The Sixers' Vacation From Accountability Is Almost Over

Spike reminds the Sixers that all (well, more) eyes will finally be on their disaster season following the All-Star break.

The question of who benefited most from the Eagles’ Super Bowl run is an interesting one. It could be us fans, who now get to puff our chests out and say “which one” any time someone asks how much the Super Bowl meant to us. It could be the players whose legacies and Hall of Fame chances are directly impacted. Maybe it’s Howie Roseman, who is now among the most elite of executives, or perhaps Jeffrey Lurie, whose organization is now probably worth a little bit more than the $10 billion it already was.

The Sixers should not be left off this list.

While die-hards like us have spent the last eight weeks tearing our hair out over the worst Philadelphia sports season in the last 30 years (yes, the worst of any of the four major sports teams in Philadelphia since 1995) most people have just been ignoring it. They’re vaguely aware of what’s going on, and if it’s brought up you get the cursory “they should trade Embiid” or “fire Morey” or “sell the team,” but you can tell their hearts and minds just aren’t into it.

There was no better example of this than the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday. The Sixers were lucky enough to play in the Hubie Brown Bowl against the Giannis-less Bucks and get their asses kicked all over the court, even with our three best players all active. But this was not even the best part! The best part was that Lisa Salters mentioned that Joel Embiid had told her he was likely to have an off-season surgery that would have an extended recovery time.

While Embiid (sort of) walked this back after the game, in any other Philadelphia sports situation this would have required an emergency Ricky, along with columnists eviscerating everyone involved, us yelling about it on WIP, and the organization as a whole (for whatever the hell was going on here), being held accountable. But it didn’t happen really. We didn’t do an emergency Ricky, because we figured people had better things to do (the Super Bowl), and fans and other media just had a different focus.

But a week later, this glorious Super Bowl hangover is almost over, and accountability is coming for the Sixers. While we’ll bask in the glow of the Super Bowl for a good while longer, the spotlight will slowly turn toward other things. It’s true that the Phillies will get some of this attention with Spring Training beginning, but there’s not really a ton of meat on the bone there. There’s no hiding anymore – the Sixers will finally pay their penance for the sins of their 24-25 season.

There has been no shortage of bad luck that’s afflicted this Sixers season, that’s for sure, but that’s hardly the only reason they’re in this situation. Nick Nurse seems like he’s lost the locker room again, following a brief respite after his post-Denver tantrum. Paul George either doesn’t care anymore or has a pinky injury that is preventing him from looking like he does (probably some combination of both). Joel Embiid, well, buddy, there’s a lot going on there to pick apart. Daryl Morey just spent the trade deadline having to spend second-round picks to get off the expiring contract of KJ Martin just to save money on this year’s luxury tax, and another extra second because we forgot to tell the Mavericks that Caleb Martin was injured. This isn’t even bringing up the Embiid extension from last summer, which looks like it might have John Wall II written all over it.

We’re way past the point of no return for this season. There’s no “winning six of eight” or “clawing our way to the fifth position in draft order” that will save everyone involved from the consequences of this disaster.

Look Man I Dunno

We at the Ricky have been pretty critical of everyone involved this whole time. Probably not as critical as we could have been I guess, could have yelled about Daryl more, could have yelled about Nick Nurse more — could have called Paul George a bust, could have grinded our teeth about Embiid’s loser-vibes. But we all knew what we were feeling. I think we probably held back a little to preserve our own sanity. But the others are coming soon, likely with pitchforks, and they do not have that same commitment to their own well-being. And they’ll be armed with some pretty good material.