After opening the Philadelphia 76ers practice facility last fall, the team is just now starting to realize benefits.
"“We’ve had a Fantastic Month of June.. This gym was alive. Its the first time we have been able to tap into this building over the summer” – Brett Brown"
Assembling a team takes more than just drafting well and signing veteran free agents. When Kevin Durant stated that the FEDS nickname was silly for a team that had not played together yet, he was absolutely right. A team needs to be built with time, clarified roles, facing adversity together and building trust.
Philadelphia 76ers
For a young lottery team, one of the overlooked factors is that they simply spend less time together than a playoff team. Depending on how deep teams go in the playoffs a top team may spend up to 2 months longer together building cohesion and chemistry. Losing teams simply do not have that typically.
We arent in PCOM anymore ,Toto — Dorothy, probably
The Philadelphia 76ers specifically have suffered from even having a place for players to congregate together during the off-season. Often they were forced to go their separate ways and train alone prior to training camp starting in September. Prior to last fall the Philadelphia 76ers practiced in the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM).
PCOM was a sub-optimal training facility in that it was small, cramped and had limited windows of availability for players. Other teams in the league had much larger dedicated facilities that could serve as both an enticement and enhancement for NBA players.
Dawn of a new Era
Starting in an announcement on June 10th, 2014 the Philadelphia 76ers began a project to transform the working environment for the new team that was then helmed by Sam Hinkie. Hinkie and the ownership group knew that in their quest to find superstar talent in a star driven league they would have to attack the process with a two-pronged approach.
Much has been written about the talent acquisition process via the draft. For a great recap of that go here.
What has gone much less reported and discussed was the other side of that process. Building a corporate culture and environment where success can develop organically. To do that you need to retain your talent and incentivize them to stay together.
By the Numbers: The Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex
Location: Camden NJ next to riverfront aquarium.
Size: 125,000 square foot campus
Player Access: 24×7
Amenities:
- State of the Art Players private restaurant with executive private chef
- Hydropathy spa
- 2,800sqft locker room
- 2 regulation NBA courts
- 7,000sqft roof deck
- Innovation, health and wellness lab.
Related Story: Philadelphia 76ers Summer Assignments
If you build it they will come…
Listen to Brett Brown talk repeatedly about the team spending time together in the month of June. Go on, I’ll wait….
This was the post draft press conference, and as much as he was excited about his new crown jewel of a point guard, he also gushed about the rest of the team. Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Robert Covington were all in the gym on a Saturday evening when Markelle Fultz visited the team for a pre-draft workout. Fultz talked about the feeling he got when he walked into the facility in his players tribune letter.
"The workout was pretty normal, but the really cool thing about it was that Joel, Rob Covington and Ben Simmons were all watching from the sidelines. That made a big impact on me that they wanted to be there. I really appreciated that. – Markelle Fultz"
Now think about this, would this have even been possible 1 year ago? June is typically a time where players scatter to the winds on vacations before finding a workout partner and regimen to prepare for the coming season.
This time a year ago, Joel Embiid was working out in Los Angeles dunking on a 5’4″ trainer. Trust me, we have the video to prove it….
This summer he and Ben Simmons and many other players are together, working on their games and NBA bodies and developing that trust months before training camp begins. And they are having fun! Here is Ben Simmons this past Saturday night.
Can the season just start already? pic.twitter.com/iwFCrDfGYK
— Jake Hyman (@JakeHymanTTP) June 25, 2017
Free Agent Destination – finally
Philadelphia has always been a prestige franchise, but the facilities and off court life has not kept up with the likes of the Lakers, Celtics and Heat. As a result, they have been afterthoughts as an attractive destination for top end free agent talent.
With this new facility, you have a core culture developing, a buzz building and a real jewel to show off to potential players who may be interested. This could very well mark the difference from having to overpay a descending player to maybe winning over a player who has multiple options based on the strength of the non basketball environment.
Next: What does Roster Balance really mean?
When you add this to the other cultural factors such as the national treasure that is Joel Embiid and his larger than life personality, the Philadelphia 76ers have literally “built” something special.