76ers' Most Influential Living Up to Kelly Oubre's Expectations

How Joel Embiid and Nick Nurse are living up to expectations this season.

Coming off of a two-year stint with the Charlotte Hornets, Kelly Oubre entered the free agency market with a different mindset compared to most of his peers. After collecting $25 million with the Hornets, Oubre wasn’t chasing his next big payday after a career year.

“I was really taking this offseason to kind of dial my life,” Oubre said back in October. “Reenergize and refocus.”

Oubre was searching for the factor that attracted him to his alma mater at Kansas. He waited for the right coach to reach out and make him feel truly wanted.

“I go back to my days at Kansas, man,” Oubre told All76ers. “Bill Self was one of the first college coaches to come to my table and just show love consistently.”

76ers' Kelly Oubre during his tenure at Kansas.  / USA Today

Philadelphia’s first-year head coach, Nick Nurse, brought a similar approach to the veteran guard.

“He was very adamant about getting on the phone and just having a conversation and talking,” Oubre explained. “I went like two or three weeks without even like responding or doing anything, but they were adamant, and they were continuously hitting me up through my trainer. They got my number at a certain point, and they asked to set up a time and just talk. It wasn’t any solidified deals on the table.”

Playing through the 2023-2024 NBA season on a one-year deal worth the minimum, Oubre’s contract looks like a steal for the 76ers. At the time of the signing, it seemed the Sixers lucked into an opportunity to make a low-risk, potentially high-reward move by signing a player who seemed to have little interest from suitors on the open market. 

In reality, the Sixers worked hard to land Oubre’s services.

“I waited until the last week of free agency to sign,” said Oubre. “Nobody had money. I wasn’t worried about the money; it’s just about the right fit for me.”

Nick Nurse’s consistency during the dog days of the offseason “played a big part” in influencing Oubre’s decision to join the 76ers. The head coach's ability to sell his system and culture has been praised in the past, specifically by another 76ers offseason acquisition. 

“A lot of people don’t know when I left Arkansas, I walked into an office and met a young coach with high energy. Me and my mom were interviewing coaches to see what my next step was after college, and it was Nick Nurse," said Sixers veteran Patrick Beverley earlier this year.

"I think I go overseas and played, I don’t know, four years and I come back, I signed with the Rockets, I go to the G League [with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers], and my coach is Nick Nurse. I’ve been trying to play for him."

For Beverly, it took a while for things to come full circle again and reunite him with his former G League coach on a Sixers team that displayed interest in him in recent times. When the opportunity came about, Beverley believed he was “very fortunate” to make it happen after all these years. 

The same values that sold Beverley after a two-year run at Arkansas made Oubre eager to sign and continue his career with the 76ers. 

“I decided to go with these guys because I just felt the home vibe,” Oubre said. 

Nick Nurse coaching up Kelly Oubre during the Sixers veteran's return to Charlotte.  / USA Today

So far, Nurse has lived up to the 28-year-old’s expectations not only with his coaching but also with keeping a tight-knit environment.

From a basketball standpoint, Oubre dubbed his head coach as a “genius” early on in the year. At the halfway point, Oubre remains sold on the vision.

“Every night is to just win,” he said. “Not to just like, come and coach or coach hard, it’s to win. It’s very effective coaching. We have a lot of guys on this team who are able to help us win. I think he puts people in the right positions to be successful. It’s a learning curve, of course. I’m very new, so we got to continue to just grow our relationship.” 

As for the “home vibe” Oubre speaks of, he was shown that support almost right away. Eight games into the season, Oubre was involved in an off-court incident, which sidelined him with a broken rib for 11 games. For many professional athletes, the time off during the healing process of a significant injury can lead them down a dark path without proper support.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case for Oubre.

“There’s a lot of love, man,” Oubre said back in December regarding the support of his coach and teammates. “I really wanted to cry. The city, the fans, the organization, Coach Nurse came to my house, chilled with my daughter, and played with her …. It was everything.”

Nurse is a fresh face on the Sixers, joining the team after three years of Doc Rivers steering the ship. It’s easy to tell at this point that his leadership has stood out to veterans who have been in the league for years. 

The same can be said about the Sixers’ veteran MVP leader, Joel Embiid. 

For the last few seasons, Embiid solidified himself as one of the NBA’s most prominent stars. He now has seven-straight All-Star bids, along with three MVP finalist considerations, with his most recent campaign ending with an opportunity to possess the hardware for the first time in his career.

Early conversations with Nick Nurse and Daryl Morey played a major part in Oubre’s decision to head to Philly, but it’s no surprise that the thought of playing with the reigning MVP had an impact.

“Although I didn't talk to him about it, he had a lot of influence on it,” Oubre admitted in early November. 

Why exactly?

“It’s that ‘it’ factor, you know? A lot of people work their butt off for it, but for him, you can definitely tell it just like came to him, and he just allowed it to grow and blossom, and he’s doing that,” Oubre said of Embiid. “I’m definitely blessed to be able to witness and learn from him as he goes on and does this historic run. It’s definitely an eye-opener for me to know that dominance can be done. I’m a guard, but as a big man, he does a lot of things that we guards do and can do. Just watching his spots, watching his rhythm, and watching his flow has helped me learn a lot.”

Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre competing against the Bucks.  / USA Today

For the fourth season in a row, Embiid could find himself as an MVP contender as long as his health allows him to stay in the conversation. At 29 years old, the big man is showing shocking growth in his game despite solidifying himself as one of the NBA’s most dominant stars on the court already. 

As far as leadership goes, Embiid seems to be setting the right tone for a championship-hungry team.

“He’s one of those guys who leads by example,” Oubre explained. “… At the end of the day, he goes out and plays hard on both ends of the court, and he takes care of his body. It’s super hard to ask for a 300-pound, seven-footer to be available each and every night in an 82-game season, but he’s doing it, and he’s doing exceptionally well. That’s a testament in itself."

The Sixers’ ability to lure in key role players on team-friendly deals proved that they continue to be a desirable landing spot in a competitive Eastern Conference, even in the midst of a drama-filled offseason. With 43 games in the bag, the team’s most influential figures are living up to the expectations.