Let's Appreciate The #1 Seed Sixers
Let's Appreciate The #1 Seed Sixers
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He has been legally banned from covering the team in person, and when that ban was set to be lifted, Covid-19 struck. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
If you’re reading this, it’s finally official: the Philadelphia 76ers have clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They distanced themselves from the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks en route to an incredibly impressive accomplishment — one that the organization has not had since before I was born (yeah, you should feel old).
The Sixers had a stranglehold around the top seed early on in the year. It was an encouraging development, of course, but it never felt exactly like a sign of things to come.
They are the Sixers, after all. These are the Sixers who blew every lead you could blow, the Sixers who would miss out on the value at every margin and the Sixers who continually fail to survive when their best player hit the bench.
So when the Nets beat out the Sixers in the pursuit of James Harden, settling for the second seed ahead of Milwaukee seemed like more than a respectable outcome for this team. But with every passing night, the Sixers kept themselves firmly in the race. They gave themselves more opportunities to challenge a team that many believed to be simply too powerful. And yet… here we are.
As we can see now, the Sixers are no underdogs. This is a team spearheaded by a legitimate MVP candidate, as Joel Embiid has given them the best season of his career. Embiid’s MVP case will likely fall just short, but his utter dominance when healthy has been a true joy to watch.
Also having an excellent season is Ben Simmons, who on top of being a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate has taken command of non-Embiid minutes in a way we haven’t seen since the spring of 2018.
Tobias Harris had what was perhaps the best transformation of all: from the nice guy but maddening player to legitimate All-Star level talent. Harris has been a stabilizing rock on offense and surprisingly effective on defense. He has ascended into one of the better players in the NBA.
Role players like Danny Green and Seth Curry deserve credit as well. Both have been integral in establishing an environment that allows the big three to succeed so massively.
And last but certainly not least, hats off to new Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey and Head Coach Doc Rivers, who have worked in tandem to craft a truly wonderful and cohesive basketball team. Neither one came into an easy situation, but both have made the best of their circumstances all year long.
Of course, what matters is what the Sixers do with this advantage. Nobody will care about getting the top seed if they can’t capitalize on it and make a playoff run. But anyone who has watched this team for the last several years has to feel something tonight.
With that being said, the truth is that we all have endless saddening memories of the Sixers failing at the worst times and in the most dramatic fashions. From Aron Baynes corner threes, to Kawhi’s four bounces, to Emmanuel Mudiay and Jae Crowder, to Al Horford picking-and-popping in green and missing-and-clapping in red white and blue, this is a team that has a master’s degree in finding heartbreaking ways to lose.
So even as the top seed began to seem more and more realistic, I think everyone still felt some nerves. They’re the Sixers, after all, and fumbling such an excellent opportunity is a classic gaffe one would expect this team to make. They made it a bit harder than it needed to be over the last few nights. But tonight, they finally made it official. So let’s give a round of applause for these Sixers, who rarely fell at the hands of typical Sixers moments.
And now, for the first time in 20 years, the Eastern Conference playoffs will run through Philadelphia.
