After taking a summer hiatus for a couple weeks, The BroadCast is back with a fresh episode, catching up on one of the news items we missed during our break.
On this edition of the pod, hear from Norvel Pelle, who served as a productive member of the 76ers' summer league frontcourt rotation, and later inked a deal with the club August 3rd.
The big man talks to Sixers.com's Brian Seltzer about not giving up on his dream of signing with an NBA team, his personal development as a pro, and nicknames.
Here are some excerpts from the conversation:
On signing with the 76ers:
“It’s something I’ve been dreaming about and working hard towards. The opportunity finally came, and it’s time to grasp it and run with it.”
On being a high-energy player:
"Everybody always says they enjoy watching me play, and I literally just go out there and have fun. I try to not take the game so serious, but be serious at the same time, and have fun - make somebody laugh by doing some funny facial expressions and body language to ease the tension. But, I’m still going at you."
On his overseas professional stints in China, Lebanon, and Italy:
“Taiwan was more of like, ‘It’s my first time overseas - I don’t know what to do, what to expect. Let me just go to practice, go back to my room, and stay out of trouble.’ That’s literally what I did every day.
“Moved to Lebanon, it was fun. The competition was pretty good, and it was like, ‘Alright, I have a little bit more experience, I can probably do a little more adventuring, let’s embrace the culture, and I did that.’
“Once I got to Italy, it was just like, a full embrace of the culture, learn the language, try the foods, go to different places. It grew each year.”
On how people have pronounced his last name, Pelle (rhymes with ‘gel’):
“Pelle [like the soccer star] was my nickname at one point...in my AAU days. In Italy, my last name means skin, so Norvel ‘Skin.’ It’s all the same.”
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