Where do we go from here?
Joel dropping 70 on Wemby is now a distant fading memory. My town, My team, My 76ers have become sad to watch and a championship is further away than expected and I still don’t know what the hell happened. How did we end up here?
“Uhhh yea, we are going to lose on purpose” not an exact quote so don’t fact check me on that. It was an ambitious thing to tell Philadelphia sports fans. In 2013 Sam Hinkie entered the chat. He told us he was going to start taking big risks with draft capital for eventual championships, we had to grind through 20 win seasons for the hope of multiple rings. The process began. Weirdly, We went along with it. We found ourselves approaching the cliff in a convertible Thelma and Louise style holding hands while Jrue Holiday flew out of the back of the car lost to us forever. Hollis Thompson, Arnett Moultrie, Jakarr Sampson and Tony Wroten all flew by our windows as we free fell into the ravine. We all bided our time while we waited to see if the big man we just drafted was actually going to play and to see if his ceiling was as high as experts said it was.
In 2014 the Sixers drafted Joel Embiid with the third pick from the University of Kansas by way of Cameroon. Embiid, still very raw, had only been playing basketball for a handful of years up until that point. He also was damaged goods The Sixers drafted Embiid knowing that he would have to sit out the full year. Even from the beginning of his career Embiid had been under pressure and scrutiny and his mentality was called into question. Famously, the night he was drafted there was a tape delay from wherever he was watching that showed him for a minute or so stone faced as the commissioner called his name making him a Sixer. We were all blinded by Embiid’s promise and talent being able to look past most of his immaturities not realizing they would linger with him this long. His twitter trolling, his attempts to win Rihanna’s affection and his shocking consumption of Shirley temples were all funny talking points while the Sixers kept tanking. Embiid sat out his first two seasons while we all waited patiently for him to be unleashed on the Association. It paid off. Embiid became a dominant big man and an undeniable scoring threat. Arguably one of the most talented scorers to ever do it. From 2021-2023 Embiid was appointment TV, a league pass superstar. He averaged around 31-11-4 and won an MVP in that time. Still a championship had eluded us and his mental struggles plague him and the team.
The Sixers tried. Simmons, Butler, and Harden were all run out of town. Second round playoff losses still piled up and Embiid’s championship mentality was continued to be called into question. Nothing worked. We were teased a little bit with Maxey and Embiid becoming a star duo but Joel’s body is failing him.
This year started with so much hope. Singing Maxey to his big deal, Embiid was going to learn from the best in the Olympics and get healthy and work on his conditioning and the team signed free agent prize Paul Geroge in the offseason. Record Scratch. Paul George has struggled as he’s dealt with injuries and age, very noticeably not playing to the level he is capable of. Embiid’s knee has gotten worse to the point of barely functioning..I guess the Olympics were a bad idea.. and Maxey is still Maxey. Not all hope is lost the Sixers do have a bright future with Tyrese Maxey and now Jared McCain two draft night steals and two Tasmanian devils seeking to test NBA defense’s cardiovascular systems for the foreseeable future. Even with Maxey and McCain to lean on, The Sixers future is still foggy and hard to predict.
I’m a positive person and have had a lot of patience with the Sixers (I thought Andrew Bynum was going to play) and I directed a lot of the positivity toward the team. I always have hope that a team can turn it around. It’s happened before. Though, this year it’s not. It’s been hard to stay positive especially with Embiid. I love Joel and have argued in his favor a lot over the years after he kept coming up short in big moments. I was pro him playing in the Olympics when most people said it wasn’t the right thing to do. It’s sad to see him in this situation whether you believe he put himself in it or not. It’s a sad situation for all of us. I love the Sixers. They were the team of my youth. The image of the Iverson step over is more iconic to me than that picture of the two people kissing in Times Square.
This is the reality we live in now. A June parade down Broad Street is more a mirage than an oasis at this point. Shut down the big man and start over. How the Sixers do that I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.
Trust the process.
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