Train The Trainers
With the success of Joel Embiid maturation with the guidance of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the team next turn their attention to the remaining members of the front court – Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. Noel has some NBA experience, and has migrated from a sole center role to that of center/power forward. Okafor is a young rookie player who has been prolific at scoring in the NBA. But with youth comes brash behavior, brash enough to place Jahlil Okafor into TMZ headlines. Unfortunately, he was the second such player with that distinction. Joel Embiid also made TMZ reporting when he was caught in Beverly Hills without a cast.
When Jahlil Okafor was caught by TMZ involved in a fracas with Boston Celtics fans after a game, wheels began to turn. First Okafor was suspended for two games. Then Sixers owner Josh Harris reached out to former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo to sign on with the team as an executive advisor. In essence:
“I think I can offer a lot of mentoring to Sam,” Colangelo said.
One of the first things he’s done in persuade former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni to sign on as an assistant head coach with Brett Brown. D’Antoni is known as one of the most innovative minds in NBA offenses, and his presence gives 76ers Brett Brown the wisdom of NBA longevity that he had not had until now.
"“The first thing that [Colangelo] said to me is, ‘How can I help you?’ And we talked about everything, the staff being included, and we started sharing names. He mentioned the name Mike D’Antoni, and I said, ‘Do you think he would do it?’ Because that’s a hell of a name. Less than 24 hours later, he came and said, ‘Mike is yours.And so the speed of it caught me way off guard. I think that for me, if I see it like I need to and should and really use Mike for what he brings to the table, I got an amazing resource of a Phoenix Sun-type offense that I remember so well because I had to go through it with my Spurs days, and the Spurs system that I came from. You get great coaches in a room, those two programs are gonna feature among the great offensive programs. He was with me for the past two days in an office with my two bench assistants, trying to connect the dots with a Phoenix Sun mentality and the San Antonio Spur history I have, with integrating post players and random pick-and-rolls and spacing. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy talking to somebody of that experience. I think we’re all gonna benefit. Truly. I studied Mike for a long time, to be able to now sit next to him and say, ‘What do you think?’ and ‘Let’s go to a white board.'” – Brett Brown describing his experiences with Mike D’Antoni."
And so, by the random nature of events, Jahlil Okafor’s clash with rowdy fans in the streets of Boston may have been the event that began wheels to go into motion – reinforcing the team’s front office with NBA greats. Mentors for the current Philadelphia 76ers front office are now in place. What’s left?
Next: Brand New Mentors