Citizen Sports: The Sixers’ Real Draft Needs
Citizen Sports: The Sixers' Real Draft Needs
The first in a series examining the nexus of sports and culture looks at the importance of leadership
Jun. 26, 2019
The narrative around last week's NBA typhoon has been all about who will perform on the court. But what if the biggest question facing the 76ers this off-season has niggling to do with its players? What if the well-nigh of import question on the team's fate is actually about the squad's ownership, and whether it volition grow from a smart leadership perspective as its players develop?
A year ago, the 2022 Sixers season ended with hope. Mode ahead of schedule, a young, scrappy team reached the second round of the playoffs. Those Sixers weren't supposed to accomplish and then much and so fast. Ben Simmons was a rookie. Joel Embiid had his first full healthy season. Meridian pick Markelle Fultz was a salubrious scratch, but hey, he'd have next off-flavour to rehab his shot. Ane season after, the team was bumped again in the 2d round of the playoffs, losing to eventual champion Toronto in seven games. All the same this year's loss felt more than disappointing.
Why? The awkward public performance of Sixers possessor Josh Harris.
Not bad leaders inspire. In sports, leaders set winning expectations for the front end office, the athletes, and the fans. But great leaders also put people in a position to succeed; in that sense, owner Harris'due south pre-playoff comments were leadership malpractice.
Before the first game of the playoffs, Harris was asked about the possibility of losing to the Boston Celtics once more in the playoffs. He answered: "Information technology would be problematic. Very problematic. We'd exist unhappy. I'd exist unhappy. The city would be unhappy…We take plenty talent on our roster that if nosotros play the mode we're capable of playing, we tin can beat any team in the East…Now the pressure is on to deliver."
Cracking leaders inspire. In sports, leaders gear up winning expectations for the forepart role, the athletes, and the fans. Just great leaders also put people in a position to succeed; in that sense, Harris'due south pre-playoff comments were leadership malpractice.
Late in the flavor, in the form of Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris, the Sixers had acquired league-leading talent, but, due to injuries, had only given them x games to play together. They were 8-2 in those games, but still learning how to play together. Harris's comments set up an impossible standard but before the playoffs. His comments exploded the criticism of coach Brett Brown, and reframed any ending that wasn't the NBA finals as automatically a failure.
Our hearts have been cleaved and so oft, nosotros've learned to await to be surprised by our teams. We love the "World F**king Champions" 2008 Phillies, non "The Four Horsemen" 2011 Phillies. We love the "Philly Special" 2022 Eagles, not the "Dream Squad" 2011 Eagles.
Let's check Harris'south leadership scorecard. Harris over-emphasized accountability, which set the wrong vision for the team, and put the Sixers and Chocolate-brown—his ain employee—in a position to fail. Moreover, he changed the public perception of the squad. Philadelphia is an underdog city. Before the 2008 Phillies and 2022 Eagles championships, our sports teams were losers: The Flyers final won 44 years ago; the Sixers 36 years ago; the Eagles had never won a Super Basin before concluding year; and the Phillies are still the losing-est squad in the history of organized sports.
Our hearts have been broken so often, we've learned to expect to be surprised past our teams. We love the "World Fucking Champions" 2008 Phillies, non "The Four Horsemen" 2011 Phillies. We dearest the "Philly Special" 2022 Eagles, not the "Dream Team" 2011 Eagles.
We find our soul reflected in teams that are hungry, scrappy, and fighting confronting history for a chance at celebrity. Harris's playoff comments instantly transformed the Sixers from a scrappy ahead-of-schedule squad into a Finals-or-Bust mega-team.
Simply Harris can still redeem himself. Great leaders admit mistake, and great leaders utilize those mistakes to acquire and teach lessons. The Raptors NBA Championship win tin can reframe the Sixers loss. The team that looked so much ameliorate than the Warriors in the Finals needed every ounce and a miracle four-bounce shot to trounce the Sixers. Doesn't that make the Sixers arguably the second best squad in the NBA? Harris should use this opportunity to reframe this season non as "problematic" simply as a edifice cake.
Since buying the franchise in 2011, Harris has turned an irrelevant Sixers squad to the always interesting, oftentimes-discussed, fan-beloved team it is today. But much like the team, expectations on Harris are now at an all-time high. His lack of leadership in a key moment is alarming, considering that he will play a key function in edifice the workplace that retains the top talent the Sixers have "processed" over the last one-half-decade.
After the flavour, many of the players stepped upward to vouch for embattled charabanc Brett Brown, as if in rebuttal to the speculation their team's owner had fueled. "Amazing motorbus, meliorate person, and obviously I got a lot of love for him," reflected Embiid. Even Butler chimed in to say: "He always thinks about how to make everybody great, which is hard to exercise when you accept the roster that we have had." As nosotros enter one of the most important off seasons in Sixers' history, permit's hope that Harris takes a few notes out of Chocolate-brown'due south coaching playbook.
Denizen Sports, a new regular feature in The Denizen, delves into the nexus of sports and civilisation, as a way to explore not just our passion for the game, but besides our passion, frustrations, joys and sorrows well-nigh Philadelphia itself.
Photograph past Brian Adams 
Source: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/citizen-sports-the-sixers-real-draft-needs/
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