CAMDEN, NJ – The Philadelphia 76ers are tired of early playoff exits. The Joel Embiid-era Sixers have been defined by second-round exits and the trend has not yet stopped in the two years since Doc Rivers became head coach and Daryl Morey became president of basketball operations. The team's management focused on adding players with a specific mentality and skill set.

When asked during media day at the Sixers' practice facility about the team's new additions, Morey and Rivers talked a lot about toughness. The team's offseason additions show with clarity that getting more muscle and energy around Embiid, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris was the goal.

“Toughness comes into that,” Morey said of his desire to add two-way talent this offseason. “When things are down, having that mental fortitude to pull everyone together. That was a big part of a lot of our acquisitions this summer.”

Rivers stressed the importance of playing as a team coming into the 2022-23 season. He used the reigning champion Golden State Warriors as an example of what he wants the Sixers to be: fully invested in winning. “You watch Golden State: they’re a bought-in basketball team,” he said. “You don’t get that deep unless it’s 100 percent bought in. You have no chance in this league if you’re not.” He also coined a catchier slogan to develop unity within the team. 

Team buy-in was a touchy subject last year thanks to a certain someone who the Sixers traded at the deadline. With that ordeal now in the past and the Sixers' roster no longer flush with trade rumors, they can focus solely on working towards a championship. Basketball requires a strong mentality in order to excel, especially at the highest level. Now that every single player is ready to buy into what the team is looking to do, Philly could have something special on its hands.

Philadelphia had a plan going into the offseason and pulled it off perfectly. “We were focused on two-way players, guys who can help us towards the ultimate goal,” Morey said following an offseason that saw the additions of P.J. Tucker, De'Anthony Melton, and Danuel House Jr. “It’s made some funny headlines that they happen to be ones that we’ve worked with in the past but that’s really just for entertainment purposes for you guys.” 

The players echoed the sentiment that toughness is something they are looking to focus on, especially when they were asked about new teammate Tucker. Georges Niang called him a warrior. Morey said that he has proven doubters wrong time and time again. Toughness has also been present with the Warriors, namely through Draymond Green, who demonstrates that physicality and ferocity can always overcome size disadvantages.

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A focus on toughness led to Morey bucking a trend he had previously shown with the Sixers. “This is the first year that we don’t have a seven-footer as a backup,” Rivers noted. He explained that with Tucker, Paul Reed, and Montrezl Harrell, “we feel very comfortable in what we have” behind Embiid on the depth chart. When asked about the veteran that could potentially take the backup center spot from him, Reed was nothing but supportive of Harrell.

Hard work is already a key trait the Sixers are proud to show. Three of the team's youngest players — Reed, Matisse Thybulle, and Tyrese Maxey — have been the best at leading by example this past summer, according to Rivers. Multiple players said at media day that they are looking forward to a competitive training camp.

Rivers said that this team is the most talented group of his short tenure in Philadelphia. It's also a team that embodies dawg mentality, like their Philly football counterparts do, more than any other. The 2022-23 Sixers displaying the toughness that Rivers and Morey crave could be what gets them over the hump.