Tobias Harris, other veterans reveal how they help Sixers youngsters

The current state of the NBA is hard to navigate for anybody let alone a rookie trying to transition from college to the league. The global pandemic has thrown everything out of whack, everything is shortened and everything is moving at 100 miles per hour.

That means it is more important than ever that veterans step up and help the rookies out. The draft was a little over a month ago, and these guys are about to make their NBA debuts in a few days.

For the Philadelphia 76ers, rookies Tyrese Maxey, Isaiah Joe and Paul Reed  figure to be around the team a lot, and they will have to rely on the vets to make sure they get the necessary help.

“They’re young guys coming into the league,” said veteran Tobias Harris who was drafted in 2011. ” A lot thrown at them, especially this type of season. It kind of reminds me of when I came in the league in the lockout year. It wasn’t much communication because there was a lockout going on, straight to playing, so just making sure they’re good on and off the floor.”

There are plenty of players on this team who can help the rookies get acquainted with the league, not just Harris, and they will certainly be doing their part. It is important for a guy such as Mike Scott, for example, to help them out along the way.

“I look forward to it a lot,” said Scott. “I was in their shoes nine, eight years ago, and I had vets do the same thing for me. I had different types of vets. You get the crazy, wild vets, and you get the professional, do what you’re supposed to do vets, and I’m kind of in-between that. I like to give them the real, give them some game that feels different than a coach or someone else giving it to them. They’ll probably understand a little bit more coming from me and I enjoy that.”

It also is important to have somebody who is going to work out with the rookies and show a more work-ethic-based example of leadership rather than to always talk about stuff. That is where somebody like Seth Curry comes in.

“I’m more of a lead by example type of guy and, obviously, giving the young guys some pointers here and there,” Curry explained. “Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been shooting a lot with Isaiah Joe after practice, and he’s kind of been tailing along and try to learn some stuff.”

At the end of the day, there is only so much veterans can do. The rookies will have to step up, ask questions and learn on their own as well with the pointers that they get from their elders.

“We have a really good group of young guys who are hard workers,” Harris added. “They listen. They want to get better, and they ask a lot of good questions to try to learn what’s going on. Tyrese, Isaiah, Paul, Matisse (Thybulle), those are all guys that I want to see have a great future in this league. Those are guys that honestly have been having a really good training camp by the way that they’ve been playing. It’s exciting to see that, too.”