The Sixers are home again. The mountains of the west coast are in the rear-view(for now) as the bright lights of City Hall and the skyscrapers of Liberty Place shine in the near-distance of the Wells Fargo Center. The red-seats inside the structure have been unoccupied by Sixers fans since Lou Williams nailed a game winning heave to beat the Miami Heat in Game 4 of the playoffs back on April 24th, 2011.
Since then Josh Harris and the new ownership have arrived and it’s hard not to notice how hard they are working to get Philadelphians to watch this team, to care about this team, and to embrace this team. They’re giving fans new commercials, new ticket prices, and trying to instill a new sense of pride. The best part about it, is that the team has been buying into it all and feeding off of it as much as they can. As Evan Turner put it, “It’s cool to see somebody pushing to grow with you. The new ownership is willing to dig in and grow with us and get more excitement in the arena by getting fans out to the games. They’ve gotten us a better practice facility and when everybody is on the same page and clicking it does wonders for an organization.”
Wonders it has because while most Philadelphians were home unwrapping presents and popping champagne bottles for the holidays, the Sixers were busy out-working opponents and showing the NBA why their team is going to pose problems for teams throughout the league. The “young” Sixers fought their way to a 3-2 record on a tough road trip out west to start this season. Some fans have already taken notice and one can only hope that, that number will grow ten-fold by seasons end.
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