Spencer Hawes: ‘It was a point of pride to play 82 games’

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

SH: Yeah, I think you just have to try and compartmentalize it. You never really get used to living in a hotel, but there are a lot of great parts of the job and life. Of course, there are some sides that aren’t as glamorous, which most people don’t see.

In the Philly situation, when they made the trade for Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bynum, it was frustrating because they were blowing up the nucleus, the heart of the team, including Andre. At that point, we thought Bynum was going to change the dynamic of our team. I personally felt I needed to focus more on my performance on the floor, stretching it and shooting more. I was excited about playing with another big of his caliber, but in hindsight, it obviously didn’t work out.

The trade that really hit harder was when they moved Jrue. That’s when it became clear the emphasis shifted from winning, or at least making a run for it, to something else entirely. I remember Evan Turner calling me when Jrue was traded in the offseason, and he said, “It’s over now, just a matter of time.”

When Brett Brown came in, the style changed overnight from a more defense-focused, half-court system to a fast-paced, analytics-driven approach. Brett told us, “The only way we’re going to compete is to have the best pace in the league and use the math to our advantage.”

It wasn’t a fun training camp, but once the games started, it was a lot of fun. We played an up-and-down, modern style, and all of our green lights started blinking. It was a significant shift in how we played and the foundation of our identity.