After much anticipation, the official schedule for the upcoming 2025-26 regular season has finally been released. For the Philadelphia 76ers, that means that the coaching staff can finally set their plans into motion, from strategic rest management with their oft-injured stars to gauging just how long their experimentation phase could last.
Now, players will always say that they will treat every game the same, but that is just glib, plain sailing. As everyone knows, some contests bear more heft than the others, and that is definitely the case for the 76ers, a team which undoubtedly in the middle of some meaty narratives from both a player and team standpoint.
The 76ers fortunately have a more forgiving slate of games to start the season off, which plays perfectly to the fact that Joel Embiid and Paul George could very well miss the start of the season. As a result, Philly can quickly mount a good record right off the bat.
But if we were to pick a game that should have the passionate 76ers fanbase craving for popcorn, it’s definitely the one scheduled on March 4, 2026.
The 76ers face the Jazz and Ace Bailey in what could be a revenge game on the fourth of March
As scheduled, Philadelphia will host Utah on the fourth of March in the next calendar year, and barring any injuries, that will be the first time that rookie Ace Bailey will set foot in the 76ers’ turf.
Hosting rookies is nowhere near anything novel, but Bailey’s pre-draft shenanigans — which prominently featured the 76ers as well as he and his camp’s seeming disdain for the prospect of him landing in Philly — struck a lot of nerves among the fanbase.
As one might recall, Beiley went to great lengths just to avoid the 76ers. Ultimately, he landed with the Jazz, which ironically was also not part of his rumored pre-draft wish list.
Unsurprisingly, Philly did not get tempted by the impending drama, going ahead and drafting VJ Edgecombe with the third overall pick. That selection already looks like the best choice they could have made thanks to the Baylor star’s eye-popping performance in his short Summer League stint.
Philadelphia 76ers fans will probably not shower Ace Bailey with praises. That is a given. But in all honesty, the Jazz rookie should already expect a cold environment the moment his name is called or when he touches the rock. Count on it.