BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers are set to begin another title quest on Tuesday when they open the season on the road against the Boston Celtics. In order for the Sixers to get to where they want to go, they will have to go through Boston, so this is a nice early test.
The Sixers have improved their depth and the supporting cast around stars Joel Embiid and James Harden, but they are counting on some mainstays as well.
One of those is Furkan Korkmaz, who has become a bit of an afterthought in Philadelphia. The shooter out of Turkey entering his sixth NBA season sent a message in the preseason that he will earn minutes for the Sixers.
That hasn’t changed heading into opening night.
“We’re gonna see how the minutes are gonna go, how the rotation is gonna go, but it doesn’t matter,” said Korkmaz at shootaround on Tuesday. “I’m still gonna defend what I said. I can be playing 15 minutes. I can play zero minutes. It still doesn’t change my mentality. I’ve been through this before, it’s a part of it, but I don’t worry about that right now.”
Coach Doc Rivers revealed the rotation will be fluid to begin the season, and Korkmaz understands that. He just wants to be a part of it and remind people that he is a rotational player in the league.
“Sometimes, I think, people — not forget, but people doesn’t really think we are really a part of this team and valuable to this team from different perspectives,” he added. “I don’t really think about that right now.”
Korkmaz understands why people doubt him and what he brings to the floor. He shot just 28.9% from deep in the 2021-22 season in a down year.
“I don’t blame people because we are playing games every two days,” he added. “There will be ups and downs, so there’s a lot of games played. I don’t think every game is a challenge for me, you know? When I get out there, I just play my game, and I don’t think, like ‘Oh, are people gonna like it?’ I’m just trying to give my best.”
Korkmaz shot 40.2% from deep in the 2019-20 season and 37.5% from deep in the 2020-21 season. He has the talent to get back to that type of production again for the Sixers.
“I don’t need to get any motivation from people talking (expletive) or something bad about me,” he finished. “I’m a professional basketball player and, at the end of the day, I am playing for myself, for my career, for my profession, and then people come second. Everything else comes third.”
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=69532]
[lawrence-related id=69599,69595,69591]