For Labaron Philon Jr., There Is Character in Joy

CAMDEN — Before Bob Myers and Mike Gansey even discussed the Sixers' opening for a new president of basketball operations, they were aligned.

"I'm a big believer in character and leadership," Myers told reporters at his end-of-season media availability.

Three weeks later, it was Gansey who was sharing his own philosophy.

"My philosophy is simple," Gansey claimed. "Build a culture rooted in character, work ethic, competitiveness, accountability and teamwork."

The first player added to the team under Gansey's leadership?

You can find him celebrating when his teammates make big plays, raising his fist in excitement when they do something well. You can find Labaron Philon Jr. standing next to the bench when he's not playing, rooting for his teammates to succeed.

Philon claims that competition is everything to him.

"He's a monster worker from Alabama. He's in the gym. He's a guy that just likes to play. Maybe he's not a workout guy, but he wants competition," Gansey told reporters on Tuesday night.

"In shooting drills, he wants to compete. He doesn't want to just shoot to shoot."

"That competitive juice is everything to me. Being able to compete, I feel like you have to compete hard to survive in this league," Philon told reporters on Thursday morning.

"So bringing that to the table day one, I feel like it's special just for a rookie to be able to compete with the top guys and the top dogs. So from day one, being ready to work and being ready to get on the court."

Underneath that dogged competitor is a principled man.

"[Character] means everything. Just having success for your teammates, joy is something you can't explain," Philon said.

At Alabama, Nate Oats' team adopted a term from the softball team — 'mudita'.

"Having joy for your teammates' success," Philon explained.

"So it was like being able to see that and being able to see the teammates when you do it give the same energy off. So being able to have positive energy and positive vibes all around the arena, all around the locker room is definitely important."

It's one of the lessons Philon learned when his coaches in Tuscaloosa asked him to be a leader in his second go-around at Alabama. Not only was he tasked with upping the offensive workload, but Philon also had to learn what it meant to bring teammates along with him.

And for 82 games, Philon will return to being a freshman. He's counting on Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe to bring him along.

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