Michael Carter-Williams Talks Tanking (Or not Talking about Tanking?), Rehab, and Ellen (Yep)

Nov 3, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers injured guard Michael Carter-Williams (1) practices during warm ups before a game against the Houston Rockets at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Unless 3rd overall pick Joel Embiid plays a game this season, the 76ers tilt Thursday with the Dallas Mavericks might be the last time one can get genuinely excited for any night on the 2014-2015 schedule. This is due to the fact that, for the first time since they were drafted picks apart in the 2013 Lottery, Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams will be taking the floor together for the Sixers.

The defending NBA Rookie of the Year has been rehabbing a torn labrum suffered in the latter stages of his first NBA season. By this point, the Sixers had scrapped themselves down to the worst team in the league and he was the face of a squad that garnered extensive media attention for all the wrong reasons.

MCW is arguably in the most difficult situation of all the team’s lottery picks compiled over the past two seasons. He did not have a full season to rehab an injury, he was replacing an All-Star point guard in Jrue Holiday, and he has already dealt with trade rumors for a good chunk of his first offseason as a seasoned pro. There is still no definitive way of knowing for sure whether or not the second year guard truly fits into Sam Hinkie’s long-term plan.

That being said, the baby-faced Syracuse product has endeared himself as a competitor, at least in my eyes, in the last few months. Carter-Williams was in attendance draft night as the Sixers prepared themselves to land two more pieces of the puzzle for what the city is hoping to be the makings of a serious contender in a few years. After selecting Kansas’ Joel Embiid with the 3rd overall pick, the focus shifted to what the team was going to do with their second of two lottery picks. I cannot forget the look of utter disgust and iciness on Carter-Williams’ face when Elfriid Payton’s name was announced. (Jump to :19)

The frostiness in the room was short-lived, as Payton’s rights were swapped to the Orlando Magic for Dario Saric and a future 1st round pick. Though some may have played it off as petty or childish, I preferred to look at as a leader seeing his perch challenged and showing some fire in attest.

Carter-Williams has been the face of a bad, albeit promising and at times entertaining, 76ers team for over a year now. Tonight, he makes his 2014-2015 debut in a game that the team has no business winning. He will get to play with his childhood friend and former running mate Nerlens Noel in what many hope to be two legs of a quartet of sensational young talents that can bring Philadelphia basketball glory for the first time in decades.

No word has surrounded the organization more since the 2013 Draft night trade of Jrue Holiday than ‘tank’. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize how Sam Hinkie is trying to build a contender. Frankly, it’s the only way to do it without landing a generational talent like LeBron James. While it may be easy for Hinkie to pull the trigger on deals that puts his team’s competitiveness at a detriment, the players on the court have to suffer through stretches of losing that they have never encountered in their young lives. Especially for a product like Carter-Williams, who won more games in his last season at Syracuse than the 76ers have combined in the past two seasons, futility is not something one ever gets used to. The Sixers floor general penned an article for ThePlayersTribune titled, “Don’t Talk to Me About Tanking”. Here are a few of the highlights.

"Losing sucks. I don’t care how much money you make or what stats you put up. If you’re competitive enough to make it to the NBA, losing is absolutely brutal. If it’s a night game, you get home around midnight and your mind is racing. It’s almost impossible to sleep. You keep visualizing every game-changing play, trying to figure out what you could’ve done better. You beat yourself up. You try not to look at your texts. If SportsCenter comes on, it only makes you mad."

On how he copes with the losses.

"For me, it’s all about Ellen. I just think she’s awesome. So every weekday at 4 p.m., my stepfather and I pause the basketball talk, grab some snacks and watch The Ellen Degeneres Show. It might sound funny, but this is one of the ways I’m able to get away from the frustration of losing. Last winter, when we went on a near-historic losing streak, I was not a fun guy to be around."

On the media circus, Stephen A. Smith, and the attention of last season’s 26-game losing streak.

"In the middle of the playoff race, a race we were decidedly not in, it seemed like the entire media spotlight was on us. And trust me, I get it. We had lost 26 games in a row. Of course, our roster had lost a combined 200-plus games to injury and we had used more than 20 different players in the lineup since opening night. That didn’t seem to be a part of the conversation. All anybody was talking about was “tanking.”We knew it was going to be a circus when ESPN flew in Stephen A. Smith to Philadelphia for the 27th game against Detroit. In the locker room before shootaround, we got swarmed by reporters. You could barely move around the room. Somebody actually asked, “So how does it feel to be a part of the most losing team in NBA history?” Which was really funny because we hadn’t even played the game yet. Everybody just expected us to lose and set the record."

On the misconception of ‘tanking’ and what was happening last season.

"First of all, there’s a lottery system. As players, we all know the math. The last place team only has a 25 percent chance of winning the lottery. Grown men are going to go out and purposely mail it in for a one-in-four shot at drafting somebody who might someday take their job? Nope."

On rehab.

"I seriously live basketball and I don’t take it for granted that I made it to this level. This entire summer, I spent hours face down on the trainers’ table getting my shoulder stretched to regain full range of motion. Some of the stretches are excruciating even without an injury. When physical therapy was over, I’d sprint up and down hills with an altitude mask strapped to my face looking like Bane from Batman. Try doing 10 sets of hills with hardly any air. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. All that hill work was just so I could get back to the court as soon as humanly possible."

On finally winning and the motivation do improve as a player.

"In order to get to the NBA, you have to be crazy, over-the-top competitive. When I was riding the bench my freshman year at Syracuse, I used to stay in the gym so late doing dribbling drills that I had to superglue my fingers to stop them from bleeding.You can question my shooting. You can question my ceiling. Just don’t question if I’m giving my all every single night. Don’t talk to me about tanking.The media creates this narrative and repeats it over and over. That’s how Stephen A. Smith ends up in our locker room with a big smile on his face. I’m not picking on him. I know he’s playing a character. He knows he’s playing a character. But what happens when we break the streak by going out and beating Detroit that night? Now it’s another story. After the game, a lot of the reporters didn’t even stick around. The ones that did weren’t prepared. They didn’t ask us about the specifics of the game. They made up questions on the spot, like, “Uh, hey, you guys won … so how do you feel?”We weren’t the story anymore. They were on to the next thing. Stephen A. didn’t really stick around. I guess he had a plane to catch. Believe me, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure he doesn’t come back for the same reason."

Tonight, I will sit down and watch the Sixers game like a fan of the Cavaliers, Bulls, or San Antonio Spurs. Not in the sense that I expect them to win, but in the sense that I will ride the ebbs and flows of the game and bring my emotions into it. I realize rooting for a team with such little NBA talent is at times a fruitless endeavor. I will do so, however, because I believe not only in the process but in the players who are part of it. Michael Carter-Williams may not be the perfect NBA point guard (last time I checked, Chris Paul is wearing just as many rings), but he might just be the perfect point guard for what this team could become.