Robert Covington Becoming Key Part Of Sixers Core

When the future of the Philadelphia 76ers is brought up, two names are are most commonly discussed.

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, for obvious reasons, both were high lottery picks and both are expected to be perennial all-stars .

But let’s not forget about Robert Covingotn.  The 26-year old has been here through out plenty of the tough times during the "process" years, but has gotten off to the best start of his five year NBA career.

Nine games into the 2017-18 NBA season, Covington is now turning heads all around the NBA.

His numbers through nine games: 15.4 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game and 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals.

While those numbers are very good, its his three-point shooting that has really made a difference, hitting on .492 from three-point range this season, connecting on 32 triples this season, fifth best in the league.

"Guys just can’t focus in on one guy" Covington explained as a guest of the Sports Bash.

"There's a lot of talent out there. There is a lot of guys who can create a lot and then you got guys who can create for others and it opens up the floor that much more."

Last year, Covington connected on 137 three-point shots, his career high is 107 during the 2015-2016 season.  But he spent the summer rehabbing and working on his shot, knowing the team was going to give him more chances and better looks this season.

"Mostly just working on my shot you know," Covington explained when I asked what he worked on this summer. "A majority of summer I spent rehabbing my knee and you know really just focusing on my shot, a lot of spot shots, form techniques and doing a lot of stuff with my trainers and what not.  I I knew this year we was gonna come off to a great start so I wanted to be ready and not having them small lapses in my shot like I had last year so I really just focused in this summer on trying to be a better player."

And a better player he has become, Covington is currently on pace to make 287 three's, helping the Sixers, one of the worst three-point shooting teams last year (.340), to the fourth best three-point shooting percentage (.395) so far this season.

Covington says he has gotten better by play, over his first three season with the team, he made mistakes, struggled with consistency with his shot, but continued to be get better with NBA reps, something you can't duplicate in practice.

"The only way guys get better is if you they are out there on the court," Covington said.

"Getting the opportunity play, getting opportunity to really shine, if you are in practice, you are not going to get the same opportunity. You know, and that’s what the culture was built here. It’s been amazing, great transition to me having opportunity but it also started with the mentality of what coach challenged me with. But with that being said, I grown a lot as a player to have grown as much as, you know, me and coach have an amazing relationship. Learning so much, taking so much in, a lot of experience, coach Brown experienced a lot with the Spurs. His knowledge of everything has been just amazing. We sit and have sessions where just talk about things, you know, his challenges for me for the season that’s what helped me get better as a player."