Dwayne Jones and Tyler Lashbrook embrace opportunity to coach Sixers’ summer league team

LAS VEGAS — While gathered in the 76ers’ video room in 2016, Tyler Lashbrook realized that then-intern Dwayne Jones had never been issued his own laptop, and ensured that the oversight would be rectified.

Jones’ memory epitomizes the way both men worked their way up from the bottom of the Sixers’ organization — and why they developed their close friendship. So it’s fitting that they both have taken the next step in their careers together: Lashbrook was the Sixers’ summer league head coach in Salt Lake City last week before Jones took on that role during the team’s stay in Las Vegas that continues Friday night against Denver.

“I couldn’t ask to be around a greater guy,” Jones told The Inquirer after the Sixers’ 75-71 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. “We’ve been together since I walked in the door. … To see it, almost six years later, for us to have this opportunity, it’s just great to have a friend like that helping me out.”

In keeping with the event’s spirit of showcasing up-and-coming talent, summer league head coaches are often younger staffers getting their first chance to lead NBA-caliber players. Even as the Sixers have undergone changes in the coaching staff, front office, and roster since they both joined the organization, Lashbrook and Jones have steadily worked their way up. They are both now skill development coaches, making them responsible for tailoring workouts to individual players’ needs and spearheading those sessions before and after full-team practices, shootarounds, and games. Jones is often tasked with working with the Sixers’ big men, including back-to-back MVP runner-up Joel Embiid.

Being back in Las Vegas is serendipitous for Lashbrook because this is where he got his break. While studying journalism at Western Kentucky — where he dabbled in basketball writing before graduating in 2014 — he also started coaching at camps on the side. He went to the summer league to network with team personnel and departed with a short-term internship with the Sixers. As someone who did not play in the NBA or college, becoming immersed in film helped Lashbrook gain a deeper understanding of the game before moving to an on-court position.

“The people ahead of me at the time were gracious enough to teach me,” Lashbrook said. “I just fell in love with it and wanted to stay in it.”

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Jones walked into that video room about two years later after an impressive college career at St. Joseph’s and then a 12-year professional career with stops in the NBA, G League, and overseas. While with the Texas Legends, the G League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks, former general manager Donnie Nelson noticed the way the 6-foot-11 forward communicated on the floor and suggested he had coaching potential.

“It was nothing I had thought about,” Jones said. “… That was kind of one of the first things that kind of sparked my interest.”

Beyond Brett Brown and Doc Rivers, the list of notable coaches Lashbrook and Jones have worked with during their time in Philly includes Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams and former Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce. Sixers assistants Brian Adams (a former G League head coach and the Sixers’ summer league head coach last season), Dan Burke, and Jamie Young were in Las Vegas to provide pointers. Delaware Blue Coats head coach Coby Karl has assisted on the Sixers’ bench. Jones also picked the brain of former Sixers assistant John Bryant, who is now with the Chicago Bulls and is coaching their summer league team in Las Vegas.

Lashbrook put his sharp organizational skills to use while running the Sixers’ minicamp before games began in Salt Lake City. He conceded he was “probably a little more fiery than I anticipated” on the bench, which came out when he used his coach’s challenge in two games. While in Las Vegas, he has also felt a responsibility to pay it forward by meeting with others who are trying to break into the business.

“I’m really open to talk to anybody who wants advice or wants information about pathways and how you get to this position,” Lashbrook said.

The 39-year-old Jones, meanwhile, is quite reserved, saying summer league “is probably the most I’ve ever talked in a situation like this.”

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He frequently leans on his playing experience and how he would have wanted to be coached. That style has been effective with new guard Trevelin Queen, who praised Jones’ and Lashbrook’s relatability because “we’re trying to do the same thing they’re trying to do, which is get a call up and get a job.” Yet Jones called the Sixers’ 0-2 start in Las Vegas “pretty stressful,” evidence of his competitiveness even in a more laid-back environment where outsiders view player performance as more important than game results.

In Salt Lake City, Lashbrook appreciated how Jones “made it [so] I didn’t even have to worry about anything on the bench” and could focus on the five players on the floor at any given time. That was particularly helpful when all three games went down to the wire, and Lashbrook needed to maximize timeout usage and make quick decisions.

Lashbrook got the opportunity to reciprocate in Las Vegas. With the Sixers protecting a four-point lead with 11 seconds to play in Wednesday’s win against Miami, Lashbrook was the first to approach Jones during a timeout.

Their careers — and their friendship — had moved from assisting in the video room to leading from the sideline.

“He was unbelievably helpful to me,” Lashbrook said of Jones. “The thing that I’ve told him is I’m just trying to do the same thing for him [and] make it easy for him.”