Georges Niang took off running, with Joel Embiid temporarily close behind. They looped around the far end of the 76ers’ practice court before Niang ducked into the facility’s offices, then moved through the front foyer and a hallway to pop back into the gym at the opposite side.
It was the result of the latest round of one-on-one with Embiid and P.J. Tucker, when each of the three players cycled through to match up against the others. Though they were not running at full speed while dipping into various moves to get to the basket or shoot over the top of their defender, the setting was still ripe for trash talk and personal bragging rights.
“Every guy in the NBA has competitive juices, and you just want to keep those going for as long as possible,” Niang said right after that impromptu tour of the practice facility. “... I think every guy loves to work on their craft … It’s like on the playground. I think all of us grew up like that.”
