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The Sixers are in Colorado this week for some offseason training, and while there, the team got to hear from head football coach Deion Sanders. Coach Prime talked to the group about what it takes to win a championship, something Philadelphia has been on the verge of doing over the last few years.
Sanders spoke about the significance of making sacrifices in order to accomplish those goals, as well as the necessary desire to want to face off against your sport’s top competitors.
Joel Embiid and Co. heeded those words in hopes of finally getting over the hump.
Philly has reached the NBA playoffs in each of the last six seasons. Five of those six years, they’ve fallen in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Despite moving on from head coach Doc Rivers, expectations remain high in the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia will once again be a title contender, though the team will have to navigate through a loaded Eastern Conference.
Deion Sanders spoke to Sixers players and coaches about the difficult road ahead, and everything that goes into competing at the highest level.
Prime is no stranger to success. The Hall of Famer was a member of two Super Bowl winning squads on top of being an eight-time Pro Bowler. With no shortage of talent, Sanders did this on top of being a professional baseball player. Heck, he was nearly a three-sport athlete adding basketball to his athletic resume.
That said, he knows what it takes to win.
On Tuesday, he shared some lessons and life experiences with the Philadelphia team.
Deion Sanders preaches sacrifice to Sixers.
“I knew we had something special [in San Francisco] by the way everybody practiced and went about their business. I practiced like a dog. Our best battles were in practice between me and Jerry Rice. Forget the game, we went at it, because he was a dog, and I wasn’t going to relinquish who I was. So, we battled, and that made everybody better.”
He continued on to talk about star players stepping up in the biggest situations and wanting to face the best of the best. He referenced Joel Embiid in that moment, noting that he should want to defend MVP Nikola Jokic rather than padding a stat sheet.
76ers stopped by to meet with Coach Prime and the Buffs while training in Colorado 🔥
“A lot of folks duck that smoke, they wanna be Tarzan on paper.” 😤
(via @welloffforever, @deionsandersjr, h/t @big_business_) pic.twitter.com/kfu9defaMS
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 4, 2023
“The big dog has got to be the big dog. [The team] knows we’re going to get it from him. The other players, they have to step up, because we know what we’re going to get from the dogs… When the dogs are barking, it’s going to be a problem [for opponents]. In our big games, the dogs always showed up, and the coach always put them in the right position to show up.”
Finally, he talked about sacrifice and giving up life’s indulgences in order to achieve success.
“In life, to get to where you want to go, there’s going to be something you have to give up. You’re going to have to sacrifice something. Whether it’s your girl, whether it’s your homies, the drugs, the alcohol. You’re going to have to give something up. To get where you want to go, there’s always going to be something in between that. You’ve got to remove that.”
The advice has helped Colorado thus far on the football field, getting off to a 3-2 start with one of those losses coming by seven points to ninth-ranked USC.
We’ll see if the words of wisdom help the Sixers this NBA season.