The Celtics are dead. Jayson Tatum was too dinged up to play in Game 7 and then after losing Game 7, Jaylen Brown rushed to his Twitch account to complain and cry to the internet.
Nearly 7 years ago, Kawhi Leonard hit the dagger three that upended the trajectory of the Philadelphia 76ers. For seven years I expected disaster to follow hope, but I never stopped hoping.
I hoped James Harden would find consistency, I hoped JJ Reddick would play defense, I hoped Jo would stay healthy, Ben would learn which hand to shoot with, Jimmy Butler could get through to them, Doc Rivers would get fired, and pray that we’d make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. Never have I ever stopped hoping that Joel Embiid gets his flowers and that this City gets to feel the excitement of a successful NBA franchise.
Hope felt stupid as the Sixers would line up each offseason only to have their efforts undone in seemingly more and more bizarre ways.
If it’s not Ben Simmons, James Harden or Tobias Harris melting down, it’s Bells Palsy and this post season it appeared that our Boogie-man was appendicitis. But Joel Embiid said “fuck that shit” and put an Al Horford-less Boston Celtics team to sleep.
This playoff run may feel like it’s a bonus, we were a 7th seed with no real business competing for a championship… people thought the same thing about the 2017 Eagles until Nick Foles threw for 353 yards in the NFC Championship. Championships can come in all shapes and sizes. The MLB is in Dynasty Mode with the world attempting to steal the Dodgers Throne, but the Seahawks just stole a weird “where did that come from” Lombardi Trophy.
Hope can feel like a trap, but it’s the only thing that makes fandom worth it.
The Boston Celtics are the number one, biggest and baddest foe of the Philadelphia 76ers, akin only to the Atlanta Braves through the early-2000s against the Phillies in lopsided-ness of rivalries.
Slaying that Dragon in the first round of the NBA playoffs is a potential recipe for one of two things:
- Complacency
- Momentum
The danger is complacency. If we simply celebrate slaying the dragon, we will forget about the dragon in front of us.
The Knicks are not our real rival, they have accomplished nothing in the last 20 years the same way the Sixers have. Their stars are worse than our stars. However, they are just as obnoxious as us.
The Sixers have a rare chance to be the heroes of the NBA. We are the ultimate underdog due to the injury-prone nature of Paul George and Joel Embiid, everyone the Sixers have to play against are hated for one reason or another. If the Sixers can somehow achieve the impossible and spend this Summer slaying dragons from Tatum to SGA, it will be the greatest story ever told.
Hope is dangerous, but a life well lived is a life filled with ups and downs. It’s time to buy into the Sixers and never waiver an inch.
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