Unfortunately for the Sixers its all about the Ownership
The Philadelphia 76ers enter the month of April with 28 wins; a moral victory for the franchise whose been suffering in purgatory for the past 4 seasons in their "Trust the Process" plan. Going forward the Sixers fan base will not be looking for moral victories and instead sustained success, annual playoff appearances and NBA Championships.
Managing owner Josh Harris bought the Sixers from Comcast Spectacor in 2011. Harris’s ownership team consists of 11 people including Will and Jada Pinkett Smith however their stake doesn’t hold much leverage and Harris has been the visible face of ownership. Harris's background is in the investments arena, having owned Apollo Global Management a private equity firm based in New York. Harris also currently owns the NHL's New Jersey Devils along with Crystal Palace a premier league Soccer Team across the pond in London. Harris’s future ambition is to own an NFL franchise. When you add everything up you should ask yourself where is Harris's heart attached? It doesn’t sound like its attached to Philadelphia and the community that surrounds it. Is Harris committed to winning championships or professional sports franchises to accumulate his wealth? Under Harris’s lead the Sixers have gained the tanking reputation along with injuries to key players. There have been misguided injury reports to key players such as Joel Embiid and questionable trades of players who were once considered part of the so-called “Process.” Joel Embiid appears to be the Sixers next star but his status is a big question mark and he's garnered a reputation as being injury prone. Next in line is Ben Simmons, who is also injured but was supposed to be ready for action this past January however a recent examination determined Simmons injury wasn’t fully healed. In March, Simmons is shown on Instagram throwing down vicious dunks. Does this mean Simmons is 100 percent? We will never know because the Sixers seems to misguide the fan base with injury reports by giving a sense of hope of a player return then snatching the hearts out of every fans body with “turn for the worst” updates that declares the players ineligibility for the full season. I have no ideal of the direction of this franchise, but part of me believes Harris just doesn’t have the right partnerships to build this organization.
The Sixers team physicians consists of a sports science unit who monitors the players injuries but fail to calculate the seriousness of the injury which was clear during a late-January game verse the Blazers. After Embiid threw down a thunderous dunk, he landed awkwardly and fell grabbing his knee. The Sixers examined the knee but determined it was a knee contusion. Embiid would return to the line-up a week later against the Houston Rockets in a nationally televised broadcast. Embiid played well scoring 32pts in 28 minutes of action. After the Rockets game doctors declared he’d need more rest to prevent wear and tear on knee. However day-day statuses turned into weeks then months as Embiid would never see action during the remainder of the season. On March 22nd the knee contusion turned into a torn meniscus which required surgery. Since Embiid’s injury, Jahil Okafor (Knee Sorneness) and Robert Covington (Torn Meniscus) have been shut down due to knee injuries. Since Embiid’s injury the Sixers have gone 11-24 and appears to be tanking once again for the upcoming draft in June.
Since 2000 the following NBA teams have won multiple NBA Titles: Los Angeles Lakers (5),San Antonio Spurs (4) Miami Heat (3). What those 3 teams have in common is a strong owner with a special bond to the city their teams represent. The three men have also bought in key free agents or smartly built through the draft to secure the goal of winning NBA Championships.
After Magic Johnson’s retirement in the 1991-1992 season the Lakers ran into some sub-par seasons however the Lakers redefined their brilliance under the vision of Dr. Jerry Buss. In the Summer of 1996 the Lakers landed the biggest fish in the water by inking Shaquille O’Neal to a mega 7-year $121 million-dollar contract. The signing at the time was huge, the Lakers already drafted rookie phenomenon Kobe Bryant; the two would eventually lead the Lakers to 3 straight titles in the early 2000’s. The honeymoon didn't last long for O’Neal and Bryant as both players parlayed in a public media war which caused a rift within the organization. Buss decided one had to go and O’Neal was eventually traded to the Miami Heat in the summer of 2004 for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a first round draft pick. The Heat trade paid dividends for both teams, The Heat would win their first NBA title 2 years later and the Lakers would win back to back titles in the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
Dr. Jerry Buss was a brilliant NBA Owner with strong ties to the city of Los Angeles. When you thought of the Lakers, Jerry Buss was someone you thought about which is rare for owners but his ties ran deep within the city and he developed a strong bond with his star players over the years. Buss was not born in Los Angeles but relocated to the city from Salt Lake City, Utah with his mother when he was just 9 years old. Over that time, Buss would develop a strong bond with the city of Los Angeles. Real-estate ventures in Los Angeles would later lead to Buss purchasing the Lakers, Los Angeles String, a World Team Tennis franchise, the Los Angeles Kings of hockey and the Los Angeles Sparks. Over time the Lakers were very successful winning 10 NBA titles. Jerry Buss passed away in 2013 and the Lakers haven't been the same since ownership fell to the reigns of his children Jim and Jeannie Buss who recently battled for sole stake of the franchise before Jeannie eventually regained sole custodian of the team early this year. The Lakers are trying to revive their once storied franchise with the latest hiring of Lakers legend Magic Johnson as President of Basketball operations. During Jerry Buss’s run as owner the Lakers only missed the playoffs twice during his 33 years of ownership.
San Antonio didn’t need mammoth free agent signings to win, however the Spurs are a well-oiled machine under head coach Greg Popovich who’s guided the team since 1996. For the Spurs, it took one abysmal season in Popovich’s first year to secure the first overall pick in the 1997 draft that lead to the selection of future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan. Duncan was paired with another Hall of Famer David Robinson forming a twin towers combo which catapulted the Spurs to two NBA championships early in Duncan’s career. After Robinson retired the Spurs smartly built around Duncan through the draft with key players such as Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili, which formed a blue print for sustainability and success. On the heels of Duncan’s final year the Spurs did address free agency by signing Lamarcus Aldridge who is now teamed with All-Star Kawhi Leonard as the Spurs now have formed a new nucleus of success under Popovich’s blue print system.
The San Antonio Spurs owner is Peter Holt. Holt was born in Peoria, Illinois before moving to San Antonio, Texas as child. Holt made his fortunes from Caterpillar, the well-known machinery company which was co-founded by his great-grandfather Benjamin Holt. After dangling with the investment industry in California, Holt would rejoin his father in Corpus Christie Texas to run a Caterpillar dealership, during that span Holt began to garnished strong ties to the city of San Antonio. Holt would not only purchase the Spurs in the early-90’s but also the San Antonio Rampage, a minor-league hockey team, and the San Antonio Silver Stars, the women’s professional Basketball team. Under Holts watch the Spurs have won 5 NBA titles and haven’t had a losing season since 1997 making the playoffs 24 of 25 times during his ownership.
The Miami Heat’s success has been marked by trades that included the acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal and free agency which landed Lebron James and Chris Bosh that gave way to the Big 3. The Heat, already thinking ahead from the rest understood they had a young rookie talent in Dwayne Wade and more than likely sensed the Lakers earlier success with Bryant, and traded for the 13-year vet who still had more than enough in the tank to be a factor. It took the Heat just two years to win their first NBA championship. After O’Neal’s departure, the Heat had moderate success but understood Wade couldn’t do it alone. In the summer of 2010 aka “The Decision” year, the Heat addressed free agency helping Wade by signing Lebron James and Chris Bosh. The “Big 3” would lead the Heat to back to back titles and four straight finals appearances. Pat Riley would get credit as the architect of the O’Neal trade and “Big 3” formulation but none of this is possible without the faith and guidance of Heat owner Micky Arison.
Arison made his mark through his fathers company Carnival, the globally known cruise company which is head quartered in Miami. Today, Arison serves as Chairman for Carnival after recently stepping down as full-time CEO. Arison has owned the Heat since 1995 after his father Ted put him in the drivers seat. During Micky Arisons tenure the Heat have been to the playoffs 17 of 20 NBA seasons.
The three key elements these men have is longevity and profoundness within the city their teams represent. Their ownership represents a purpose to not just own the team but win for their city. The three men have grown with each city before achieving success and this is where Josh Harris’s ownership fails to make the mark. Harris’s ownership only screams financial gains and this is where the Sixers could be in trouble. Harris is off to a woeful start since his ownership going 1-6 in playoff appearances. I understand the reason behind his record but with the latest injuries to key players such as Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Jahil Okafor, the Sixers seem to be bad karma ridden. I hate to pin bad luck on a owner but it just seems this ownership lacks a trust value. Even former Sixer Owner, the late Ed Snider represented a sense of trust by making public appearances on sports talk shows and providing for the Philadelphia community, Snider found Comcast Spectacor (home-based Philadelphia) which is now a major cable provider, Snider also helped inner city youths with the Youth Hockey Foundation. Sniders passion always seemed geared toward the Flyers but he did try to bring a title to the Sixers by giving then GM Billy King the keys to make mega deals for Toni Kukoc and later Dikembe Mutombo to help Allen Iverson during a pivotal playoff run in 2001. Although his ownership lacked NBA titles Snider’s blood boiled through Philadelphia.
The Sixers seem to have bright future but I don’t believe this current ownership under Harris has provided a foundation or a bond with the city of Philadelphia that is needed to be successful. If Harris wants to prove he’s serious about winning over the city of Philadelphia start by helping the Philadelphia community. Building a state of the art practice facility in Camden, New Jersey doesn’t help the Philadelphia community, nor does buying the NHL’s New Jersey Devils just after the purchase of the Sixers. The Devils are premier rival of the Flyers, why would any owner who’s trying to gain ground with a community purchase a rival of a sister team? If you’re going to be an owner in Philadelphia, you must embrace the city and try to invest within the city. Buss, Holt and Arison invested within their cities not outside of it. Harris’s ownership only signals profit goals and not championship goals. The irony of a successful organization will always start up top. A general manager and coach always adds to the success of any organization but the key driver to any championship is the profoundness and guidance of the owner.
