Category: Philadelphia 76ers Blog

Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on the 76ers:

The Sixers, the last NBA franchise left without its own practice facility, are looking at the Thunder and several other NBA franchises as they design their 120,000-square-foot practice facility and team headquarters in Camden. New Jersey awarded the franchise $82 million in tax credits over 10 years to build it on the waterfront.

None of this should be surprising if you think about what the Eagles have done with the NovaCare Complex. That’s the type of facility that most NBA teams have. Those days when Charles Barkley worked out at the St. Joseph’s Fieldhouse, sharing the place with the Hawks, are long gone.

In Oklahoma City, there are a heated lap pool, a car detailer, and a barber on site. Sure, they have a restaurant. Most of these places have cafeterias. But their goal is to have the best restaurant in Oklahoma City.

The idea is to make the practice facility a place that players will go to year-round. And if you can get a haircut just steps off the playing court, you’re more likely to step on that playing court. Or maybe get your leg iced while you’re getting your hair cut. Same for the restaurant. At the least, you get a nutritious meal. Best case, it gets you on the court or looking at film for a few extra minutes.

Here’s the Philadelphia Daily News reporting on the 76ers:

The 76ers are a step closer to building a dream practice facility in Camden, according to an NBA source.

Friday, the organization filed for a tax credit in New Jersey, the first process to landing the site, which is located between the city’s Aquarium and Susquehanna Bank Center.

“This is going to be the premier practice facility in the league,” the source said. “There are still other steps to go through to get it finalized, but it appears as if there should be nothing to hold up the process now.”

Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on the Sixers:

The 76ers are eyeing Camden’s waterfront to build a state-of-the-art practice facility and offices to serve as their administrative hub, sources say.

The team has rented space to practice in the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in West Philadelphia since 1999 but has been looking for a site to build its own facility. The team would continue to play games at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.

Sixers CEO Scott O’Neil did not comment on the potential move and said in an e-mailed statement, “We are continuing to do our due diligence regarding this project and are looking at a number of sites for our training center, which includes several locations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.”

Philadelphia 76ers guard Michael Carter-Williams underwent successful surgery today to repair the labrum of his right shoulder.

The surgery was performed by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and his rehabilitation will be supervised by head team physician Dr. Brian Sennett of Penn Medicine.

“The health of our players is our primary concern,” said Sixers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Sam Hinkie. “There were a number of healthy discussions between Michael, our medical team, several medical specialists and Michael’s representatives. After careful consideration and thoughtful research, we collectively agreed that it was in Michael’s best interest to move forward with the procedure now and allow for maximum recovery time.”

There is no timetable set for his return.

Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting:

No surprise here. Michael Carter-Williams will be named the NBA’s rookie of the year this week, sources have confirmed.

The 76ers point guard’s receiving the award, first reported Saturday afternoon by Philly.com, will be perhaps the most obvious and anticlimactic outcome of the 2014 NBA awards season.

Carter-Williams joins Allen Iverson (1996-97) as Sixers rookies of the year after posting one of the best campaigns by a first-year player in league history.

It was a season in which the 6-foot-6, 185-pounder was mentioned in the same breath as Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson.

Billions of dollars couldn’t completely console Philadelphia 76ers owner Joshua Harris this season.

Being the potential heirs of a franchise that matched an NBA-record losing streak comes with a few hardships as well not usually found in the luxury suites.

“When we lose, even in New York, kids come up to my family’s kids and say, “Hey, the Sixers lost 26 in a row. How do you like that?” Harris said. “We don’t like that. This is my doorman, he says to me, `Hey, can’t you get those players going?”

Get the Sixers going? That was never the point this season, not for a franchise that decided spinning its wheels in mediocrity for most of the last decade was never going to win them a championship. The Sixers needed to gut the roster, collect draft picks, build for the future and lose games.

And lose ’em big.

So they did, including the whopping 26-game stretch that helped stick them at 19-63 and solidified a 19.9 percent chance at winning the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

Mission accomplished.

— Associated Press