Can Philadelphia 76ers add another championship to city?

Has the city of Philadelphia has caught something? Can the unheralded Philadelphia 76ers add an NBA Championship to the city’s growing list of national titles?

The city of Philadelphia has known championship droughts. Even as recently as 2015, the city had a 10-72 record with the Philadelphia 76ers, had just fired Chip Kelly as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, and was not contesting for any national accolades in any sport. Now the Philadelphia Eagles are the defending Super Bowl Champions, and Villanova has just won it’s second NCAA National Championship in three years. This season, the Philadelphia 76ers are not only in the playoffs, but they are fighting for a 3-seed. That is pretty impressive for a first-time-returning-NBA team. But today belongs to the Villanova Wildcats, and their second championship victory in the past three years.

So now the question is, what’s happened to Philadelphia?

Blue Collar to Silver and Gold Trophy Case

Philadelphia fans deserve success. In fact, they are overdue. Despite the recent Super Bowl win by the Philadelphia Eagles, the team has long been the target of no-name-sports-talking-heads who try to gain instant popularity by bad-mouthing the city of brotherly love.  Suddenly, the city, her fans, and her sports teams are fighting back.

Perhaps the easiest target of all was the Philadelphia 76ers. Bankrupted in virtually every sense of the word, the Sixers tightened up their purse strings and began to save for tomorrow. All the while, pundits ridiculed an NBA team which, already bad, didn’t follow the straight and narrow path to overspend and fight the inevitable. Instead, the team embraced the bad, and as a result, embraced the future at the expense of the present.

He who laughs last

The 76ers rise to the top did not begin in the 2017-2018 season. Rather, it began in 2014 when the team did the unthinkable. A team with immediate needs drafted players who would not play in the NBA for two years. By doing so, the Sixers landed two NBA starters, but even moreso, the team acted like a champion.

They built a champion worthy training facility. The team hired champion-caliber support staff. And the team designed a team and scheme to compete for championships, despite not yet having the talent to do so. Pace, Space, and Pass became second nature.  Then the team landed Ben Simmons with the top pick of the 2016 NBA Draft. Then the team landed Markelle Fultz with the top pick of the 2017 NBA Draft.  Now, at 46-30 with six games remaining, some are beginning to see the team as NBA Championship worthy.

We can see it happening too.

Championships are elusive and unpredictable

Anyone who watched the Philadelphia Eagles on their march to the Super Bowl victory knows that championships are won by perseverance, effort, skill, and some luck.  So far, the Philadelphia 76ers have known luck, but not of the good variety. For example, Joel Embiid is out due to a freak mishap, and won’t be back until the playoffs.  In fact, Markelle Fultz spent most of his time this season on the bench.  That pattern of top draft picks sitting out for a year has been the Philadelphia 76ers way so far.

Next: Roundtable: What should you expect from Markelle Fultz down the stretch?

This year, something is different. It happened with the Philadelphia Eagles winning the Super Bowl. The young Philadelphia 76ers witnessed the entire city pay homage to her football team. Now, with that taste of admiration in their mindset, they are after the same feeling for themselves.  They have strung together a ten game winning streak, and boast an NBA top-five point differential.  But most of all, they get increasingly better with each game that they play.  Yes, thinking about the Philadelphia 76ers winning an NBA Championship this year is rather optimistic. But so was winning 50 games back in 2017, yet here they are.  It’s time Philadelphia 76ers fans learn to be a little optimistic.  After all, nobody else believed in the Eagles.  And we know how that story ended.