Sixers discuss riding out Hurricane Ian while in South Carolina for camp
CHARLESTON, S.C.–The Philadelphia 76ers decided to pack things up and head down to Charleston, SC for training camp to begin the 2022-23 season. There are a couple of reasons behind their thought process such as wanting to build team chemistry and learning the American history of Charleston.
The team chemistry part took front and center on Friday as Hurricane Ian blew through the city and the surrounding areas. There was heavy rain and heavy winds that caused power outages on the South Carolina shore.
Rather than running away back to Philadelphia, coach Doc Rivers and the team stayed and rode out the storm as a team. With the skies cleared up and the team able to get back to practice, they discussed their time together amid the storm.
Rivers on the storm and the team bonding
“Guys were, even yesterday (Friday), like ‘What’re we gonna do?’ I said ‘We’re gonna ride it out’. Just like the season. We’re not running from anything. We’re gonna stay right here, we’re gonna face, usually, you’d say the fire, but we’re gonna face the wind. We’ll be fine. They just laid back. Guys just played cards all day. Somebody lost a lot of money yesterday.”
Furkan Korkmaz
“In the news, sometimes when I was in Turkey, I would watch hurricanes happen in the states and everything, but I was not worried.
I think so far, it’s going really well because of everything team-wise, there’s team-dinners. Those things are what matters now. If you want to build team chemistry, it doesn’t happen just by playing basketball. I think this training camp helped a lot. I wish we did this last year, too.”
Matisse Thybulle
“When we first got here, I was like ‘I don’t really know why we came all the way out here’, but since being here, it’s been very apparent. If we were in Philly, it’s like practice is over. I’m going home. Guys have their own gym they can go to that are closer to their house. Guys just kinda separate. We being stuck together may not be such a bad thing.
I actually was surprised by how we were able to bond with each other off the court. I think doing these group shootings afterward is nice for like positions to get to each other and get some reps in. Then, when we sit in a hotel, and there’s nothing else to do, but eat a meal together, it’s a really nice chance to sit and chat and build that off-the-court chemistry.”
More Rivers on the team bonding
“Just coming together, really. I think all the time these guys have spent together gives them equity to get on each other. It happened the other day, guys didn’t run the drill right, they’re arguing. Next thing you know, they’re playing cards all day yesterday, all of a sudden, we’re running it right. During the card game, they were probably talking about it, and eventually you give in to the conversation. That’s what I want out of this.”
