You Know I Really Don't Even Hate the Celtics Like That
If our demise has to come at the hands of one of our East rivals this postseason, Spike can live with it being Boston.
The Boston Celtics really don’t bother me that much, all things considered. They never have. I don’t like them, but also, I don’t really hate them.
I have a hard time lying about how I feel regarding these sports things. I’m not good at faking optimism. I could never put a brave face on and just say I loved watching Ben Simmons. It would probably make my life slightly easier as some kind of public facing Sixers fan if I could.
If I’m thinking about Eastern Conference teams that I truly hate, the Celtics aren’t even close to the top. I hate the Knicks. I know this is rich considering my history, but it’s true. I hate the fans, I hate the whole weird, fake tough, “We’re New York bro!” aura of both the fans and the team to be really just disgusting. I hate the Heat, “Heat Culture,” and the way everyone slobbers over them and their overrated coach. The Bucks have always truly annoyed me, them getting Doc Rivers was just the icing on the cake.
But the Celtics? Meh. It’s annoying that they’ve already eliminated the Process Sixers three times in the playoffs, but it’s not their fault they’re better than we are. I couldn’t stand Al Horford, but he’s gone. Kyrie was a little annoying, but he’s gone. I can’t really imagine Tatum or Brown inspiring much emotion at all either way. If I’m being honest, I mostly love Joe Mazzulla and wish we had him coaching our team more than a guy who spends most of his free time binging Pitchfork reviews, waiting for like Kurt Vile to invite him to a jam session.
In fact, when I’m thinking about this year’s Sixers, being eliminated by James Harden or Tobias Harris would be way more annoying. Being eliminated by the Knicks while their fans, drenched in axe body spray and false bravado paraded through the halls of The Eczema would be worse. Losing to the Celtics almost seems like the most merciful of all of our possible killings.
Mike will have to be your guy on this one.
Save These Doggies
I’ve got about 8 days to help get our team to over $10,000 raised for the Brandywine Valley SPCA. We’re about $3,000 away. Won’t you help me?
Verb Starter Pack
If you’ve wanted to try Verb Energy bars (protein or otherwise), they’ve got this starter pack now. It’s 10 bars for $20, and if you use the code RTRS at checkout, you get another 20% off. The bars have fit quite nicely into my life replacing the shitty for me Diet Soda I’d always have around noon.
Team Ricky
We did a Ricky after the Orlando game. It’s available everywhere now. It wasn’t available for about 16 hours on Apple and many other platforms besides Spotify. I want to be clear that this was not our fault. I don’t mean to sound like Doc Rivers here, but really we’re not the ones to blame.
I have to say, for once, I agree with AU. But he keeps talking about how he can’t talk himself into them beating the Celtics, though. I can tell it’s just below the surface.
Team Non Ricky
Sixers Adam on the ramifications of no Lottery Party this year. I’m so happy I don’t have to plan a Lottery Party this year. Not because it would mean the Sixers didn’t make the playoffs, and not because I don’t like Lottery Parties. I just didn’t feel like planning it. Win for me.
I was on House of Strauss earlier this week to talk about the NBA at large and some other stuff with Ethan Sherwood-Strauss.
I agree, these are not the hated Celtics of my childhood with Larry Bird, Robert Parrish, Kevin McHale, and Danny Ainge. They’re not the #1 team in the East to our #2, or the #2 team in the East to our #1. This Celtics team is one that just seems to be what I wish the Sixers could have been. A team that drafts well, trades well, and even when they rejigger their roster in a meaningful way, it still seems to make sense and work for them. They’re well managed, well coached and they play winning basketball – no matter who is on the floor. While there are plenty of star players around the league to dislike these days, Tatum and Brown are fairly benign. Both could have been Sixers if the Philly front office was more talented.
It’s interesting to read this take from you here on the eve of our first round series versus Boston. One of my earliest connections to really following the Sixers was in the early 80s, when the Sixers-Celtics rivalry sparked the original “Beat LA” chant from the Boston fans, and I began listening to Philly sports talk radio. I was a young teen in Center City who used to see Julius Erving at The Academy House, where my school friend lived. World B. Free used to have a shoe store on 18th & Sansom around that time too, two blocks from where I lived. I used to see Daryl Dawkins walking around the Rittenhouse area. So it felt a lot like the Sixers were my neighborhood team.
Anyway, around that time I remember a day when your dad was on the radio making the argument that Larry Bird was a better player than Julius Erving. Callers were enraged. At the time, Julius Erving was to Philly a combo of Michael Jordan and LeBron. The best player I could imagine in the NBA. Beyond compare to anyone else. But Howard laid out a good case for why Larry Bird was actually better. Blew my mind. I still thought he was dead wrong, but I never forgot how that messed with my head. (Years later, after both men stopped playing in the NBA, I have to admit that Howard was right. Larry Bird was a better NBA player than Dr. J.) But that is when my hatred of the Celtics franchise began. At that moment of comparing Bird to Erving and hearing a Philly radio host say that the Boston guy was better.
So it’s a bit of a full circle moment to read this column of yours and realize that I now AGREE with an Eskin when it comes to the Celtics. (I still reserve the right to re-hate that team again in the future, of course.)