Nick Piccone
The Sixers’ season has been a fun one so far. The biggest – and maybe only – factor would be due to Joel Embiid’s emergence as one of the NBA’s best players when he’s on the court. The Sixers are also competitive, most of the time, without Embiid on the court, which makes watching the games more fun than it has been in years.
RELATED: Just How Much of an Impact Does Joel Embiid Make Defensively?
More and more fans are talking about the Sixers on sports talk radio, more fans are buying jerseys, and more fans are buying tickets to go to the games. Of course, sports teams’ attendances are usually cyclical. But it’s interesting to note that even the people who disagreed with tanking and Sam Hinkie’s plan and blamed that for the dwindling attendance were really just trying to deflect. That’s because the Sixers’ attendance wasn’t good during their well-respected mediocre era after they went to the 2001 NBA Finals.
Check out this attendance graphic that PhillyVoice’s Matt Mullin put together. It shows that the Sixers are currently enjoying an average attendance better than that of the last 10 seasons [minus the shortened season in 2011-12].
I’m sure there were fans that weren’t sold on Embiid heading into this season due to him missing the last two seasons with his foot injury and subsequent two surgeries. But a few months into the season, Embiid looks dominant despite his minutes restriction and resting the second half [usually] of back-to-back games. He’s likely going to the All-Star Game, even if he doesn’t start. He’s made basketball fun again in Philadelphia.
RELATED: Sixers Fans in Boston Chanted “Trust the Process” at Embiid
People are excited about the Sixers now. The team is still quite a bit away from being contenders – and, yeah, they’re 6.5 out of the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed – but there’s an aura surrounding the team it hasn’t seen since Allen Iverson’s first stint here.