CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers got a steal with Kelly Oubre Jr. late in the 2023 offseason as he was signed to a minimum deal. He averaged 15.4 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 44.1% from the floor and tied a career-high with 1.5 assists per game.
He is an athletic player who has a strong offensive game while also being a pest on the other end of the floor as well. He shot 39.1% from deep in the playoffs against the New York Knicks and will look to help push Philadelphia forward in the Eastern Conference as he returns in free agency.
“Honestly, man, it was just a different type of basketball that I haven’t really seen in my career,” Oubre said of why he decided to stay with the Sixers. “The professionalism, the inspiration all around me. You’ve got greats. You’ve got All-Stars all around me. You’ve got guys that I’ve been able to get respect from.”
The fact that Oubre was able to earn the respect of his peers in Philadelphia so quickly is a big step for him. That’s a big reason why he wanted to remain with the Sixers.
“It’s kind of tough doing that in your first year with an organization or a program,” he continued. “You always need two, three years to win everybody over a little bit or allow them to see who you are, but in my first year, it happened very fast. I put in a lot of work to be where I am. I think this is the place to get back to where I know I need to be.”
Oubre mentioned once the season ended at the hands of the Knicks that he loved playing for the Sixers and expressed his desire to return. Therefore, he didn’t really need any of his teammates to sell him on returning. He was planning to do anyway.
“Nobody was pitching me, no,” Oubre explained. “But at the end of the day, why would you need to? I think our work that we put together on the court speaks for itself and the work we’ll do in the future will speak for itself. At the end of the day, we stayed in contact. It’s just been nothing but love, man, and I appreciate all my brothers in this locker room, past and present.”
Another big move the Sixers in free agency has, obviously, been the signing of Paul George. Philadelphia was able to land the 9-time All-Star on a 4-year $212 million deal.
“I’m really excited,” Oubre said of George. “I’ve always studied his game. I’ve always been a fan from afar. To be able to get different pieces and nuggets from him, learn his game a little bit–I think we offer different things, but we can both feed and learn off each other. But I’m really excited, man, to learn from him and to just help him do his thing with the rest of his career that he has left. I’m really excited.”
There is this thought process that Oubre and George have some type of “beef” from the past, but Oubre wants to squash that. The two of them are competitors and anything from their past was just that: competition.
“Obviously, everybody wants to talk about a beef or whatever,” Oubre finished. “There’s never been a beef. We’re just two competitors who respect each other on the court, and we just try to go at it really hard. So now that we’re on the same team, we can do that to other people. I’m excited.”
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