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It may be a while until the trio can compete on the court
together, but the Sixers’ young core of Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel,
and Joel Embiid has already begun the process of bonding beyond basketball.
Carter-Williams and Noel were AAU teammates back in Boston,
and they have known each other for years.
“I knew him before the flattop,” Carter-Williams joked.
The duos addition to the Sixers’ roster on the same evening last
June was a reunion of sorts.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Carter-Williams said at the
time. “We always talked about how we’re both going to make it to the NBA. For us
to end up on the same team is a blessing.”
The two had on-court experience and were already acclimated off
of it, so there was a familiarity to build upon. It didn’t take long for the
friendship to form. Noel didn’t suit up for the SIxers last season, but he
traveled with the team, and he learned from his friend.
“I learned a lot from Mike [Carter-Williams] last season,”
Noel stated. “Just about being a rookie, and how he handled himself.”
Noel will finally have his opportunity to apply the lessons
he learned from his former BABC Boston teammate as he enters what will be his
rookie season with the SIxers. Much of the pressure to turn the team around
will fall on the skinny shoulders of Carter-Williams and Noel, the prized picks
of the 2013 Draft. Eventually, they will have some help from another lottery
pick in Joel Embiid. While they may not actually play together for a while as
Embiid recovers from surgery, the young core that will be expected to lead the
Sixers’ climb back into contention is already starting to gel off of the court.
The gelling process was spearheaded by the Sixers overseas
trip to Spain to watch 2014 lottery pick Dario Saric compete in the FIBA games
early last month.
“It was great. I
think it had some sort of road trip, bonding elements to it. You haven’t lived
until you’ve walked through Spain with two seven footers,” GM Sam Hinkie joked
of the trip, which he revealed was Coach Brett Brown’s idea.
Carter-Williams, Noel, and Embiid
grew admittedly closer on the three-day trek, and there is a visible bond
brewing between the three of them, evident at Monday’s Media Day.
Check out the rest of the article here.
All photos taken by Michael Kaskey-Blomain on September 29, 2014.
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