The Sixer Sense
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Young Sixers Exposed Early to the ‘Business’ of Basketball

By Michael Kaskey-Blomain

Oct 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (left) and center Jahlil Okafor (right) watch from the bench during the final minutes of a game against the Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center. The Utah Jazz won 99-71. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (left) and center Jahlil Okafor (right) watch from the bench during the final minutes of a game against the Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center. The Utah Jazz won 99-71. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sixers are learning quickly about the NBA “business” reputation

Professional sports are a business. That is an unavoidable, albeit often unattractive truth. While loyalty is publicly preached by players, teams, and the mainstream media, profit remains the underlying and main motivator.

The NBA is no different. Kevin Durant acknowledged as much when speaking to the media during the recent Western Conference Finals.

“The league is about business, man,” he stated.

Spoken like a true veteran.

Durant understands the bottom line, and that no matter how much he does for an organization, or how well he is compensated for his superior services, at the end of the day the league’s about its business. Every athlete, no matter how great, is eventually cast aside when they are no longer productive or profitable.

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This is a lesson that all professional athletes learn, eventually. However, for many of the young players involved in the Sixers recent rebuild, the learning curve has been accelerated.

Players are warned about the ‘business side’ of the league from early on, but it is often one of those situations that takes actual real-life experience to truly hit home. After being shipped from a comfortable situation, or being blindsided by the trading of a trusted teammate, players will gain a personal understanding of the business side of the game. Such experience usually comes with time. It is not typical of first and second year players.

It’s not very often that a reigning Rookie of the Year is traded in the midst of his sophomore season. It is not common for a productive rookie post player who can toss up 20 and 10 on a nightly basis to be openly shopped across the league’s landscape. It is unusual for a young defensive anchor to be involved in trade rumors that severely undersell his value. However, all of this is a reality due to the Sixers recent asset-centric rebuild.

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The circumstances are unique, and this early exposure, if you will, is a byproduct of the way the team has been built, with added emphasis placed on overall value rather than current fit. Both Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor currently find themselves in the midst of rampant trade talk, as they are being openly shopped by the franchise. Okafor’s future with the franchise has been in question basically since the second he was selected by the Sixers. Both are well aware of the speculation.

Sam Hinkie sold high on Michael Carter-Williams and in turn taught the young point guard a first-hand lesson about the unpleasant side of the business of basketball. Another recent Sixers lottery pick, Dario Saric, also has his fair share of experience with this side of the game. Even Sixers role players and reserves aren’t immune from consistently confronting an uncertain future – virtually no spot on the Sixers roster is set in stone at this point as the team tries to form itself back into a contender on the foundation laid by Hinkie.

All of this is not to say that the Sixers are doing a disservice to their young players. They are, after all providing them with early exposure to an issue they will inevitably experience somewhere down the line. Think skin is necessary for success in the NBA – just ask LeBron James.

However, the notion that veteran players are better equipped to handle trade rumors than young players who have not yet had the opportunity to establish themselves may have some merit. The psyches of younger guys are often more fragile, and thus more likely to be affected by chatter. While it is easy to tell players to tune out such distractions, it is not always equally as easy for them to do so. While veterans may understand that a plethora of factors play in to any move, it is easy to see how a rookie or second year player could view ‘being shopped’ as an indictment.

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It is virtually impossible to accurately measure the impact that a trade, or even trade talk has on player performance, but exposing their young core to the business side of basketball is something that the Sixers – first under Sam Hinkie, and continuing under Bryan Colangelo – are not shying away from.