WHEN DRAKE BLASTS over the speakers at a Philadelphia 76ers practice, it's not necessarily unusual as NBA players hone their various crafts.
That it happens during a full-on training camp scrimmage? That's ... not quite as normal.
But there's a reason -- and a person -- behind it.
When a Sixers player reaches into a passing lane and knocks a ball out of bounds, a high-pitched screech from an eagle tears over the top of the lyrics.
When another 76er cuts from the weak side, receives a pass and heads toward the basket, the sound of a slot machine dropping a coin echoes through the gym.
When the driving player misses the shot, one of his teammates is there for a putback. Seconds later, the sound of breaking glass rattles through the room.
Any visitor or roaming civilian would be right to be part alarmed and part mesmerized, but the players react as if it's business as usual.
When coach Nick Nurse steps out to the middle of the floor and raises his hands high over his head, forming an "A," suddenly Drake is silenced, replaced by the signature synth beats of the opening to Prince's "Automatic."
No words are spoken, the scrimmage breaks up and the players head over for water.
Everyone in the gym knows it'll be an eight-minute break -- it's always the extended cut -- and they'll have time for free throw practice before the music tells them what's next.
THIS BIZARRE BUT oddly captivating routine has become a trademark of being a Sixer: the "sound rewards," music aimed at sending messages to players, and the "audio motivational enhancements" that fill practices and scrimmages all season.
The man responsible for it all takes his job seriously -- and the way he does so is unique within NBA locker rooms.
"I've played in a lot of places around the NBA, and this was a totally new thing for me when I came here," 76ers veteran Kelly Oubre Jr. told ESPN. "But we love it. Ghost is a part of our team. He's part of everything we do."
That's DJ Ghost, for those not in the know.
In Philly, this DJ is part coach, part support staff, part vibes master, full-time 16th man.
This isn't the dark ages of an aux cord and an iPhone, nor is it a wedding DJ doing a day shift with two turntables and a laptop rolling through a playlist.
Ghost, formally, is Josh Barrett, a 44-year-old from Levittown, Pennsylvania, who started playing music at his family's bar as a teenager and never stopped.
His nickname comes from spinning behind a partially hidden booth at the family bar, making patrons believe he was invisible. He has been working with the 76ers for 14 seasons.
He started out by replacing satellite radio in the concourse before games, and eventually graduated to running the music in the arena bowl during the games.
But these days, no one wearing 76ers gear would refer to him as anything but his moniker. And, in a sign of the developing musical preferences of NBA teams in the 2020s, Ghost is nearly as ubiquitous a member of the club as the players he entertains.
"I tell my friends in the league that Ghost plays during our practice and they're like 'what do you mean, plays the practice'?" Sixers center Adem Bona told ESPN. "We always feel Ghost. He's a presence."
IF IT'S 8 A.M. at the practice facility, and Kyle Lowry is the first onto the court, like he usually is, Ghost is ready to go with Lowry's personal playlist, which is filled with Drake, whom he befriended during his nine-year run with the Toronto Raptors.
If Bona is preparing for his warmup routine, his favorite Afrobeats artist, Burna Boy, is on the arena sound system.
If there's a team dinner in Abu Dhabi during a preseason trip, which there was, Ghost is in the corner, providing the soundtrack for the evening.
If the team's veterans are sitting out a drill, Ghost is playing NBA YoungBoy, a favorite of 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 when he was the head coach for the Raptors and the Canadian national team.
A music lover who casually plays guitar in bands during the offseason, Nurse is one of a number of modern coaches incorporating music into team activities.
"I went to see Pete Carroll practice when he was coach of the Seahawks a number of years ago, and I loved how they had these huge speakers and playing music and keeping the energy up during drills," Nurse told ESPN. "So when I came here, I said, 'I usually have a DJ' and next thing you know, Ghost showed up."
A DJ who works some practices isn't new in the NBA. But the sound effects Ghost inserts and the messages he sends, and the role the coaches have asked him to play for this team, are next level. And that's why Ghost is comfortably inside the inner circle of the team.
"When I was asked if I could do this, I was like 'F--- yeah,'" Ghost told ESPN. "I had envisioned something like this ever since I'd started."
Then, former Sixers assistant coach John Corbacio came to him with the idea for sound rewards. Ghost says he was all-in.
"He asked how long it would take me to get an eagle sound for when there was a deflection and I was like 'um, one minute.' That opened Pandora's box. Then we kept going. What about an assist? What about offensive rebound [with the breaking glass]? What about a slot cut [ with the slot machine]? What about this? And I was like, yeah, yes, yes, yes."
THIS, OF COURSE, isn't the typical life of a professional DJ.
There aren't late nights at the club -- which is how Ghost got his start at his family's place and other nightspots around Bucks County -- because he has early mornings at practice.
He can't book events because between practices, games, community events and other moments that come up when his services are required, such as the occasional team dinner, he's slammed. Just like a player or coach.
But as a lifelong basketball fan and a lifelong music lover, he has fallen into his dream, all the while becoming a cutting-edge addition to a team he has rooted for since he was a kid.
"I'm a huge basketball fan and a huge music fan," Ghost said. "That I can do both makes it as stressful as enjoyable. When I'm doing a game chewing my nails off, I also need to be in the flow to work. It's a unique job."
Nurse, for his part, is sold.
"He doesn't miss," Nurse said. "A guy gets a good drive to the basket, it's 'choo choo' for a train. He is locked in. I don't know if any of this works, but it's fun. And it provides energy. I think it's good -- just good vibes."