Sixers Press Releases

Christmas, Holiday in Orlando with Speights for Sixers Summer League team

Philadelphia, Pa. – June 27, 2009 – Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that the Sixers and New Jersey Nets will combine to field a team in the Orlando Pro Summer League, held from July 6-10 at the RDV Sportsplex in Orlando, FL.

Headlining the Sixers participants is last year’s first round draft pick, Marreese Speights, and Jrue Holiday, the 17th pick in last night’s NBA Draft. Temple star Dionte Christmas has also accepted the invitation to play on the team.

Speights (6-10/245) appeared in 79 games with two starts for the Sixers last season, averaging 7.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in 16.0 minutes per game. Last year, he was one of just three players to average a double-double at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Speights was also a member of the Florida Gators National Championship team in 2007.

Holiday (6-3/180) was an early entry candidate for the 2009 NBA Draft following his freshman season at UCLA. The 19-year-old was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team after averaging 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals in 35 games played. Holiday was the 2008 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year as a senior at Campbell Hall High School in California.

Christmas (6-5/205) was born and raised in Philadelphia. He was named to the Atlantic 10’s First Team as both as junior and senior and earned Second Team honors as a sophomore. Christmas led the A-10 in scoring in each of the past three seasons, becoming the first player in conference history to accomplish that feat. He leaves Temple as the school’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made.

Joining that trio of players as the Sixers representatives in Orlando is guard Blake Ahearn and forwards Gary Forbes, Rob Kurz and Marcus Slaughter.

Ahearn (6-2/190) has played a total of 15 games in the NBA for San Antonio and Miami, averaging 5.2 points, 1.4 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per game. He was named First Team All D-League this past season and took home D-League Rookie of the Year honors in 2007-08. Ahearn led the D-League in 3-pointers made last season on 43.1% shooting.

Forbes (6-6/221) played his final two seasons at Massachusetts after starting his collegiate career at Virginia. He joined Julius Erving as the only players in UMass history to score 1,000 points in two seasons. After going undrafted last year, Forbes spent time playing overseas and in the D-League this past season.

Kurz (6-9/232) signed as a rookie free agent with Golden State last summer and went on to appear in 40 games with five starts for the Warriors, averaging 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.1 minutes per game. He attended Germantown Academy and William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia.

Slaughter (6-9/220) was an early entry candidate in the 2006 NBA Draft out of San Diego State after earning First Team All-Mountain West Conference honors as a junior. Most recently, he has played in Germany and France. Last summer, Slaughter played for Charlotte in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

The Sixers will depart for Orlando on Thursday, July 2 and will conduct a three-day mini-camp leading up to their first game on Monday, July 6. Below is the camp schedule:

All times Eastern

Practice times subject to change. Media members are encouraged to check the 76ers Hotline (215-339-7677) for updated practice times.

The Orlando Pro Summer League consists of six teams (Boston, Indiana, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Utah and the New Jersey/Philadelphia split squad) who will play five games apiece. Below is the schedule for the Sixers/Nets split squad:

All times Eastern

Please note: Due to space limitations, the event is not open to the public and will be open only to the media and professional team/league personnel