Long before the current Sixers season went sideways, one of their fans, a 31-year-old CDL trucker named Ricky Pope III, rearranged his work schedule to afford himself a greater opportunity to get to games in the Wells Fargo Center. There would presumably be much to see, much to celebrate.
But the team never hit its stride, and now is limping toward the finish line. What lies beyond is unclear, whether the Sixers lose enough to retain their top-six-protected first-round pick or not.
In fact, uncertainty seemed to be the prevailing emotion among those fans who were interviewed for this piece: How do Daryl Morey and Co. fix this, particularly in light of the cap-hogging contracts doled out to Joel Embiid and Paul George last offseason? Both have since sustained season-ending injuries, and it’s an open question as to whether either will be able regain his previous form.
Pope offered his own opinion as he sat in a corner of the lower bowl Wednesday night alongside his young son, Ricky IV, before the Sixers fell to 23-50 courtesy of a 119-114 loss to a 16-56 Washington outfit.
“We’ve got to get rid of Embiid,” Pope said. “It’s too many problems.”
He mentioned George, too, but “the main problem” in his mind is the veteran center.
“We’re wasting money at this point,” Pope said. “How many games are you gonna miss? We might as well get Dwight Howard. I’ll take him. At least we know he’s gonna play like a champion.”
Tough sell, considering Howard, four years removed from his time as the Sixers’ backup center, is 39 and last played in Taiwan in 2023. And no one’s taking Embiid off your hands, given the three-year, $193 million extension he signed last offseason, keeping him under contract through the 2028-29 season.
Another fan, Matt Pollard, said Embiid and George — he of the four-year, $212 million deal — are “pretty much untradeable,” meaning the Sixers are “kind of stuck the way they are.”
Pollard, a junior finance/management major at the University of Delaware, was seated in the eighth row behind the scorer’s table with his parents, Mark and Elizabeth. The family has had season tickets since Matt’s grandfather first bought them in 1970, meaning the Pollards have seen their share of ups and downs.
“Lately,” Matt said, “it’s been a lot of downs. There were ups back in the day.”
He was wearing a blue Phillies throwback jersey, which seemed appropriate, since the Phils will now be running cover for the Sixers, just as the Eagles had. The only time the pro basketball team seems to attract attention is when things go horribly wrong, as they often do. Pollard went so far as to call this season “a worst-case scenario,” and sees little reason for optimism going forward.
“They’re going to tell everyone, ‘Oh, next year we’re gonna be healthy. Everything will be fine,’” he said. “But I’m not sure if that’s actually how it will be. With Embiid, I don’t know if he’ll be able to play a full game, because he has all these injuries. He’s only getting older, and it will only get worse, probably. And then same thing with Paul George.”
“Paul George,” said another fan, Greg Lackey, “was a mistake.”
Lackey, a 70-year-old retiree, has been a season-ticket holder for 32 years. He has also renewed for next season, and the one after. Still, he wonders what repairs might be possible.
“I mean, draft picks this year, maybe?” he said. “You shuffle the deck. They did get younger. (Quentin) Grimes is younger. (Guerschon) Yabusele’s younger. I don’t think (Jared) Butler will be back, some of the others. I think (Justin) Edwards will be back.”
A nucleus featuring Tyrese Maxey, the above young ’uns (presuming Grimes and Yabu can be re-signed), Jared McCain and a high first-round pick has some promise, but hardly reeks of championship potential. Some creativity is clearly in order.
“It’s a business,” Pope said, “so now we’ve gotta make business decisions. Morey needs to step it up.”
Until then, we’re left with games like Wednesday’s, and images like the one of Kyle Wallace, who sat in the back row of Section 202. A 31-year-old graphic artist, he was wearing a black Eagles cap and munching on chicken fingers and crab fries before tip. A soft drink was in the cup holder of his seat, which he said he had purchased for $15.
“It’s hard to watch,” he said of Sixers games.
Nine games to go now. Thirty-six quarters. Then the team will slip out of sight for a time, in hopes of someday being noticed for all the right reasons. Clearly, though, there are those fans who are, ya know, processing all that is happening before them, and wondering if a satisfactory conclusion is even possible. Or if it is just a prelude to a fall.