When Drake explodes Over the loudspeakers at Philadelphia 76ers practice, it’s not necessarily unusual for NBA players to hone their various skills.
For that to happen during an entire training camp scrimmage? This…isn’t quite as usual.
But there’s a reason – and a person – behind it.
When a Sixers player reaches the passing lane and knocks the ball out of bounds, a high-pitched scream comes from an eagle that tears off the top of the words.
As another 76er cuts from the weak side, receives a pass and drives toward the basket, the sound of a slot machine dropping a coin echoes through the gym.
When the driving player misses a shot, a teammate is there to respond. Seconds later, the sound of breaking glass was heard across the room.
Any visitor or wandering civilian would be right to be concerned and partly bemused, but players react as if it’s business as usual.
When trainer Nick Nurse comes out to the middle of the floor and raises his hands high above his head, forming an “A,” suddenly Drake is silenced, replaced by the signature synth beats of the opener of Prince’s “Automatic.”
No words were spoken, the scuffle ended and the players headed to get water.
Everyone in the gym knows it’s going to be an eight-minute break — it’s always an extended period — and they’ll have time to practice free throws before the music tells them what’s next.
This is strange but The oddly catchy routine has become a trademark of being a Sixer: “audio bonuses,” music meant to send messages to players, and “audio motivational boosts” that fill practices and scrimmages throughout the season.
The man responsible for it all takes his job seriously — and the way he does it is unique within NBA locker rooms.
“I’ve played a lot of places in the NBA, and this was a whole new thing for me when I came here,” 76ers veteran Kelly Oubre Jr. told ESPN. “But we love it. The ghost is part of our team. It’s part of everything we do.”
This is DJ Ghost, for those who don’t know.
In Philadelphia, this DJ is part coach, part support staff, part main vibe, and full-time 16th man.
This isn’t the dark ages of an aux cord and an iPhone, nor is it a wedding DJ doing the day shift with two turntables and a laptop browsing a playlist.
The ghost, officially, is Josh Barrett, a 44-year-old from Levittown, Pennsylvania, who started playing music in his family’s bar as a teenager and never stopped.
His nickname comes from circling behind a partially hidden booth in the family bar, making customers think he is invisible. He was with the 76ers for 14 seasons.
He started out replacing satellite radio in the concourse before games, and eventually graduated to playing music in the arena bowl during games.
But these days, no one wearing 76ers gear can refer to him by anything other than his nickname. And in a sign of the evolving musical preferences of NBA teams in the 2020s, Ghost is almost as ubiquitous a member of the club as the players he entertains.
“I tell my friends in the league that Ghost plays during practices and they’re like, ‘What do you mean, he plays practices’?” Sixers center Adam Bona told ESPN. “We always feel the ghost. It’s a presence.”
If it’s 8 am At the practice facility, with Kyle Lowry first on the court, as is usually the case, Ghost is ready to go with Lowry’s personal playlist, filled with Drake, who he befriended during his nine-year career with the Toronto Raptors.
If Bona is getting ready for his warm-up routine, his favorite Afrobeats artist, Burna Boy, is on the arena’s sound system.
If there’s a team dinner in Abu Dhabi during the pre-season trip, which there was, Ghost is there in the corner, providing the soundtrack to the evening.
If the team’s older players are practicing, Ghost is playing with NBA YoungBoy, a favorite among the team’s younger players. When the vets return, Jay-Z takes over.
Three years ago, when Nurse was hired in Philadelphia, he wanted to bring with him a tradition he started as coach of the Raptors and the Canadian national team.
A music fan who occasionally plays guitar in bands during the offseason, Nurse is one of a number of contemporary coaches who incorporate music into team activities.
“I went to see Pete Carroll practice when he was the Seahawks coach several years ago, and I loved how they had these huge speakers and playing music and keeping the energy going during practices,” Nurse told ESPN. “So when I came here, I was like, ‘I usually have a DJ, and the next thing you know Ghost shows up.’”
A DJ working some practices is nothing new in the NBA. But the sound effects Ghost puts in, the messages he sends, and the role the coaches have asked him to play for this team, are next level. That’s why Ghost sits comfortably within the team’s inner circle.
“When I was asked if I could do it, I was like F— yeah,” Jost told ESPN. “I’ve envisioned something like this ever since I started.”
Then John Corbaccio, the former Sixers assistant coach, came up with the idea of a good bonus. The ghost says he was into everything.
“He asked me how long it would take me to get an eagle sound when there was a deviation, and I told him, ‘One minute.’” This opened Pandora’s box. Then we kept moving forward. What about help? What about offensive rebounds (with broken glass)? What about the cut slot (with the slot machine)? How about this? And I was like, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes.’
This, of course, Not the typical life of a professional DJ.
There are no late nights at the club — which is how Ghost got his start at his family home and other nightclubs around Bucks County — because he practices early in the morning.
He can’t book events because between practices, games, community events and other moments that arise when his services are needed, like the occasional team dinner, he gets slammed. Just like a player or coach.
But as a lifelong basketball fan and lifelong music fan, he caught his dream, all the while becoming a cutting-edge addition to the team he’d cheered on since he was a kid.
“I’m a big basketball fan and a big music fan,” Jost said. “Being able to do both makes it stressful and fun. When I’m playing nail chewing, I also need to be engaged in the work. It’s a unique job.”
The nurse, for his part, is sold.
“He doesn’t make mistakes,” said the nurse. “The guy gets a good drive to the basket, he’s the choo choo of the train. He’s locked in. I don’t know if any of this works, but it’s fun. And it saves energy. I think it’s good — just good vibes.”
