Rookie of the Year Award Proving Unity of Team for Sixers
By Josh Wilson
The Philadelphia 76ers have their eyes set on the Rookie of the Year Award, and it’s proving the team’s unity moving forward.
Philadelphia 76ers fans won’t be watching their team in the playoffs, but the end of the season comes with some hope that the team will be represented in the awards circuit of this season. The team seems almost guaranteed to have a player winning the Rookie of the Year award.
The Sixers have won the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award every single month so far this season, with Joel Embiid winning them up until he went down with injury, and then Dario Saric winning them after that point. That pair has been strong as far as performance this season, and their efforts on the court have been better than almost all of the rookie class. Still, it’s notable that neither of these players was drafted this past summer, both were drafted in 2014, and both deferred their initial NBA seasons because of different reasons — Embiid for health, Dario because he was stashed overseas to develop further.
When both were set to debut this year in their technical rookie seasons, there was a lot of wondering as far as what was going on with them, and where each player would be at. Here we had Embiid, who had been injured and hadn’t played high-level, competitive basketball in over two years. On the other hand, we had Saric, who had been playing professionally for some time, but not nearly close to the NBA level.
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Fans had no idea what to expect, but from the very first game, Embiid made his name known as the front-runner for the best rookie not only on his own team, but in the league.
As the All-Star break drew near, it seemed like something crazy would have to happen for the award to slip away from Embiid. Something crazy indeed, as after Embiid played 31 games on the season, he was ruled out for the entire rest of the year, and he would have to rely on his efforts in the first half of the year to give him any chance at the award.
Enter Saric, who had been getting used to the new style of basketball that is the NBA all season, and playing backup to Ersan Ilyasova, who at this point, had recently been traded to the Atlanta Hawks, opening a window for Saric. Saric performed at a high level, and made himself known as the top scoring option quickly with Embiid out. He solidified a spot for himself in the starting lineup, and quickly became known as the front-runner for Rookie of the Year, even above his own teammate Embiid.
It’s intriguing to see the award treated the way it’s been treated by the Sixers. Typically, this award is more or less an individual award, as it can only be awarded to one player without a tie in votes. We look at players from a standpoint of how they’re doing stacked up against each other, and it’s a battle for the finish.
With the Sixers, though, it’s less individual, and more of a team effort. Of course, this is something we don’t typically see mostly because teams don’t often have two players that are rookies and good enough to be battling for the award (NBA, take note, this speaks to how bright the future is in Philly). It’s still the Sixers vs. all other teams with rookies when it comes to the award, but the advantage that the Sixers have had this season with two strong rookies has really brought them together.
Embiid says Saric should be Rookie of the Year. Saric likely says the same about Embiid, having watched him dominate as he struggled a bit in the opening months of the year. And the teammates, coaches, and even opposing players all praise each of them to no end and have been in awe watching this whole thing unfold from the front row.
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Speaking to Sixers.com lead reporter Brian Seltzer, Brett Brown said something that really embodied what the race for the award means to this team.
"“What I feel most strongly about is, that’s our trophy. That’s our award. It comes through Philadelphia.”"
Here we have the Sixers, a team that has struggled with identity in past seasons, really gaining its unity and identity from this award, an award meant for an individual. The team is living vicariously through their players eligible for the award, and growing as a unit as it occurs. When one player succeeds, everyone succeeds. The Sixers are a picture perfect definition of a team.
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Rookie of the Year is not a team award, but whatever player gets to claim that trophy — whether it be Saric or Embiid — will certainly have their team in mind as they give their acceptance speech. That really speaks volume to how unified this team has become, and that can be viewed as a really important aspect moving forward. These players succeed individually, but on the shoulders of their supporting cast.