Marcus Smart joining the Lakers after spending most of his career with the Celtics is one of the more surprising developments this offseason. Over the years, the Philadelphia 76ers have also had their fair share of these instances, with players hopping into rival teams after their respective stints with the franchise.
Some of those departures were made even more unbearable by the fact that they flourished with rival clubs. From longtime veterans to up-and-comers, the 76ers have seen it all, and some fans remain bitter at some of these reversals.
Here are four players who crossed the enemy line after initially suiting up for Philly.
Four 76ers players who joined rival teams after playing for the franchise
1. Al Horford
We are admittedly cheating a little bit with this one as Horford has already played for the Celtics for three seasons before he joined the 76ers in the summer of 2019. But with the former All-Star turning in a very forgettable and brief stint in Philly, largely due to being a fundamental misfit, his return to Boston, where he eventually won a championship, makes him a rather unpopular figure in the city.
Horford’s uncanny tendency to lock up superstars when it matters the most, like he did against Joel Embiid not too long ago, was even more painstaking. Now, he seems to be a lock to head elsewhere, and the Celtics are ready to part with him while the 76ers will also not see him as much moving forward.
2. Ben Simmons
The Nets are not necessarily a fierce rival for the 76ers, but inter-division trades rarely occur, more so with blockbuster ones. Hence, Ben Simmons getting shipped to Brooklyn (with James Harden heading to Philly) early on in 2022 technically counts as him “joining” the dark side.
Wait, that doesn’t make a lot of sense, right? Well think of it this way — had Simmons been healthy, he would have made a huge difference for the Nets, which still has Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving at the time, throwing a huge curveball on the 76ers. Ultimately, he didn’t even get close to doing that, and to make matters worse, he is rumored to be getting closer to joining the Celtics, an even bigger rival of the 76ers.
3. Evan Turner
The second overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft did not exactly live up to his billing, but he had a respectable 10-year career. And although he is more known nowadays spewing his weekly dose of inane takes, he was quite the productive player for the 76ers in his first 3.5 seasons with the franchise as their nominal point forward.
Turner eventually got dealt in 2014 to Indiana, and after an unceremonious stint there, he went to Boston for a couple of years. He helped lead the Celtics to the playoffs on both seasons playing the same role he filled in Philadelphia, although the 76ers were busy tanking back then, making his act of heading to Boston way more tolerable.
4. Thaddeus Young
A highly respected veteran, Thaddeus Young had a lengthy 17-year career in the NBA, the first seven years of which he spent in Philadelphia. He was a beloved figure for 76ers fans when he played for the franchise, and he was also the most productive as a Sixer.
The crafty power forward then went on to play for two Atlantic Division rivals in Brooklyn and Toronto, although both of those stints did not last long. But while Young technically joined the “enemies”, he will surely remain one of the more well-loved ex-players among the fanbase for quite a while.