Jason Kelce’s WWE-style monologue after the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl 52 was the greatest championship parade speech in the history of the world.
The best quote the legendary center shared was from venerable offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland:
Hungry dogs run faster.
Surely nobody in the NBA was hungrier than Kelly Oubre, Jr. last season.
The eccentric wing was expecting a robust July market at 27 years old and coming off a season where he averaged over 20 points a game. Instead, he was forced to take a minimum deal to join the Sixers in late September. Oubre never shied away from that feeling of being disrespected, but to his credit, he used it to fuel arguably his best pro season in 2023-24.
Surely nobody in the NBA was hungrier than Guerschon Yabusele entering this season.
Before Yabusele posterized LeBron James at the Paris Olympics, the NBA world had mostly forgotten about him. The Frenchman was the 16th overall pick in the 2016 draft but struggled to find his place on some stacked Boston Celtics teams. By age 23, he was out of the league and went back overseas. As far as he knew, his NBA dream was dead.
But years spent improving his game overseas culminated in a strong run for Les Bleus — well beyond him dunking arguably the greatest player of all time into oblivion.
Like Oubre before him, Yabusele is providing the Sixers with incredible value. With the climate of the new CBA and the second apron boogeyman looming over every franchise, team-building requires more creativity than ever. It seems like Daryl Morey has found a market inefficiency by bringing in overlooked players like Oubre and Yabusele on minimum deals.
Oubre’s impact on the Sixers has been undeniable. During a mess of a season last year, Oubre was oftentimes the team’s No. 2 offensive option behind Tyrese Maxey while Joel Embiid was recovering from knee surgery and Tobias Harris struggled mightily. Oubre’s defense took a leap under head coach Nick Nurse, whom Oubre often referred to as a “genius.”
It was really a crescendo for Oubre’s career. A perfect combination of a player being humbled and hungry, and finding a team, city and coach he connected with. It led to Oubre re-signing with the Sixers this past offseason for two years and $16.3 million (with next season being a player option). So far in 2024-25, Oubre has filled his role to perfection when the team’s Big 3 has been healthy.
Like the entire organization, Oubre got off to a rough start this season. While the health of Embiid, Maxey and Paul George has played a large part in the Sixers’ turnaround, Oubre has been essential.
The Sixers are 10-3 over their last 13 games. During that stretch, Oubre is averaging 12.9 points while shooting over 50% from the floor and 34.5% from three (which represents a solid number for Oubre). He’s wreaking havoc defensively (1.8 steals per game) and been a demon on the glass (6.5 rebounds per game). His energy, athleticism, and well-timed cutting have been excellent complements to the team’s stars.
Meanwhile, Yabusele has pretty much been the same all season. In fact, he’s been the Sixers’ most dependable player on a night-to-night basis. In his first NBA game since 2019, Yabusele was the primary backup for Andre Drummond, who was filling in for Embiid on opening night. The 6-foot-8 Yabusele is a natural four, but there he was going toe-to-toe with the likes of Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo down low. He acquitted himself quite well that night and has been consistent since.
On the season, Yabusele is averaging 9.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 23.7 minutes a game. He’s stuffed the stat sheet and been efficient, shooting 50.2% from the field. One of the things that’s made him so much more effective in his second NBA stint is his shooting. He went 21-of-65 (32.3%) from deep in 74 games with the Celtics. In just 30 games with the Sixers, he’s 44-of-112 (39.3%).
And for fun, the Dancing Bear has tried to recreate his viral LeBron moment.
Yabusele has given the Sixers an ideal front-court player — one that can stretch the floor, be switchable defensively, and have the overall versatility to both back up Embiid and play with him. The craziest thing is it feels like Yabusele might even have more to give as he coalesces with his new teammates and earns more and more trust from Nurse.
Here’s a fun fact: only two Sixers have played in every game this season. Take a wild guess who they might be.
Oubre and Yabusele are providing a spark and strong play to a team that desperately needed role players of their archetypes. They both play like bullies with a fearlessness not often seen among role players during the Joel Embiid era.
Oubre and Yabusele are proof — hungry dogs do run faster.
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