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Cooney: Sixers players yearn to learn

WHEN BRETT Brown took over the coaching duties with the 76ers, he was given a roster that included many players who were barely older than his high school-age daughter.

WHEN BRETT Brown took over the coaching duties with the 76ers, he was given a roster that included many players who were barely older than his high school-age daughter.

Finding a way to connect with his players in ways that didn't involve a basketball was paramount on his list of coaching chores. So he dug back into his "old life" - as an assistant coach to Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs - remembered those late-night conversations with coaches and engaging talks with veteran players from different cultures, and decided to incorporate a plan for his new team.

"In the unusual position that I have, growing this many 20-year-olds, I feel a responsibility to help them both on the court and off the court," said Brown, whose team opens the season Wednesday night against the visiting Thunder. "Part of that is growing them as people. And so learning about the outside world, learning about what other people's interests are, trying to form a team and grow a culture, all of these types of things come into my coaching beliefs and are a small part of our holistic program."

Besides basketball, Brown has impressive knowledge of subjects ranging from business magnate Warren Buffett, to politics, to the wonders of outer space. His is a mind that is always seeking. Presidential debates get him as excited as coaching a tied game in the final seconds.

Brown was coached in high school by his dad, Bob, a legend in the New England area. Lessons given on the basketball court were equated to hardships in life and how to best handle them.

On the night before training camp began this year, Brown surprised his team by bring in Philly's own Will Smith as a guest speaker. All were impressed with the star's stories of learning to cope in the world while experiencing success.

Two nights later, Navy SEAL Cmdr. Mark McGinnis shared inspirational stories about his operations and deployments in Central and South America, Northeast Asia, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

While basketball is the common thread that somewhat bridges the age gap between Brown and his players, discussing world events and different cultures creates an even tighter bond. Brown will even ask players to deliver a speech about a topic about which he feels strongly.

"I did a PowerPoint last year about if college athletes should be paid or not," said Jahlil Okafor. "It's just good stuff. It's good to see what other people are interested in. It allows you to make a point that you feel strongly about and hear people say whether they agree or not.

"Coach is always talking to us about different things. He'll ask us about something that's going on in the world or if we saw the most recent debate. He'll have Sergio (Rodriguez) talk about the political system in his country (Spain), which is really cool. It's really relieving, and I'm interested in stuff like that. He's even gone as far as to tell us about planets that have water on them and what it may mean. He's all over the place with things, and it's really cool. He made the point of telling us how big Earth is in comparison to the rest of the universe, and it's smaller than a grain of sand. So you try and fathom that and try to understand the unknowns."

When former South African President Nelson Mandela died in December 2013, only a couple of months into Brown's first season with the Sixers, a good portion of his team's next practice was taken up with talk about Mandela and the trials and tribulations he endured. Last season, there was a trip to the White House. This preseason included tours of Arlington National Cemetery and the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon. A trip is planned for the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Other cultural surprises will be sprung on the players later this season.

"I like it because, for me, I go home and watch sports," said guard T.J. McConnell. "That's all I do. I don't educate myself on stuff that's going on around the world. For him to come in here and kind of educate us, because I know I'm probably not the only one, I think we really enjoy it, because, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't know anything about this election; nor would I care. But for him to just come in and educate us on gun violence and elections and debates, it's really cool and gets us talking about stuff as a group.

"You go into a meeting and you wonder what we're going to watch film on, and then he just brings up the debate and worldly stuff and it becomes really cool. He just genuinely cares about us, and, when we're not playing basketball, he wants us to have a knowledge of what's going on. If you're educated on something - and he looks at us like a family, like we're his sons - then he wants it to be shared among us."

Brown has masterfully kept the players he has overseen in his three seasons energized and wanting to go to the gym every day. Not an easy task when they've experienced the amount of losing they have over the past three seasons. A little talk about our country's economy, debates or other cultures has gone a long way in helping them.

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog