Jaylen Brown Said All the Right Things
Spike was impressed by Philly's big new pickup — no not that one, the other one — at his first appearance as a Sixer.
Jaylen Brown’s first press conference as a member of the Sixers was a good one. I just wanted to make note of that.
Most press conferences, unfortunately, only get remembered in a bad way — if they get remembered at all. We’ve got too many examples in Philadelphia of this. Bynum’s extravaganza at the Constitution Center, Nick Sirianni’s debut bumblefest, Allen Iverson’s practice rant. They didn’t all end poorly, but you know what I mean.
Brown’s first time talking in an official setting since the Sixers traded for him was just about everything you’d want from him. I don’t think it means everything, but I do think he deserves credit for it.
Speaking publicly in a public setting as a pro athlete, in Philadelphia, is a complicated scenario. You want to be honest, and seem genuine, but you also don’t want to say “the wrong thing.” It’s a minefield.
I thought Brown did a good job of combining those in a way that made me feel good about his upcoming first season. He seemed genuine, even when he was saying “the right things.”
I do like that he said that it “doesn’t have to be anybody’s team,” even if it definitely does and he almost certainly wants it to be his. I do like that he said that at this point the Sixers are only good on paper, and there is much work ahead to be actually good. Even if he must look at them on paper and say “we’re probably going to be pretty fucking good.”
Even when he was asked what the Sixers are going to need from him, he said he wasn’t sure, and he didn’t want to get ahead of the process of becoming a team.
These are all good, by-the-book-type answers that people get wrong every time, either because they don’t know they’re the right answers or they simply don’t care enough to try.
He was honest in expressing his disappointment in being traded from the Celtics, and in revealing that he hasn’t talked to Tatum since the trade. He didn’t say it, and we probably already knew it, but man, he’s going to want to fucking KILL Boston every time the Sixers play them.
This season is going to be fun, but it’s also going to be stressful in the amount of national press and big personalities involved. I think Brown is going to deal with it just fine.
Team Ricky
The Stat Man (Beckett), took a look at how much LeBron potentially has in the tank for 26-27.
I get a lot of heat for not being a LeBron guy, but I’m not the only one like that on Team Ricky.
Me and Mutlu did a podcast about what many people consider to be Faith No More’s best album.
Team Non-Ricky
I was on Ethan Strauss’ podcast again.
Here’s where you can subscribe to Rich Paul’s pod.
Here’s where you can subscribe to Jaylen Brown’s Twtich stream.
2016 was the most ever tried to get into the NBA draft and I knew nothing really about it and still don't. But I actually was going through the top guys highlight videos and I remember being more concerned than others about Simmons not wanting to shoot in college. When I saw highlights of Brown I felt he had a tenacity about him that would look good in Philly. Being a contrarian I entertained that maybe the 76ers shouldn't take Simmons but I fell in line in the end. 6'10 means you can defend every position at the very least and his passing vision was amazing. The short of it is I remember liking the look of Brown as a prospect and wasn't surprised Boston was able to develop him.