Getty Sixers guard Ben Simmons scored 17 points in a losing effort against Miami in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia 76ers will participate in the Orlando “bubble” at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Ben Simmons is the “fastest person on the court” says Josh Richardson.
We’ll “hopefully” be able to use the pick and roll throughout the course of games.
Sitting in sixth place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference standings with a 39-26 record, Sixers swingman, Josh Richardson believes that the coronavirus pandemic layoff has given teams like the Sixers an advantage when the league resumes play on July 30.
“It helps,” Richardson told me while on the 76ers’ media Zoom call.
“Just from letting guys who are a little banged up get back to full health and even strengthen themselves as that. So, getting Ben [Simmons] back, getting myself healthy, getting Joel [Embiid] all the way healthy and he’s been running and he’s in good shape. So, I think that guys who took good advantage of this break will greatly feel the impact of it. Like it will help them a lot. So I think that our team did what they were supposed to do during the break and hopefully we see those results.”
GettyPhiladelphia 76ers guard Josh Richardson.
The NBA has been on hiatus since March. Some NBA players have told me that hadn’t picked up a basketball since the pause as their focus has been their health, their families and even just their mental health. While on the Zoom call, I asked Josh Richardson if he could remember the last time that he had this much free time.
He had to take a deep dive in his memory bank. “I don’t know,” Richardson told me.
“I don’t think I’ve ever. For this long? Ah, never. Definitely never. But, you know I take a couple of weeks off after a season, I pretty much don’t do anything. But I always get right back to work pretty soon. But it’s like, for a few months there’s nothing to really do. So at that point, nah I’ve never had this much free time.”
A native of Edmond, Oklahoma, Josh Richardson was part of the trade that shipped former Sixer, Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat. The Heat’s second round pick out of the University of Tennessee, last season he averaged career highs of 16.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 34.8 minutes per game.
In his first season in the City of Brotherly Love, Richardson is averaging 13.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and and 3.1 assists per contest for the Sixers.
While on the Zoom Call, Richardson also talked about the team jersey selections. “It came from a place of good intention,” he said. “But I think it’s tough to limit on how people are feeling.”
Richardson says that athough he’s not excited for Orlando bubble, he’s ‘excited to play and that his teammates are looking for ways to use their voices to be outspoken about today’s political climate. “We’re all thinking of ways we can speak of,” he said.
Richardson also said Sixers big man, Joel Embiid has been in the gym and working out regularly and that the Sixers’ pick and roll can be well executed on the court thanks to Ben Simmons who says is the ‘fastest person on the court.’