Matt Campbell’s first season as Penn State’s football coach will feature five away games, including a visit to Lincoln Financial Field to face Temple in early September.
Penn State’s full 2026 football schedule was released last week. Three of the Nittany Lions’ first four games will be at Beaver Stadium against Marshall (Sept. 5), Buffalo (Sept. 19), and Wisconsin (Sept. 26), which will open Big Ten play for the team.
The Nittany Lions will face K.C. Keeler’s Owls on Sept. 12, the first matchup between the schools since 2016. Penn State holds a 40-4-1 advantage in their series history, which dates back to 1931.
Penn State will visit Northwestern on Oct. 2 for a Friday night matchup at the Wildcats’ newly renovated Ryan Field. The game was moved after originally being scheduled for Oct. 3. Penn State has not played a Friday night game since 2019, when it beat Maryland in College Park, 59-0.
After facing Northwestern, Penn State will host Southern California (Oct. 10), then travel to Ann Arbor to face Michigan (Oct. 17). After a bye week, the Nittany Lions welcome Purdue (Oct. 31), then travel to Seattle to face Washington (Nov. 7) for the first time since the Huskies joined the conference in 2024.
Penn State will round out the schedule with Minnesota (Nov. 14) and Rutgers (Nov. 21) at home before traveling to Maryland to end the regular season against the Terrapins (Nov. 28).
Times and television coverage for each game will be announced later.
Trevor Zegras went over to Denver Barkey after a morning skate at Xfinity Mobile Arena a few weeks ago and asked the rookie if he wanted to live with him.
Since being called up on Dec. 19, and making his Flyers debut the next day at Madison Square Garden, the 20-year-old has been living out of a suitcase in a hotel.
“Couldn’t really turn that possibility down? And I was quick to say yes. And then we started to plan on when I move in,” Barkey said.
“I’ve been chipping in,” he continued when asked if he was doing the dishes. “We’ve got to clean now. It’s getting a little messy, trying to do my chores here and there.”
The two are hoping they can clean up on the ice now, too.
Zegras and Barkey will be on a line with Owen Tippett against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday (7 p.m., NBCSP).
According to Natural Stat Trick, at five-on-five, the trio has played just 3 minutes, 25 seconds together. That came during the Flyers’ 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Jan. 17. The line had nine shot attempts to the Rangers’ three, including five shots on goal. The trio generated five high-danger chances, held an eight-to-one advantage in scoring chances, and outscored New York, 1-0.
Zegras had the goal, with Barkey and Tippett getting the assists. Tippett went to put the puck on goal but it deflected off the stick of Barkey and then the boot of Urho Vaakanainen to Zegras sitting wide open atop the crease at the right post.
“Yeah, pretty fortunate to be on the line with someone like him,” Barkey said of Zegras, calling it an exciting opportunity. “I think just tonight, play my game, try to find open space for him to find me, because I know he makes those crazy plays. He sees the ice at an insane level. So just trying to get open and create time and space for him to have the puck.”
Dating back to when Zegras was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in June, and entering training camp, the consensus from the player and the front office was that Zegras would get a chance back at his natural position of center. That hasn’t been the case, but Tuesday will mark the third straight game Zegras will play down the middle. He had moments when he played there this season, but they were few and far between; Flyers coach Rick Tocchet is sticking with it for now.
Trevor Zegras, whom Rick Tocchet called a joy to coach, will play his third straight game at center on Wednesday.
“For the first 30 games, he was going so good I didn’t want to make that [change]. I think he would have looked at me like I was crazy. I mean, he was filling the net and he was doing really well,” Tocchet said when asked why he decided now was the time to experiment with Zegras down the middle.
“I thought we were good and we had it locked down [with] the centers, and I thought the lines were good. So then, out of necessity a little bit now, yeah. See if he can hold that position now for us.”
Tocchet and Zegras talk often — the coach was late to Monday’s availability with reporters after practice because the two were chatting — and they talked the other day about his faceoffs. After going 1-for-12 at five-on-five against the Boston Bruins, and losing the one faceoff he took in the defensive zone, he went 4-for-6 at five-on-five against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
“I think he’s been doing OK,” Tocchet said before adding about Zegras’ faceoff percentage rising: “That’s a positive; that was one thing that he was worried about the draws — and some coverages down low.
“But I didn’t see a guy confused out there. I think there’s some runway there, let’s see if he can hold on to this position. He’s got a couple of good linemates today, so maybe he’ll get some offense for us.”
Breakaways
Dan Vladař (16-8-5, .903 save percentage) will start in net. He is 3-2-0 with a 3.59 goals-against average and an .871 save percentage in five career games against the Capitals. His last start against Washington was Feb. 25, 2025, in which Alex Ovechkin scored goal No. 883 in a 3-1 win for the Calgary Flames. Ovechkin, who has 919 career goals entering Tuesday, has scored 52 times in 78 games against the Flyers, his second-best mark against any team. … Carl Grundström will slot in for Garnet Hathaway. The forward last played on Wednesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He has seven goals and nine points in 25 games this season.
It was a theme throughout last year with the Union that they were short on centerback depth, especially after Ian Glavinovich went down early in the season.
They did remarkably well with what they had, thanks to Olwethu Makhanya’s impressive development and Nathan Harriel shifting over from his usual outside back spot.
But that was never intended as the long-term solution, especially with Concacaf Champions Cup and Leagues Cup games on this year’s schedule.
With Japhet Sery Larsen set as Jakob Glesnes’ replacement, the Union made that needed depth move on Tuesday, signing 23-year-old Colombian Geiner Martínez from Uruguayan club Juventud.
That should give the club three starting-caliber centerbacks, with Harriel and 19-year-old Finn Sundstrom as backups. The Union paid a transfer fee of just under $1 million for Martínez, a source with knowledge of the deal told The Inquirer.
The deal had been in the works for quite some time, with the first report emerging from South America nearly two months ago. Martínez’s contract is through the 2027-28 season, with team-held options for the two seasons after that. (Union fans should get used to seeing seasons labeled this way, as MLS heads toward its swap to a winter-centric schedule next year.)
Martínez will be added to the Union’s active roster after he receives his international transfer certificate and P1 visa. The Colombian centerback will occupy an international roster slot for the Union.
“Geiner is a young, strong player who brings intensity and a physical presence to our back line,” Union manager Bradley Carnell said in the team’s release.
“The experience he’s gained through earning promotion in two consecutive seasons is valuable. He is a competitor and dedicated to defending within our identity. We look forward to getting him integrated quickly with the team.”
The writing perhaps was on the wall earlier this week, courtesy of a cryptic message on X, where he was photographed with former Juventud teammate Ramiro Peralta, who wrote “Vamos hermano” and tagged Martínez in an Instagram story on Jan. 28.
Rumored Union signing Geiner Martinez with a fairly cryptic repost on Instagram pic.twitter.com/h5o1cQBI6Q
Martínez played a key role for Juventud as the club won promotion from the second division to the top Uruguayan league, Liga AUF Uruguaya, in 2024. Martínez played in 12 of Juventud’s 15 games in the fall half of Uruguay’s 2025 season, from mid-August through late October.
Jon Scheer has been the public face of the Union’s front office this offseason with sporting director Ernst Tanner on leave.
Another forward will soon join the ranks in 23-year-old Agustin Anello. A South Florida native, he moved to Barcelona, Spain, with his family at a young age. He has played for clubs in Spain, Belgium, Croatia, Netherlands, and, most recently, Uruguay.
Anello made his last move, to Boston River in Uruguay’s capital city, Montevideo, in the summer of 2024. Boston River happens to be the club on which the Union parked forward prospect José Riasco on loan from September 2023 to August 2024, right before Anello arrived there.
While those players would not have crossed paths, Anello does know some others with Union ties. In November 2023, he was teammates with Harriel and Jack McGlynn on the U.S. under-23 national team. The Union will pay a $2 million transfer fee, a source with knowledge of the matter said, confirming The Athletic’s initial report of the number.
The MLS transfer window will close on March 26, leaving the Union with time to make more deals if they wish.
The Union will begin the season with a Concacaf Champions Cup match against Trinidadian champion Defence Force FC in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Feb. 18. The team opens its MLS regular season with a match at D.C. United on Feb. 21.
When K.C. Keeler was hired as Temple’s football coach in 2024, his goal was to make the Owls into American Conference contenders.
In his first season, Temple finished 5-7 (3-5 in the American). The Owls missed a bowl game for the sixth consecutive season but showed they are heading in the right direction.
Now, it’s back to the drawing board. Keeler said the first step was to get Temple’s key players from this season to remain on the roster. The Owls have lost serval starters to the transfer portal in years past, but that wasn’t the case this offseason.
Temple didn’t lose a single starter to the transfer portal and kept its core group of players to ensure some continuity heading into 2026.
“We’re probably one of the only [Group of Five] schools in the country that didn’t lose a single starter,” Keeler said. “And that was a lot of work in terms of making sure that they saw the vision moving forward and we were all comfortable with getting this thing done in the world of revenue share we now live in — you have to work through some things. But to get all of our starters to come back … and there’s a number of our starters that were highly coveted prizes out there in the open market.”
Temple was close to making its first bowl game appearance since 2019, under coach Rod Carey. This time, the Owls were a few points away from being 7-5.
Temple lost to Navy, 32-31, after Midshipmen quarterback Blake Horvath ran 51 yards for a touchdown with 39 seconds remaining. The Owls lost to Army, 14-13, when the Black Knights held the ball for the final nine-plus minutes.
“We’re building something special around here,” guard Eric King said. “We were two points away from being 7-5 and being in a bowl game. So, a completely different culture in the facility and throughout the organization. In order to keep building on that, you don’t want to have to bring in 60 people in the portal. You want to keep the guys who have played and who have been through the system and who understand what this new brand of football is about.”
King is one of the main players returning to Temple next season. He had no intention of leaving, either.
The Owls kept the offensive line intact. Alongside King, left tackle Giakoby Hills, who initially was the backup to Kevin Terry, became a starter after Terry suffered a sprained knee ligament on Aug. 9. Hills never gave up the job.
After the redshirt freshman started every game this past season, Hills was on the radar of some Power Four schools. However, Hills and Temple worked out a multiyear deal in December, which made him one of the highest-paid players in the Group of Five.
Temple’s biggest returner, though, is tight end Peter Clarke, a London native who finished with 483 receiving yards and six touchdowns and earned a second-team all-conference nod in 2025. Clarke wanted to stay with the same team that gave him a chance three years ago.
“I had nothing before I came to Temple,” Clarke said. “I’m a foreign guy who a lot of schools didn’t want to take a chance on. Temple gave me hope. They promised me a dream that I could chase here, and they fulfilled every single promise.”
Clarke became an instrumental part of Temple’s retention plan, hosting recruits on visits and speaking about his journey to the team at alumni events. It has given him the chance to connect with potential teammates and higher-ups at the university.
Temple tight end Peter Clarke finished with 483 receiving yards in 2025.
The tight end had been a highly coveted player, with Power Four programs attempting to sign him. However, Clarke rejected those offers, which came with more money, to remain an Owl.
“When a guy like [Clarke] chooses to stay, maybe another guy who could make another $5,000-$10,000, somewhere else [will stay as well],” general manager Clayton Barnes said. “When someone’s leaving thousands of dollars on the table, that really sends a message to the rest of the locker room: ‘There’s a reason why I stayed. There’s reason why you should stay.’”
The New York Giants are hiring Matt Nagy to be their offensive coordinator, according to a person with knowledge of the decision.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the move had not been announced.
Nagy spent the past three seasons in that role with Kansas City, including helping the Chiefs win the Super Bowl in the 2023 season and reach the title game in 2024. Nagy was head coach of the Chicago Bears from 2018-21 after several years moving up the ranks working under Andy Reid in Kansas City and with the Eagles.
The Chiefs ranked 20th in the league in offense last season, missing the playoffs in the process. Eric Bieniemy, who held the job before Nagy, is returning to the team.
Nikki Bella thought fans at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday night were booing her, but the Philly crowd was actually cheering “Coop” at the WWE Hall of Famer.
Bella, who was in the ring forWWE’s Monday Night Raw, reportedly began casually dating Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean in January, according to TMZ. Neither Bella, 42, nor DeJean, 22, has publicly confirmed they are dating, but Bella’s reaction to the crowd indicates there is some connection between the two.
While the “Coop” cheer has become common at Lincoln Financial Field since the Eagles drafted DeJean out of Iowa in 2024, it caught Bella, an Eagles fan, off guard during Monday night’s show.
Brie Bella: "I actually think they're saying Coop"
“Is that for the Eagles not getting in the Super Bowl, or for us?” Bella quipped while in the ring with her twin sister and tag team partner, Brie Bella.
Brie corrected her sister on what exactly the Philly crowd was shouting.
“I actually think they were saying ‘Coop,’” Brie Bella said.
“Oh,” Nikki Bella replied. “Can you blame a girl for having good taste? I mean, Pro Bowl, baby.”
Rumors emerged that Bella, whose real name is Nikki Garcia, was dating DeJean in December after Bella posted a video of herself at the Linc wearing an Eagles baseball jersey with DeJean’s name on the back.
“It was so magical just to see all the players, to meet everyone,” Bella said on her podcast, The Nikki and Brie Show, in an episode titled “Big Ring Energy” after her visit. “For them, they talked with us like we were family. Everyone wanted to know the story of why we were here.”
Brie interjected, “Well, hopefully one day they are family” with a laugh, before Nikki quickly changed the subject.
Nikki and Brie — with the latter coming out of retirement for Sunday’s Royal Rumble after a four-year absence — have not wrestled as a tag team since October 2018.
LOS ANGELES — Joel Embiid is content to spend his All-Star break on a family vacation after the 76ers’ standout center was not selected as an Eastern Conference reserve by the NBA’s coaches.
“I don’t need any validation from anybody,” Embiid said following the Sixers’ victory over the Clippers on Monday night. “I’m happy where I’m at. I’m excited to be playing every night. If [the All-Star Game selection] didn’t happen, who cares? I get a week off to rest, anyway.”
Embiid may need to keep those plans tentative, however. He still could be named an injury replacement for the game on Feb. 15, with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo out with a calf strain that is expected to keep him sidelined for at least a month.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse and Tyrese Maxey, who earlier was named an All-Star starter for the first time, acknowledged that they were surprised Embiid was not among those selected as a reserve. Embiid’s production has exploded in recent weeks, with the big man averaging 29.6 points on 52.2% shooting along with 7.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 18 games since Dec. 23. It has been an impressive progression in Embiid’s recovery from multiple knee surgeries.
“He’s been super dominant,” Nurse said of Embiid before the game against the Clippers. “… I thought, just the general buzz or feel I was getting, was that he would make it.”
Added Maxey: “It’s life. I understand it. He’s going to keep being Joel.”
Embiid and the Sixers (28-21) had been doing some recent campaigning for his inclusion in the midseason showcase for the eighth time in his career. Following a Jan. 9 game at the Orlando Magic, Embiid said he believed he deserved the honor and added, “I think you guys [the media] should start putting the word out that Joel Embiid is back.” And when Maxey was asked at a news conference following a Jan. 22 victory over the Houston Rockets which teammate he would like to join him at All-Star Weekend, he said, “Process!” and tapped the microphone.
“Sixers, put that out there!” Maxey said.
Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey (right) campaigned for teammate Joel Embiid to join him in the All-Star Game.
The Eastern Conference reserves are the Toronto Raptors’ Scottie Barnes, the Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren, the Atlanta Hawks’ Jalen Johnson, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell, the Miami Heat’s Norman Powell, the Indiana Pacers’ Pascal Siakam, and the New York Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns. They join starters Maxey, Antetokounmpo, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, New York’s Jalen Brunson, and the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown.
Rookie guard VJ Edgecombe also will represent the Sixers at All-Star Weekend as part of the Rising Stars competition.
For now, Embiid will plan to enjoy his vacation and rest an “ankle thing” that he has been playing through in recent games. And the 2023 NBA MVP reiterated that “there’s only one thing missing” from his personal basketball accomplishments while glancing at his wedding ring, a clear reference to winning an NBA championship.
It may not look like it outside, but spring was in the air Tuesday in South Philly.
After a long morning of packing, members of the Phillies front office staff surrounded the first-base gate at Citizens Bank Park and waved their 2026 All-Star Game rally towels as the team truck pulled out and began its journey to spring training in Clearwater, Fla.
The truck — decorated for this year’s All-Star Game, which is July 14 at Citizens Bank Park,— will travel 1,054 miles, passing through eight states before arriving at BayCare Ballpark. Spring training begins in just over a week, on Feb. 11, for pitchers and catchers; the full squad will report on Feb. 16.
Throughout the Phillies’ six weeks in Florida, they’ll need to have all the necessities — from 600 pairs of pants to a single stroller and one very important hot dog launcher — and that’s where the Phillies staff comes in to help.
“Today, we’re packing up the truck,” said Tim Schmidt, a clubhouse attendant for the Phillies. “It’s a pretty long process. I mean, there’s a lot of inventory that goes into it. We have to label everything, we have to put it in bins, and then there’s thousands of items. So, it’s not like it’s just a couple of Nike orders. It’s a lot. It’s time consuming.”
For a job this big, the team has to get an early start. The packing process began two weeks after the end of the season and officially concluded on Tuesday morning. Workers from Old Dominion Freight Line and members of the Phillies staff began loading up the truck’s three 28-foot trailers at about 8 a.m. and didn’t wrap up until 11:40 a.m.
Of course, they did have a little help from the Phanatic, who made some brief appearances — directing traffic and attempting to ride the forklift.
Despite the distraction, workers packed plenty of essential items for any baseball team into the truck, including …
5,000 paper cups
2,400 baseballs
2,000 short- and long-sleeved shirts
1,200 bats
900 pairs of socks
600 pairs of pants
600 batting practice hats
350 pairs of shorts
300 batting gloves
250 batting practice tops
200 fleeces
200 light jackets
200 pairs of assorted shoes
140 batting helmets
125 leather and elastic belts
40 heavy jackets
20 coolers
Several children’s bikes
and one stroller
“I’ve been doing this for nine years,” Schmidt said. “My boss has been doing it for close to, I think, 40 years. So I’m sure there were a couple of hiccups along the way, but now we kind of have it down pat. We know what to do. We know what to bring. We know how much to bring.”
Some of the items still waiting to be loaded into the truck headed to Florida pic.twitter.com/6bDA2VNlcY
Of course they couldn’t forget the most important item of all — the Phanatic’s high-powered hot dog launcher.
“I’ve been asked a couple times today, ‘What’s the unique item?’” Schmidt said. “It’s the hot dog launcher. That’s the last thing to get loaded onto the truck. Once that’s loaded, everyone gets excited because you kind of know you’re done.”
The Phillies will open their Grapefruit League schedule on Feb. 21 against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla. Spring training ends March 23 with a game in Clearwater against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Opening day for the Phillies is March 26 at home against the Texas Rangers.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Not so fast on an 18-game NFL season.
A week after Patriots owner Robert Kraft made it seem inevitable, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said expanding the regular season to 18 games is “not a given.”
“We have not had any formal discussions about it and, frankly, very little, if any, informal conversations,” Goodell said Monday at his annual state of the NFL news conference ahead of the Super Bowl. “I’ve heard people talk about it in the context. It is not a given that we will do that. It’s not something we assume will happen. It’s something we want to talk about with the union leadership.”
Last Tuesday, Kraft made it seem 18 games was a foregone conclusion.
“I want to tell you guys that we’re going to push like the dickens now to make international (games) more important with us,” Kraft told 98.5 FM last week. “Every team will go to 18 (regular-season games) and two (preseason games) and eliminate one of the preseason games, and every team every year will play one game overseas.”
Clearly, word reached Goodell.
He mentioned that the NFL Players Association will be going through a leadership transition and that the conversation will be complex. Goodell pointed out player safety concerns, competitive issues, the potential need to add another bye and roster sizes as areas that have to be addressed through collective bargaining.
The current CBA between the NFL and its players’ union expires in 2030.
“As (the NFLPA) determines their priorities, we are doing the same at the ownership level so that when we get together, we can address these issues together,” Goodell said.
The momentum for an 18th game took off when Goodell made an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show at the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit and said: “I’d rather replace a preseason game with a regular-season (game) any day, that’s just picking quality. If we got to 18 (regular season) and two (preseason), that’s not an unreasonable thing.”
He’s walked it back previously but not to this point.
The NFL added a 17th game in 2021 in the most recent CBA.
Seattle Seahawks receiver Cooper Kupp hinted Monday night that owners would have to give up a bigger piece of the financial pie to get an 18th done.
“For the 18th game to happen, there’s obviously going to be some negotiation,” Kupp said. “There’s some things, give and take. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things. If the 18th game is on the table, there’s going to have to be some talks about what makes that worth it to the players. And we’ll get to that point. We’ll cross that bridge.”
Tisch-Epstein
The NFL will look into New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and his association with Jeffrey Epstein after his name showed up more than 400 times in files released by the U.S. Justice Department regarding Epstein.
“Absolutely we will look at all the facts,” Goodell said. “We’ll look at the context of those and try to understand that. We’ll look at how that falls under the (league personal conduct) policy. I think we’ll take one step at a time. Let’s get the facts first.”
Tisch said last week he knew Epstein and that they “exchanged emails about adult women” and “discussed movies, philanthropy and investments.” But Tisch, 76, denied going to Epstein’s island and was never charged in the investigation.
LOS ANGELES — Dominick Barlow elevated to attempt to tip in Kelly Oubre Jr.’s missed jumper in the lane, then instantly sprang up again when the ball bounced off the backboard. Barlow then got up a third time, hanging in the air to seemingly will the ball into the basket through contact.
The 6-foot-9 forward has spent this season as an appreciated 76ers role player who has completely outperformed his two-way contract. Barlow is a terrific cutter and savvy rebounder. He blends his athleticism and intelligence to fill in the gaps without overstepping. He “plays the right way, every single night,” All-Star teammate Tyrese Maxey said.
Yet Barlow finally got his monster stat line Monday in an impressive 128-113 76ers victory against the surging Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome. He racked up a career-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting along with 16 rebounds, including an eye-popping 10 on the offensive glass. The outburst provided further evidence that part of the Sixers’ trade-deadline approach this week should be ensuring a roster spot is available to convert Barlow to a standard contract.
“Really went after it, man,” coach Nick Nurse said of Barlow’s outing. “ … Just wouldn’t quit playing hard, and he kept finding opportunities and made the most of them.”
It was fitting that Barlow brought that energy after the Sixers’ cross-country flight to kick off this crucial five-game Western Conference road trip.
Barlow felt a big night brewing early, when “a lot of stuff I got was really easy” while compiling 11 points and seven rebounds in the opening quarter. Those buckets came by way of two put-back dunks, a cutting and-one layup, and a steal and fastbreak slam. Barlow totaled another six rebounds (four on the offensive end) in the third quarter. And his final scoring burst helped cut short a Clippers fourth-quarter rally.
“He stole a lot of my rebounds,” star center Joel Embiid joked. “ … Every team needs one of those guys, [who] does everything.”
This career performance arrived after Barlow’s role fluctuated during the last 10 days.
The 22-year-old had become the starting power forward while Oubre missed about seven weeks with a knee injury. Yet once Oubre regained his rhythm upon returning to the court, Barlow moved to a reserve role and said he understood why Nurse made that decision. When Paul George was abruptly suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy on Saturday, Barlow moved back into the first five.
He has been an ideal fit with that starting group. Instead of worrying about creating offense with the ball in his hands, he can find spots to set a flare screen or make the correct pass. And when opposing defenders leave him to double-team stars Maxey or Embiid, that frees Barlow up to beeline toward the rim to snag the offensive rebound. He entered Tuesday’s game averaging 8.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 39 games.
“They make the game really simple,” Barlow said of those teammates.
Monday’s outburst also allowed Barlow to reflect on how he wound up in Philly.
‘This dude’s an athlete’
When asked about the origins of his knack for rebounding, he credits his long arms, instincts, and ball skills as a former football player. After beginning his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks, Barlow did not stress when he didn’t immediately land with a new team at the start of free agency last summer. He believed he was “as strong mentally as they come,” and that “I can’t determine whether a team’s going to like the way I play or not. I can only just get better.”
Sixers forward Dominick Barlow struggles for control of the ball with Clippers forward John Collins.
He joined the Sixers on a two-way contract, plopping himself into the middle of their Summer League stint in Las Vegas. President of basketball operations Daryl Morey said there that he believed the Sixers had successfully leveraged that type of team-friendly deal, which typically allows younger players to split time between the NBA and G League, to gain an impactful player. When Maxey returned to Philly for informal workouts before training camp, he quickly noticed Barlow “flying around like, ‘Dang, this dude’s an athlete.’”
Barlow immediately earned a rotation spot, knowing steady minutes would bring increased comfort. So would the confidence instilled in him by coaches and teammates, which Barlow raved about Monday.
“I’ve got Joel Embiid, the league MVP,” Barlow told The Inquirer at his locker, “telling me [that] when I go slash, shoot the ball. Don’t pass. …
“I’ve had great teammates in the past. I don’t know if I’ve had guys collectively, as a whole, just so supportive and want to see me play well.”
As Barlow approached his career high in points Monday, he reminded himself not to force it. He reached the personal milestone on a crafty driving and-one finish with less than nine minutes to play, then received a smattering of “M-V-P!” chants from Sixers fans as he stepped to the free throw line. On the Sixers’ next possession, Maxey slung a pass to Barlow in the corner for a three-pointer that serendipitously rattled in, and increased the Sixers’ lead to 17 points .
“You want to [reward] him,” Maxey said.
Even after Nurse pulled his starters, the coach briefly kept Barlow on the floor so he could receive his own ovation upon checking out of the game. The bench celebration was appropriate for the appreciated role player who, until Monday’s stat-stuffing breakout, had primarily filled the gaps.
And it illustrated why one of the Sixers’ trade-deadline tasks should be securing a full roster spot for Barlow to fill.
“I understand what winning basketball looks like,” Barlow said, “and I’m just trying to continue to, hopefully, make this place a home.”
