Last time, I looked at 5 former Sixers that would be welcomed back to the team, mainly by the fans. A combination of how I feel, how I think the fans feel, and how management might feel led to that list. This list is working in the same way.
We’re talking about active players as of this 2016-17 season.
Some players didn’t quite fit in, mainly on the court. I, along with other fans, simply wanted that player gone. Gone. Go away. Don’t come back. There’s still some distain for Evan Turner and I also thought about how the recent Nate Robinson rumors were taken by Sixers fans. Actually, the Robinson thing got me thinking about Sixers villains and then I got to thinking about former players who are now villains. Yes, that was the inspiration for these two posts.
With all of that said, let’s look at some former Sixers that I’d rather not see in a Sixers jersey again.
Evan Turner
Was there any doubt? The main…I would rather not use “hate”… I would use “dislike very strongly”. Anyway, the dislike for Turner was almost from the start. Y’all remember the 09-10 season? Once it became painfully clear that the Princeton offense wasn’t going to work out, fans all over decided the Sixers should pursue “Mission WTF”. The letters of “W”, “T” and “F” were not what they usually mean. No, these letters were the first letter of the last name of the projected first three picks of the 2010 draft: John Wall, Evan Turner, and Derrick Favors.
While Wall and even Favors seemed to eventually blossom, Turner looked like a bust. What looked like his own poor attitude about things and apparent dislike of the Sixers fans essentially did him in. It’s sort of ironic his nickname is “The Villain” as he became one to his very team.
JaVale McGee
Remember this bit? Okay, so he didn’t play much for the Sixers but, he did, and even made it on Shaqin’ A Fool. But that’s the problem. He came in with a reputation of being an idiot on a team that was in the middle of what will go down in league history as the ultimate suicide mission for good draft picks. The Sixers and their fans were already embarrassed enough. With McGee coming in with his baggage…yeah. I just don’t know if he’d be welcomed back with open arms.
Jason Smith
Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. So, here’s a guy who has a reputation as a dirty player and has more than once got some…uh, “jabs” in on Sixers players. So yeah, I don’t think Sixers fans like him too much.
Marreese Speights
Okay, so I actually didn’t have a problem with Speights. So, out of everybody on this list, I looked at what others said. From what I gathered, this guy was a black hole on offense (which I agree with). Also, he was deemed lazy. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know. By lazy, I mean he didn’t really work on his game, and all he wanted to do on the court was catch and shoot. Thing was, he didn’t shoot all that well. His defense was a running joke in Philly. There was none.
Matt Barnes
Barnes had an odd history with the team. He was on the roster two separate times, but only played during one stint. Anyway, while his time with the Sixers went pretty smoothly, as the years went by, he’s become a league wide troublemaker and I doubt the Sixers would want to play around with him. I doubt the fans would want that.
