76ers Front Office and Ownership Fail Team and Fans Following Sweep

Josh Harris and Daryl Morey, you should be ashamed to be in charge of the 76ers.

Despite suffering seasons where the team only won 10 games, and seasons that ended in Game 7 heartbreaks in the playoffs, this season for the Philadelphia 76ers may top the all-time embarrassment list for the team and its fans.

It’s incredible how a team in one week can go from igniting fight and excitement in a city, and then all of a sudden put on some of the most embarrassing displays of basketball you’ve ever seen. A task that seems impossible, but when it comes to disappointment, there’s nothing that the 76ers can do.

After years, and in technicality, decades since the 76ers pulled off a playoff series win over their bitter rivals, the Boston Celtics. This year, Philadelphia once again found itself in another series against the C’s in the first round of the playoffs, and dug quite the hole to start the series, going down 3-1. However, Joel Embiid was still working his way back, just trying to get some reps, and following that Game 4 loss, Embiid did the impossible, helping and leading the 76ers to a 3-1 comeback, winning the series over Boston.

It was a historic series, one that ignited Philadelphia to possibly believe that they could actually make a run in a weak Eastern Conference.

Unfortunately for them, they ran into the New York Knicks. Another hated rival of the team, and they managed to put on one of the most embarrassing series performances in the franchise’s history, getting swept in four games, with only one of the games really feeling like an actual equal contest.

From blowouts to dogfights to Knicks fans turning Xfinity Mobile Arena into essentially Madison Square Garden, the series was a complete disaster. The final game of the series was the worst of all as the 76ers were blown out, losing 144-114.

It was the most points the Knicks have scored in a playoff game in their franchise’s history, and they also tied the NBA record for most three-pointers made by a team in a playoff game with 25. They hit 18 of them in the first half, which also tied the record for most in any regular-season or postseason half in league history.

The whole game summed up the entire series against the Knicks. Not only were they a better team, but the 76ers were not as deep; they lacked the true grit and effort compared to New York, and if we’re being honest, this series and playoff run were over before it even started.

READ MORE FROM GAME 4:

76ers Showed No Fight in Game 4, and That’s How Their Season Ends: ‘Nothing’s Going Our Way’

Now, this is not going to be me giving excuses for the players and coaching on the court, but back in February, Joel Embiid spoke to the media just before the NBA trade deadline, asking for the 76ers front office to make a move that could help this team win in the playoffs.

So what did 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey do? He traded one of the best young pieces on their bench, Jared McCain, to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Rockets’ first-rounder this year (No. 22 in this year’s draft) and three second-round picks. Getting rid of McCain created a hole in the backup point guard position for the 76ers for the remainder of the year, and it showed come playoff time.

Tyrese Maxey was forced to play heavy minutes throughout these playoffs, causing him to show signs of slowing down towards the finale of the playoff series. Maxey played in 40 minutes or more in all but three games for Philadelphia this postseason, and in those three games, the 76ers were blown out by 30 or more. He was worn out, and you saw it on the court and in the stats, as in the Knicks series, Maxey averaged 18.3 points, 4.8 assists, and 2.5 rebounds. His shots weren’t falling, and other than a hobbling, injured Embiid, a 35-year-old Paul George, and a rookie VJ Edgecombe, he had no help in terms of scoring and production.

Meaning the Knicks, who not only have a great starting lineup, were loaded in bench depth that could ease the minutes and help the other stars on the Knicks, like Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, be at 100% throughout the game.

The 76ers’ bench and rotation as a whole were just not up to par in terms of a playoff-caliber group. At one point, in this series, the 76ers’ bench went nine quarters, combining for just 10 total points, and in total got outscored this postseason 394-224 in bench points. Meanwhile, former 76ers on the Knicks, like Landry Shamet, were scoring 10 points in a single quarter.

Now, some might ask, “What kind of bench could the 76ers have had?” Besides McCain, who’s thriving with OKC shooting 62.5% from three, scoring 6.4 points a game. Six points might not seem like a lot, but when a bench as a whole is averaging under six a game, it seems like enough.

You then have another man on the Thunder’s bench named Isaiah Joe, who was cut by the 76ers back in 2022 to open a bench spot for the possible cut players following that season’s trade deadline. The 76ers ended up signing Dwayne Dedmon, who played nine total games and 81 minutes for the 76ers. Meanwhile, Joe has become a prominent bench piece for the Thunder, helping them win a title last season and this year, averaging 7.7 points and shooting 40.0% from three this postseason.

And then maybe the worst of all is Julian Champagnie. A former undrafted player in the 76ers organization, who they cut to open up a roster spot for Mac McClung so that he could wear a 76ers jersey in the dunk contest back in 2023. Champagnie is now starting for the Spurs while averaging 10.8 points and 5.9 rebounds, while shooting 55% from three.

All three of those players could be giving the 76ers either starting run time or series bench production with a 76ers team that managed to make it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals on its own as it is. Having a competent and reliable bench that can ease the pain of long playoff minutes from this group would do wonders for this team. But no, they decide to have their guys play 40+ minutes a night and just hope they can hit enough shots to win.

“I think you always got to continue to improve your team,” 76ers head coach Nick Nurse said after Game 4 about how the Sixers have to work towards improving their young talent so that an instance like this postseason doesn’t happen in the future. “I think that the pace of play is changing a lot. I think we’ve got to keep developing some of these younger guys, get them to where they’re for sure, playoff rotational players and just continue to build that way.”

The malpractice Morey has done to this franchise has set them back decades, possibly, and if it weren’t for getting a steal in Maxey at pick No. 21 in his draft, and them sucking last year and getting Edgecombe at No. 3, Embiid would have no successful teammates that he could rely on to help him win.

They’ve failed year after year. Ben Simmons quit, Tobias Harris stole $180 million and then quit, Markelle Fultz was awful, James Harden, Morey’s guy in Houston, eventually quit as well. The 76ers have had 15 first-round picks since 2014, and only three are left. They’ve failed to provide for this group, and with Embiid set to have his three-year max extension kick in next year, there isn’t much they can do to really change this team.

“I love Philly. I’ve been here my whole career, and a lot has happened,” Embiid said on Sunday. “We haven’t won, but it’s hard. I’ve been doing this for a long time. It’s hard to win in this league. Everybody has to be on the same page. Everybody has to play the best basketball at the same time. It takes a lot to win, and I’m disappointed that once again we didn’t get to accomplish that goal.”

So not only did this team fail on the court, but off the court, it failed as well. The most embarrassing part of this series is the fact that Knicks fans turned the 76ers’ arena into essentially a home game, coming in boatloads to Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Every time Miles McBride scored three, they screamed out “Duceeee,” and every time Matt Cord tried to get the 76ers fans to get a chant going, Knicks fans would drown it out by starting a “Let’s Go Knicks” chant. It got so bad that you had former Villanova Wildcat Josh Hart questioning if Philadelphia is still a sports town.

Josh Hart: “I used to think Philly was a sports town. I don’t know anymore.”

— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) May 10, 2026

Embiid summed it up pretty point-blank on how it felt to have Knicks fans take over the 76ers arena following Game 3.

“Disappointing,” Embiid said. “I love our fans. Think it’s unfortunate, and I’m not calling them out, but it is disappointing. I’ve never seen it, and I’ve been here for 10 years. Yeah, it kind of pisses me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town. They’ve always shown up, and I don’t think that should happen.”

Josh Harris has turned this organization into a laughing stock of the league. While they’re not a bottom-of-the-barrel team year in and year out like some franchises, each year it’s an annual joke about how this team is going to lose in the playoffs and how they can’t get past the second round in the East.

From once being considered a top-of-the-league organization with top-of-the-league fans, Harris ruined the credibility of the 76ers, its players, its coaching staff, and most importantly, the fans themselves. It’s embarrassing now to root for the 76ers and call yourself a fan of them. It’s embarrassing to root for Embiid and the sacrifices he’s made to this team and this city because it just gets downplayed to his failures.

Harris and Co. have made it possible to accept mediocrity and the failure that is the 76ers organization. I’d like to say things will change one day, as maybe Harris will sell to an owner who actually cares enough to invest in a winning basketball team, but come 2031, when the 76ers move to their new arena, Harris will actually own 50% of that building as well.

Philadelphia deserves better. They deserve better owners who trust the decisions made by their team and help prevent incidents like the past series from Knicks fans. They deserve a president of basketball operations who can make smart moves to set up this organization to be a winner for years to come. They deserve a basketball team that can reflect the style that Philadelphians show every day. Tough, hard-nosed, and passionate to win. Hopefully, one day, that day will come. However, until then, it’s going to be a never-ending cycle of second-round losers jokes and takeovers on your home court.

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