With the Seattle SuperSonics activating center Jerome James before the game Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers, coach Nate McMillan felt he needed to pre-emptively talk to some players about what are sure to become decreased minutes.

"I talked to this team this morning that we do have guys that are back, that it has been a strange season with injuries and with the roles that guys are taking on, and we will be making an adjustment," McMillan said. "There are some nights where guys' minutes get cut back and there will be some nights where some guys don't play. The most important thing is to be ready to play when your name is called, and to support the guys that are out there playing."

McMillan said he was not addressing anybody specifically, but with James returning, the minutes of Predrag Drobnjak might diminish, as well as those of Art Long - though for now Long will remain in the starting lineup.

"It's a discussion that I think needs to be said," McMillan said. "I'm sure that will come up, and I wanted to address it before it becomes a situation."

James, meanwhile, had missed the past 20 games with a sprained right foot.

McMillan said that when he puts James in the game, he wants James to play a role similar to that of Long, where scoring is a third or fourth option, rather than first.

"He's 7-feet long," McMillan said. "He does a good job of clogging the middle and rebounding and blocking shots. I think he needs to concentrate on that more as opposed to his offense."

Scouting in Memphis - The team flies to Memphis this morning, then will practice there in preparation for the game Sunday against the Grizzlies.

Afterward, McMillan and general manager Rick Sund will attend the University of Memphis game to scout freshman point guard Dajuan Wagner.

Money, it's gotta be the headbands - With the Sixers struggling to a 13-18 start, they decided to display a show of unity: They are donning headbands.

The traveling companion of Aaron McKie, Gene Lett, bought 15 red, 15 white and 15 black headbands at a sporting good store in Phoenix the other day.

"We needed a whole different look," Lett said.

In Phoenix, the Sixers starters wore red and their bench players wore white. Against the Sonics, the entire team wore the black headbands.

And this time, everybody wore them. Earlier in the week, Dikembe Mutombo and Matt Harpring declined to wear theirs.

"That was just something we wanted to do," guard Allen Iverson said. "Matt Harpring and Dikembe reneged on us, so we've got some of our team on the same page, but we've still got a couple guys that need to be reached out to."

With Friday's victory, the Sixers are 2-0 with headbands.