Sixers hit new low, fans not to blame for Knicks’ take-over
@KnicksDan via X
As everyone is well aware, Knicks fans took over the Wells Fargo Center Sunday afternoon in their 97-92 win.
While 76ers fans outnumbered those who made the drive down from New York, the “MVP” chants for Jalen Brunson, who dropped a franchise playoff record 47, were much louder than anything Sixers fans could come up with.
It was visible, it was hearable, and most importantly, it was embarrassing.
The energy from the thousands of Knicks fans was there during Game 3 on Thursday, too, but it hit a new low in Game 4. And it was the same story we have seen from the Sixers year in and year out. In a high-pressure playoff game, their basketball IQ was non-existent, Joel Embiid was completely gassed, and no one could score down the stretch.
After the game was nothing the city had ever seen. Something not even imaginable. It was a party for those in the blue and orange in the concourse and outside the arena:
Philly fans take over opposing stadiums all the time. Eagles fans seem to do it for every away game. We have invaded Washington D.C. multiple times, Brooklyn, North Jersey, and even Los Angeles. But our own building being completely taken over in the playoffs is something Philadelphia is not used to. It is unsettling, gut-wrenching, and flat-out shameful.
Embiid took notice. After the game, he said that it “pissed” him off:
This would never happen across the street, either at the Linc or the Bank. Except for maybe Mets fans during the really bad Phillies years, there never has been any sort of invasion by another foreign fan base in this city. And never in the playoffs. Nothing close to this. And there have been New York-Philadelphia playoff series in the past. The Phils faced the Yankees in the 2009 World Series. Nothing.
A few things go into this. And it starts at the top.
The Sixers are owned by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. Sound familiar? Oh yeah, because they also own the New Jersey Devils AND the Washington Commanders.
They put thousands of tickets up on secondary market ticket sites to ring the register as much as possible. To this ownership, it is all about the dollar. Not the product on the court/field/ice, fan experience, or anything.
They seem to make it impossible for the common fan to attend not just a playoff game, but even a Monday night in January. My family was looking into tickets for Sunday’s game, and just to be in the building was over $200. And they knew Knicks fans would get their hands on it because it is much cheaper than going to Madison Square Garden for a game.
And for Sixers fans, by playoff time, the crowd is more just for who can afford it. Not the true real fan who has been through the ups and downs of the process and all 82 games this season. It results in the exact opposite of the famous playoff atmospheres seen over at the Linc in January and at CBP for Red October. This would never happen under owners like Jeffrey Lurie with the Eagles or John Middleton with the Phillies. Those are genuine, real fans.
Of course, season ticket holders do have a role in this. How many of those are there really? I do not know. But, can you blame them for selling their ticket?
While you would think they would try and give it to a Sixers fan they may know rather than leave it up to the secondary market where New Yorkers were waiting to jump on them would make more sense. Well, a lot of those who have season tickets may not exactly think like that.
Season tickets are expensive. I know some people who own them. After spending thousands for the regular season, why would you want to go in the playoffs to be disappointed for the seventh straight year, especially against New York, where you can try and make some money back?
No one believes in the Sixers, and not like the underdog Eagles.
No one believed in this 2024 team going into the postseason and four games in, it seems fair. It goes beyond this specific roster and even this specific front office. This is the seventh consecutive year the Sixers will have an early and embarrassing playoff exit.
People will not show up to this series because the Sixers’ superstar, role players, and management have given them no reasons to expect this postseason to be different from any of the others during this era.
There has been no juice with this team all year. They have been trending downward ever since they lost Games 6 and 7 last year to the Celtics while up 3-2. Match that with the fact that the Knicks are finally good with a potential franchise player after years of being absolutely horrible, you get this.
Going back to the Phillies, we have invested a lot of our money and time into them and they have actually returned it with deep and exciting runs the last two years with players and an ownership who get it. The Sixers have given us a whole lot of nothing.
That is why we do not think it is worth it to show up, invest our time and money, or even care.
And the players, most notably the face of the franchise, Embiid, are “pissed off” because we did not want to show up? Look at yourself in the mirror, the ones writing your paycheck, and around the city.
At some point the same movie gets old. We have watched the same story over and over and over again. Seven years in a row. The star player can barely play because of injury, the supporting cast is about as good as a lifeguard at the Swimming Olympics, and coming up short in crunch time.
How much longer can this truly go on for?
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