticed” or “rediscovered” what Philadelphia is doing and wants to belong to a program with a sharp upward trend. Until that time, agents do what agents do best – “leak” unnamed source information to media which paints the Philadelphia program in a negative light, with the goal to force the Sixers front office to sign expensive checks and make the bad press go away.

Don’t buy it Sixer fans. Just look at the benefits package of this Philadelphia 76ers team. The employment laws of the NBA may be higher salaried, stranger work weeks, and more publicized, but eventually the smart players will notice and want to belong to this club. When the team is ready to sign players, they will come like it’s the Field of Dreams.

For now, NBA players remain silent on Philadelphia 76ers program as an option. When the time is ripe, we will hear from them. Until that time, be skeptical of stories that suggest agents steer their clients away from the Philadelphia 76ers. A classic “sour grapes” scenario, the team is not shopping for NBA veterans as of yet, and instead is completely focused on growing as much talent internally as possible.

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When the team has their core fully developed with young talent, and the “vacancy” sign for NBA veterans is illuminated, we will hear from free agents. After all, the money will be right then. That’s what it’s most about after all.