A Look Back At The Roller Coaster Decade For Philly
While some of us may not want to recall the dreadful start to the decade for the Philadelphia 76ers, it is quite extraordinary to see what the team has become. In the early 2010’s, the Sixers were a mediocre team, head coached by Doug Collins. To begin the decade, they ended at .500 with a record of 41-41. This team looked like it could have been promising with players such as Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguodala, Lou Williams, and Thaddeus Young. This was a young team with potential to turn into something special. The team ended up being stopped by a Miami Heat team led by the big 3, Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade.
The following year, with a similar roster, the Sixers were able to improve slightly while defeating Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls. After a promising first round the Sixers were taken to a game 7 with the Boston Celtics, and unfortunately lost the series 4-3. Following this loss, Head Coach Doug Collins resigned and left the team to search for a replacement. On August 15, 2013, the Sixers hired the previous San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Brett Brown. The fans were skeptical about this move wondering if the team would be able to keep moving forward. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. Brown’s first season resulted in an atrocious record at 19-63. Led by Thaddeus Young and Evan Turner, this team was nowhere where it needed to be.
The following season only got worse resulting at a slightly worse record of 18-64. The Sixers continued to be one of the worst scoring teams in the league finishing in the bottom 5 consecutively. The following season ended up being the Sixers’ most embarrassing season as they finished with the team’s second worse record in history with only 10 wins. Led by Jahlil Okafor, this team was looking very, very bad. The team only averaged 97 points per game which once again placed them in the bottom of the league. Following the team’s second-worst record of all-time, it was time to turn around. The new General Manager, Bryan Colangelo, made one of the teams smartest decisions to date. To draft the big man out of Kansas, Joel “The Process” Embiid. Not only did the Sixers struggle for the years previous, but they also still had a lot of work to do to make sure it wouldn’t become a normality.
Joel was fighting with injuries early in his career which was common for young players on the team. He was only able to play a third of his rookie year which helped the team to a 28-54 record. Obviously this team still had work to do, as the playoffs were still out of reach. A late January run showed the team’s potential and made the fans excited for the next season, as we already knew the team wouldn’t make the postseason that year.
The season of 2017-2018 was when they finally had the vision in hand and knew this team could be special. With the addition of JJ Redick, along with the promising rookies, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, things were starting to turn around. Although the first overall pick, Markelle Fultz, was battling with his own injuries, this team was resilient and fought their way to a 52-30 record. The Sixers were awarded with the 3 seed in the East and even made their way past the first round defeating the Miami Heat 4-1. Despite the second-round exit to division rivals the Boston Celtics, the fans as well as the team were excited to see a successful season. As the Sixers wrapped up their 2019 season, they finished with the 3rd seed again, and pushed passed the Brooklyn Nets in the first round with ease. The second round of the 2019 Eastern Conference Playoffs ended up being one of the most notable for the team in a long, long time. Despite a heartbreaking loss to Kawhi Leanord and the Toronto Raptors, the fans started to see how special this team really was. To be able to take the future NBA Champions to a game 7 requiring a last minute shot to win the game was truly special within itself, despite being bounced from the postseason.
As Jimmy Butler was on a one-year rental essentially, the team needed to find their key pieces to finally win a championship. It took some tough losses – such as the departure of Landry Shamet and Dario Saric – but these were necessary moves to move in the right direction. With the main additions like Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson, the odds of starting the next decade off with a championship doesn’t seem so doubtful at all. To see this team transform from a 10-win season to a potential championship winning roster is truly special and is what the “process” is all about. This team as well as their fans had to go through thick and thin for the past decade and it is exciting to have the opportunity to reasonably hope for a championship this year. With all the suffering and hard-work this organization has gone through up until this moment, it is truly special to see what they have become and hopefully they can do what it takes to become NBA champions.
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