Ah, the Philadelphia 76ers in 2017. Man, that sure was a time to be a fan, wasn’t it? It feels like ages ago, but also like yesterday. I was right there in the thick of it, riding that whole “Trust The Process” wave, and let me tell you, it was a real rollercoaster.
My Dive into the 2017 Sixers Madness
So, I decided I was going all-in that year. I’d been following the rebuild, of course, but 2017 felt different. There was this… buzz. You had Embiid, when he wasn’t on a minutes restriction or, you know, injured. Then you had Ben Simmons finally about to hit the court after sitting out his first year. And then, the big one, Markelle Fultz, the number one pick. The hype was through the roof.
My “practice” back then was basically consuming every piece of Sixers news, every game, every rumor. I remember spending hours on forums, listening to podcasts, just trying to piece together what was happening. It was almost a full-time job being that invested. My friends thought I was a bit nuts, but they didn’t get it. This wasn’t just basketball; it was a saga.
I remember trying to get tickets to certain games. It wasn’t like a championship contender yet, but there was this undercurrent of excitement. You’d see flashes. Embiid would look like a world-beater for 20 minutes. Simmons would make a pass that just made your jaw drop. But then, there was the other side.
- The constant worry about Joel’s health. Every time he fell, the whole city held its breath.
- The whole Fultz situation. That was just… bizarre. From number one pick to suddenly not being able to shoot. The theories, the confusion. It was a mess.
- The losses. Yeah, there were still plenty of those. Some nights it was tough to watch.
But here’s the thing, and this is why that 2017 period really sticks with me. I was going through my own “process” at the time. I’d just started this new freelance gig, really trying to build something from scratch. It was a huge gamble. Some days I felt like I was on top of the world, making progress, and other days, man, it felt like I was just banging my head against a wall. Lots of uncertainty, you know? Just like watching those young Sixers try to figure things out.
So, watching them, especially that 2017-2018 squad that came out of that 2017 draft and offseason, it was almost therapeutic. I’d see them struggle, see Fultz airball a free throw, see Embiid get frustrated with a foul call, and I’d think, “Yeah, I get it.” Building something worthwhile is hard. It’s messy. There are setbacks.
I specifically remember one game, I think it was early in the season, where they just looked awful in the first half. I was so frustrated, almost turned it off. My own project had hit a snag that week, and I was feeling pretty down. But then they came out in the second half, played with this incredible energy, and almost pulled off a comeback. They still lost, I think, but that fight… it resonated. It was like, okay, get knocked down, but get back up. Keep grinding.
That became my mantra, borrowed straight from the team. Just keep showing up, keep working, even when it looks like nothing’s going your way. It wasn’t about instant success, for them or for me. It was about laying the groundwork.
So yeah, my “practice” with the 2017 Sixers wasn’t about playing ball, obviously. It was about living through that era as a dedicated fan, seeing the parallels in my own life, and drawing a weird kind of strength from a basketball team that was, itself, a work in progress. It’s funny how sports can do that sometimes. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was definitely memorable.
