Joel Embiid Is Right About 76ers Fans, The Knicks Takeover is Embarrassing
A lot of embarrassing things happened in game 4 at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers offense disappeared at the start of the 2nd quarter and for all of the 4th. Joel Embiid himself had only 1 point in the 4th. Their rebounding was embarrassing. It was just an overall poor effort in front of a home crowd.
But that brings us to something else embarrassing. Because was that a home crowd? There was a lot of orange in the stands, and I don’t think it was Sixers fans chanting MVP when Jalen Brunson was at the line.
We have seen the Wells Fargo get taken over before. It happened to the Flyers when the Rangers came to town. But that was a regular season game, and the Flyers were out of contention when that happened. This is a playoff game. And we let an opposing fanbase come in and be louder than the local fans.
Joel Embiid Calls It Out, And Fans Are Mad At Him
“Disappointed. I love our fans, but I think it’s unfortunate. I’m not calling them out, but it is disappointing. You have a lot of Knicks fans, I’ve never seen it and I’ve been here for 10 years. It kinda pisses me off. Especially cause Philly is considered a Sports Town. they have always shown up, and I don’t think that should happen. It’s not okay.”- Joel Embiid
These comments, combined with fans already being upset about the loss, and his 4th quarter performance, had many in the city upset. Here is the thing though, he is right. It is embarrassing, and fans should be called out for it.
Joel Embiid Is Right About Sixers Fans
We can’t call ourselves the most passionate fans in the country, and then let that happen. It is very clear right now that the Knicks fans care more than we do. Their own building was rocking, and then they traveled to Philly to be loud here as well.
That is the type of thing we are used to doing to other teams. There have been Eagles games across the country that feel like a home game. When that happened, we justifiably called out those fanbases for letting us take over their building. Now that the table is turned, we are in our feelings when we get called out.
Is it because the Sixers have disappointed us so much in the past that we just didn’t care as much this time? I’m sure that plays a part. But you know what we call fans who only care when things are good? Front Runners.
We have made fun of other fanbases for that. We hold ourselves up as some gold standard, but then we let another fanbase take over our building in the playoffs.
It is not an excuse. Joel Embiid and the other Sixers players deserve to be called out for their pathetic effort on Sunday. It is just another in a long line of this franchise coming up short when it counts. Fans are justified in their anger about the product that was on the court.
Likewise, we deserve to be called out for letting Knicks fans do that in our building. That part is on us. If the tables were turned, and Sixers fans took over Madison Square Garden, we would never shut up about it. We would use it as ammo against Knicks fans.
We can’t call ourselves the best sports town and then let that happen. While we might be mad at Embiid for coming up small at the end of game 4, he is right to call us out for what happened in the stands. Both the Sixers, and Sixers fans, embarrassed ourselves on Sunday.
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A Cup of Coffee: 10 Philadelphia Sixers Players Better Known With Other Teams
Nikola Vucevic
Vucevic has had a nice career between the Magic and Bulls. But he started out as a rookie that Doug Collins refused to give too many minutes to. The next offseason after being drafted, he was part of the now infamous deal for Andrew Bynum. He went on to make two All-Star games. Bynum never played a minute for the Sixers.
Kwame Brown
One of the most famous NBA busts had a cup of coffee with the Sixers. The Warriors sent him to the Bucks as part of the Andrew Bogut trade. The Bucks cut him soon after though. He signed a 2-year deal with the Sixers, but played in only 22 games and was cut before the second season of his contract. He nearly had as many personal fouls (37) as he did points (41) while with the Sixers. It was the last chance in the NBA he ever got.
Glenn Robinson
The Sixers tried so hard to find the second scoring option behind Allen Iverson. One of the guys they tried, was Glenn Robinson. He was very good with the Bucks, usually averaging over 20 points per game. He was not bad with the Sixers, but he was not that same guy. He played just 42 games here and averaged 16 points per game. He was injured for his entire 2nd season here and then got traded.
JaVale McGee
McGee is perhaps best known for his frequent appearances on Shaqtin a Fool. Its gave him a bit of an unfair repuation. Did he make some bone headed plays in his career? Yes. But he was also a 3-time champion, an Olympic Gold Medalist, and a physical presence on defense.
His time with the Sixers was know memorable at all though. The Nuggets shipped him here, along with a first round pick, and the rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum, as a pure salary dump. He played just 6 games here.
Toni Kucoc
Kucoc won 3 NBA Finals with the Bulls, was 6th Man of The Year in the 1995-1995 season, and won pretty much every award you can as a Basketball player when over in Europe. He was a significant piece of the Bulls second run of 3 straight championships. But he did not get much time with the Sixers.
He was decent in the 1999 -2000 season, averaging 12 points per game. But the next season he was part of the trade that landed the Sixers Dikembe Motumbo. In the end, he played in only 80 total games here, averaging a little over 8 points per game.
Dwight Howard
Obviously we don’t forget he played here. It is too recent. But he will be one of those guys where we look back one day and go “Oh yea, he did play here.”. Howard was probably one of the best backups for Embiid. He only lasted one year here. And like so many backup bigs before him, he disappeared in the playoff.
Chris Webber
Not sure if anyone forgets his time here, so maybe it doesn’t quite fit the brief. But Webber is a superstar, who had a disappointing cup of coffee in Philly. Webber was supposed to come here and finally be the guy to be AI’s Co-Star. It never quite worked out. He was injured for parts of his first season, had a decent first full season here, but then was benched in year 3.
