John Smallwood | The business end of pro basketball

NOBODY WOULD have blamed Samuel Dalembert, Willie Green, Kyle Korver, Andre Miller, Kevin Ollie or Louis Williams if any of them asked out of the 76ers Black History Tour of Philadelphia on Tuesday.

The Sixers were supposed to take a charter flight out of Milwaukee after their game on Saturday night, but bad weather kept them there until Sunday night.

They arrived in Philadelphia just before midnight and had a 10 a.m. shootaround for Monday's game against Sacramento.

But all of them made Tuesday's community service event, which was organized by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.

"It was a long trip for everybody and we didn't get home until late Sunday," said Allen Lumpkin, the Sixers' director of basketball administration. "We had a game on Monday, but we still had this event scheduled for Black History Month.

"On Tuesday, we asked them to give just a little bit more, because we have to give back to our community, our fans, our season ticketholders."

The Sixers have had few problems getting players to participate in offcourt endeavors, and a large part of that could be due to the NBA's "Business of Basketball" program that all 30 teams conduct. It is an information session for players to learn the ins and outs of what it takes to operate an NBA franchise.

"It's to let the players become aware of everything from the business end of what we do," said Lumpkin, a 29-year veteran of the Sixers organization. "They learn what we are involved in from community service, to marketing to group ticket sales - everything.

"It helps keep them informed of what we ask them to do, the things we do, why we do community service, why we do coat drives, why we do events for season ticketholders."

The NBA started "Business of Basketball" 4 years ago to help players better understand their partnership with ownership. The best way to make the point that the NBA extends far beyond the court is to show players the hows and whys of the way their teams operate.

"This presentation gives us the opportunity to reinforce with our players that by working together, we can grow our business," said Mike Bantom, the former Saint Joseph's star who is the NBA senior vice president for player development. "We also stress the importance of our social-responsibility efforts and our fan-connection opportunities, and show them how the league and team resources can be used to better prepare them for their playing days and life after basketball."

Lumpkin said the information session could be an eye-opening experience.

"I think some of them go in a little apprehensive," Lumpkin said, "but they come out thinking, 'Wow, this is really exciting.'

"We show them this is what the X, Y and Z is for, and it opens their eyes a little. We have a lot of guys who really enjoy doing our events. A lot of them come to us saying, 'I'd like to do this or that.' We appreciate all the things our players do for us."

This season, Steven Hunter had a food drive, Dalembert had a toy drive, Korver a coat drive for kids, Andre Iguodala had a book drive, and Williams a hat drive for kids.

Community relations takes up 10 pages in the Sixers' media guide.

"We've had this the last couple of years," Korver said, "but it's something that, as a player, unless you go through something like this, you have no idea of everything that is going on behind the scenes.

"Sometimes you might think an appearance is a drag to go to, but they really are big for this team, especially with the state we are in right now.

"The goal is to fill this building. Obviously, our play will have a lot to do with that, but things like community-service events and ticketholder events also go a long way.

"[The Business of Basketball seminar] is beneficial from a player's standpoint. We have more understanding after we've heard what they are saying, seen the numbers and the pie graphs."

Understanding the business helps you feel more a part of the business. *

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