Ish Smith Could Be a Philly First

Look at the face below. There’s a chance that he could become legendary in Philadelphia by doing something no one else has ever done in Philadelphia sports history.

He could become the first player in Philadelphia hated by Philly fans for being too good. We have a long hate list that includes the likes of: Ivan DeJesus, Pat Falloon, Vinnie LeCavalier, Lance Parrish, Ron Solt, Andrew Bynum, Shawn Bradley and so on. They are all either underachievers or dicks. The hate was justified.

Things were going perfectly for the Sixers. They were 1-30. Clearly, they were the worst team in basketball and on track to have the most ping-pong balls in the lottery. That all changed on Christmas Eve when Basketball Santa delivered Ish Smith the to Sixers via a trade with the Pelicans.

6-11. That’s the 76ers record since the Christmas Eve addition of Ish Smith. The six year journeyman point guard is having his best year ever, averaging almost 16 pts/game. He’s never average more than 12. He’s averaging over 8 assists per game. Ish’s career high in assists per game had been 6.6 before this stretch with the Sixers.

Dude needs to chill out if there is any chance of the Sixers tanking 3.0 to work. With the Lakers only 3 games better than the Sixers, the Sixers need to lose every game possible. I’m already skeptical about the ping-pong ball system. I already suspect the system will be rigged for the Lakers to get #1 overall so LA can have a young superstar. If the Lakers finish last, rest assured they get the top pick. No one would suspect a thing in that case.

So, Ish, chill out. Pull a groin (wink, wink). Twist an ankle at shoot around (nudge, nudge). We got a plan here in Philly that we’ve been working on for three years. Don’t go screwing it all up by being goodl.

Seriously. I don’t want to hate a player for playing well, but I’m getting close.

Unfortunately, that’s the sad state of the NBA and Philadelphia sports.