(AP)

Friday, Steve Nash turned 40. He’s the oldest player in the NBA.

What does that mean for the guy tasked with covering him, Sixers point guard Michael Carter-Williams?

“He’s Steve Nash. That’s what I tell him,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “I don’t care if he’s 60. He’s Steve Nash.”

A two-time league MVP, Nash has been a shadow of himself in his one-and-a-half years with the Lakers. He’s played only seven games this season, while dealing with nerve problems with his back.

Still, he knows a thing or two about using what he’s got. Nash, in his 18^th season, has nearly as much NBA experience as the Sixers’ starting five, which collectively has 22 years under its belt. Before Friday’s game against the Sixers, Nash was going through a pregame workout routine that would’ve elicited a smile from a fitness guru like Brown.

“He is so special and what I learned over the years is you couldn’t guard him,” Brown said. “He would sniff a pick-and-roll scheme out, and pick it apart. I learned you couldn’t show him a steady diet of anything because he learned his way to navigate through it.

“With Michael, I hope his length can bother Steve. I hope Steve plays his age. But his fitness level, his pride, he’s so intelligent … and he is just one of my personal all-time favorites.”

(AP)

Upon arriving in Philadelphia, Nick Young had two items on his agenda.

He had to undergo an MRI on his left knee, which turned up news that the Los Angeles Lakers guard stands to miss at least the next two weeks. Then, Young went to the King of Prussia Mall. Since Young, who played for the 76ers last season, cannot play against his old team Friday, he opted for the next best thing.

“I want to go out there and play against them, talk some trash to Spencer (Hawes) and Evan (Turner) and Thad (Young) and have some fun. That’s the downside,” Young said. “But I went and got a suit jacket because I still want to be out there and talk some trash. I’m looking forward to it.”

Young came to Philly under the auspices of a season that never came to fruition. He, Dorell Wright and Jason Richardson were brought aboard as shooters with which the Sixers would surround Andrew Bynum. But Bynum, beset by knee injuries, never played. And Young, who was given a one-year, $5.6 million deal, never lived up to the expectations created by his financially bulky contract.

The Los Angeles native, Young took a one-year contract worth $1.1 million from the Lakers. He has a player option for next season that he’s likely to pick up.

“Being able to play at home and for the Lakers is great,” said Young, who’s out for at least two weeks with a non-displaced fracture of his left knee cap. “I was seeing my options, but I was looking at the Lakers and the opportunity that was going to be there for me. Playing for them and being home, I couldn’t ask for better.”

Young has experienced a career renaissance with the Lakers, for whom he’s averaging 16.9 points (second behind Pau Gasol) on 41.9 percent shooting.

With the Sixers, under Doug Collins, he was an on-again, off-again personality. He was Swaggy P, an affable, congenial player who was always smiling. Some days, he was liked. Others, he was not. Some days, he was playing in crunch time and contributing. Others, he was coming off the bench only when the game was out of reach.

“Philly was good. It had its ups and downs,” Young said. “Obviously I wish I played more. But the city and how they embraced the Swaggy P Movement, I didn’t know they were going to be big on it, but they enjoyed it.”

Young played only eight of his final 25 games last season with the Sixers. The other 17 were DNP-CDs.

“Just sitting there and watching it, it’s hard. It was hard for me,” Young said. “I didn’t know why I wasn’t playing. (The Sixers) were bringing in players from the D-League and they were playing over me. It ain’t like I cussed (Collins) out or nothing. I was just sitting and waiting. But Doug hits me up from time to time. He texts me. He says he’s proud of me and stuff.”

In Young’s words, last season “is what it is.” And, Young said, it could have been different.

“Drew never got a chance to play. I know the fans were going crazy over that,” he said. “But what shocked me was this year. I had no idea they were going to trade Jrue Holiday, but obviously they’ve seen something in Carter that no one else did.”

That would be Michael Carter-Williams, Holiday’s successor as the Sixers’ point guard. Young will get a good look at the rookie. Only, it’ll have to come from the Lakers’ bench.

Associated Press

The Swag has left the building.

Multiple reports Thursday confirmed that free agent guard Nick Young has agreed to a contract of unspecified length with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to his agent Mark Bartelstein.

Young, whose flashy style of play on the court and ostentatious dress code off it earned him the nickname Swaggy P, spent last season with the 76ers. Mostly coming off the bench for them, Young averaged 10.6 points per game in 59 appearances.

The shooting guard is familiar with L.A., having played his college ball at USC and having spent one season with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Young was a head-scratcher of a player in his time with the Sixers. He seemed to be well-liked among those in the locker room and in the stands, but never could string together continuously solid play. He turned into a starter for Doug Collins’ team in January, after embracing defense. But he quickly fell out of favor with Collins … and fell out of the Sixers’ rotation.

Young’s best games for the Sixers came when he had the freedom to fire away. His stats defend that theory: In wins, Young averaged 9.2 points on 41 percent shooting overall and 30 percent from 3-point range. In losses, he tallied 11.6 points on 41 percent shooting overall and 39 percent from long range. On five occasions last season, Young scored 21 or more points. The Sixers lost four of them.

In other Sixers-related news Thursday…

****While the deal (technically) is unofficial – at least until Jrue Holiday returns from his honeymoon and signs paperwork to legitimize the trade – Nerlens Noel is a member of the 76ers … and he’s decided on a jersey number.

According to an ESPN report, it’ll be No. 5 – as in the number of teams that passed on him in last month’s NBA Draft. One problem with that is Arnett Moultrie already wears No. 5, but that’s not an issue a gifted Rolex can’t fix.

Click here for the rest of the story.

****And finally, the Cleveland Cavaliers (a day after signing Andrew Bynum) appear to already be taking issue with the big man’s always-hurting knees. An unnamed Cleveland official, according to a report by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal:

“When asked Wednesday which knee was worse, a Cavaliers executive said, “They’re both not good.”

Click here for the rest of the story.

(Associated Press)

Andrew Bynum's unceremonious tenure in Philadelphia could be coming to a close soon.

The free agent center received a $24 million, two-year contract offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday, according to Yahoo! Sports. Bynum, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is meeting with the Atlanta Hawks today, to see if he can get a deal from them, as well. Yahoo! is reporting that the deal from the Cavaliers has the second year of the deal as a team option (to protect against a suddenly healed Bynum walking at free agency a year from now) as well as incentives like minutes played, games played and training-camp participation.

Bynum, acquired by the Sixers in a four-team megadeal last summer, never played a game in Philadelphia. He entered training camp with chronically injured knees and underwent season-ending surgery on both joints in March, after several bids to return to the court.

When healthy, Bynum is one of few bigs who can play at his level. The 7-foot, 285-pounder had his best season as a pro in 2011-12 with the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.

Bynum's agent, David Lee, said recently that his client would not work out for teams looking to give Bynum a contract.

The Sixers have shown little to no interest in re-signing Bynum in free agency, despite new general manager Sam Hinkie's somewhat openness to doing so. At least that's how Hinkie made it sound in May, when he was introduced as the team's GM and president of basketball operations, though it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.

“I think of Andrew like the thousands of other young men walking around the world that are unrestricted free agents that have potential to play NBA basketball,” Hinkie said at the time. “He is one of those. I'm duty bound to consider them and look at them. All of them.”

Nearly 11 months ago to the day, Aug. 14, 2012, the Sixers introduced Bynum to fans in an open-to-the-public press conference at the National Constitution Center. There were high hopes that the Sixers, a team that fell one win shy of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals, would get over the hump behind Bynum. But the center never played, citing a host of knee injuries along the way.

In September, Bynum flew to Germany for a non-invasive, plasma-enriching procedure called Orthokine. In October, he had injections of a joint lubrication called Synvisc-One. In November, while rehabbing his right knee, he admitted he injured his left knee while bowling. In December, Bynum was told to ramp up his rehab. In January, he engaged in a workout in front of reporters. In February, in addition to his primary physician, he visited an orthopaedic surgeon in New York. In March, he underwent two knee surgeries.

That's an abbreviated timeline of Bynum's one-year, $16.8 million tenure with the Sixers. For the more-complete look, take a walk down memory lane on the blog.

(Associated Press)

Sunday night, the Sixers blamed their 111-98 loss to the Lakers on 3-point shooting and their inability to defend the line. Nick Young said the Lakers made “unbelievable shots.” Evan Turner said they “hit crazy shots.”

No matter the adjective, the Lakers hit shots – 14 of them from 3-point range. That was far too many, and Doug Collins knew it.

“They spread you, they shoot the 3s. That's what (Lakers coach) Mike D'Antoni has always done,” the Sixers coach said Sunday. “Unfortunately, right now, we are struggling mightily to defend the 3.”

However, it wasn't the Lakers' on-the-mark shooting from beyond the arc that single-handedly sank the Sixers. Despite hitting 10 3-pointers against Los Angeles, the Sixers haven't been the most-adroit team in that category of late.

Consider this: The Sixers, in eight games this month, are shooting 27 percent (33-for-122) from 3-point range. Not coincidentally, the Sixers have a 2-6 record in December. They're also a 7-3 ballclub when they shoot 40 percent or better from 3-point distance.

It's not like one guy's production has tailed off, either. Like an epidemic, the Sixers collectively have been unable to dial in from long distance. Jason Richardson, the team leader in 3-pointers is shooting 26 percent (10-for-38) this month. Dorell Wright, a one-time season leader in 3-pointers made, is shooting 18.7 percent (3-for-16) in December. Turner, an on-the-rise perimeter shooter who's already made more 3-pointers this season than all of last, has only eight makes this month. And Jrue Holiday, who has missed the last two games, is hitting 16.7 percent (3-for-18) of his looks from 3-point range.

The Sixers (12-12), who begin a two-game Texas roadtrip Tuesday in Dallas, were supposed to be a 3-point-shooting team, especially in transition. At least that's how Collins envisioned them in the preseasons. Since then, they've had to rely on a shaky half-court offense that has left their 3-point shooters at a loss. The Sixers are in the middle or toward the back of the NBA stat pack when it comes to 3-pointers: 14th in percentage, 19th in makes, 22nd in attempts. The Mavericks, by the way, rank ninth in the NBA in defending the 3.

Following the loss to the Lakers, plenty of focus by the Sixers – and rightfully so – was placed on their need to defend the 3-point line. Perhaps just as much attention should be placed on scoring from there.

(Associated Press)

At one point in the second quarter, when Kobe Bryant dribbled right past one defender, dribbled left past another and found Chris Duhon in the corner for an open 3-pointer, Doug Collins lost it.

The 76ers' coach had seen enough. Collins jumped from his seat on the bench Sunday and began shouting ... just in time for the Sixers to take a double-digit deficit into the locker rooms at halftime. Two quarters later, the Sixers had lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 111-98.

Collins thinks poor communication -- on offense and defense -- is the reason for the Sixers' three-game losing streak.

“Talking. Guys not talking," Collins said. "I talked to them this morning at shootaround. Until we want to embrace that and talk, we're going to be on roller skates. Whether it be speed, whether it be (getting to) the right spot, whether it be getting back, whatever. Until we start communicating on the floor together – we've got seven new guys. We've got to start to get to know one another. It's interesting – the Lakers were doing to us on the 3-point line what we had planned on doing, the running and jumping that we had worked on. But you've got to trust one another."

The Lakers (11-14) dominated the game at the 3-point line, where they knocked down 14 shots. In short, the Sixers (12-12) made the Lakers look like the Lakers, the team everybody had expected to outrun everybody else to an NBA title.

Evan Turner offered this as a solution to the Sixers' inability to speak to one another.

“We've got to get better at it – maybe communicating louder," Turner said.

In case you think the Sixers have been inept of late offensively from the 3-point line, they've been even worse defending from there. They've shot 33-for-122 (.270) from beyond the arc this month. Defensively, they've allowed teams to shoot 31-for-86 (.360) from there. (More on that Monday.)

So maybe communicating isn't the only issue with the Sixers.

(Associated Press)

The Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant needs 13 points Wednesday night to become the fifth player in NBA history to eclipse the 30,000-point mark.

Sixers coach Doug Collins, who has coached one of those five, knows it takes a special talent to reach that milestone. Collins picked up a unique perspective on that mark when he coached Michael Jordan, both in Chicago and Washington.

“You have to have incredible talent and you have to have – this is what I always talk about (with) greatness: greatness answers the bell every night. I saw it with Michael Jordan," Collins said following the Sixers' practice at PCOM. "Michael Jordan was not allowed to come and have a so-so game. He not only had to throw up a huge game, but he had to do something spectacular that people were talking about going home. There’s a mindset you have. Kobe wants to play all 82 games, he never wants to miss. That’s a badge of courage for him. It was always for Michael. I think when Michael was 40, on my team, he was the only person that played all 82 games. That’s important to be there every night for your team."

Collins also spoke of the personal level on which he knows Bryant, who was born the same year as Collins' daughter Kelly. Collins was a teammate of Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, Kobe's father, at the time of their childrens' births, so "I've watched Kobe grow." 

Collins said there's something to be appreciated in the work ethic of players like Bryant and Jordan, especially in how Jordan scored his 30,000th point, how he elevated his play after ending an 866-game streak of scoring in double figures.

(Associated Press)

"He and Michael remind me so much of each other," Collins said. "...I had Michael with Washington (in 2001-02) and he came off that eight-point game in Indiana (actually a career-low six) that broke that long, long streak. He came back his next night and had 51 against Jersey, then I think he had 45 against Charlotte, and then we played Chicago and – double-check – but I think he got his 30,000th point, I think Ron Artest fouled him, and he hit two free throws to get his 30,000th point when I was coaching him. I remember Ron Artest standing in front of our bench and punching the scorething or whatever and saying he did not want Michael to get his 30,000th point against him or whatever."