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Winning basketball?

I just received the link to an article in my inbox. It's from ESPNDallas.com; it was posted about an hour ago by Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Last night against the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks center Brendan Haywood didn't start, instead coming off the bench.

Just over a month ago, Haywood was traded from the Washington Wizards to the Mavericks. While in Washington, Haywood played under current 76ers coach Eddie Jordan.

After Tuesday night's game -- a Dallas victory in which Haywood ended up playing 30 minutes, scoring 12 points, and grabbing 10 rebounds -- Haywood offered this quote about going to the bench in favor of fellow center Erick Dampier.

Asked if not starting provided motivation, Haywood said, "Not really ... I just work here."

MacMahon continued, saying that after Monday's practice, Haywood made it clear he was not looking to "start a controversy" over minutes and playing time.

"I'm not fighting for minutes," Haywood told ESPNDallas.com on Monday. "We're fighting for a championship."

More from Haywood:

"Losing teams have competitions between players for playing time. That's what we were doing in D.C. That's losing basketball. We're competing to win a championship. It comes down to, if I'm bringing it, [Dampier's] going to support me. If he's bringing it, I'm going to support him."

"Coach dictates the minutes. That's his job. In Washington, [coach Eddie Jordan] made it known it was an open competition. This isn't a competition. [Jordan] felt like that competition fueled the team. It was actually terrible for the team. This is more along the lines of, whoever is playing the best, put him in the game and let's try to get something done."

These quotes seem quite applicable to the Sixers right now, considering there have been season-long questions over rotation and playing time. MacMahon also had this line within the story: "Haywood got into three fights with ex-Wizards teammate Etan Thomas while they were competing for playing time. Haywood and Dampier have developed a friendly relationship."

The Sixers are 24-47 and play the Milwaukee Bucks tonight in Milwaukee.

--Kate