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Reactions
Sixers fans remember the heartbreakersCNNSI.com looked at a few of the transactions that made Sixers fans shout, "Say It Ain't So." Then we opened the mailbag and let users vent on those and other dirty deals from over the years. Here is a sampling of your reactions:
The Dikembe Mutombo deal seems to most experts to favor the Sixers, BUT, what it really has done is interrupted the three-year development of an awesome chemistry that has served as the catalyst for my home team's championship run. I am so hurt by Billy King's decision to let a young and peaking player like Theo Ratliff go along with the greatest European ballplayer ever to play, for a 35-year-old question mark. Sure Mutombo can rebound, but the Sixers had a chemistry similar to the '93 Phillies when they went to the World Series. Did the Phillies management break up that perfect chemistry in the middle of the season? No, they did not. The Sixers waited on Snow's ankle to heal, and Geiger's knee ... so why not Rat's wrist? This trade will come back to bite my Sixers badly in more ways than one, just watch.
Billy King's first grade teacher should have taught him that PATIENCE is a virtue worth having.
Not a trade, just a hell of a loss. Doug Collins was a wonderful player. Moved without the ball, played superb D, hit the outside shot. He gave up the starting spot on the All-Star team to Hav, because, surely, he would be there many more times. Except his career ended sooner than Hav's.
I saw the game when Kevin Grevey came running across court and busted Collins' leg. The snakebit Collins (his free throws after getting his head whammed should have won the '72 Olympics game) could not stay healthy after that, missing the chance to play with equally team-oriented Mo Cheeks and Bobby Jones. No knock on Andrew Toney, who did a great job, but Doug and the Doc should have had a lot more success together.
The Sixers may or may not win a championship now, but they will certainly regret this deal in three or four years when Mutumbo can't raise his arms to rebound and Theo Ratliff is a superstar.
The Philadelphia 76ers suffer from an embarrassment of riches when looking for the "worst day" in team history. In marking the nadir, perhaps no transaction can eclipse the sale of the franchise from Fitz Dixon to Harold Katz . At the time, the deal seemed rather benign: the fans exchanged a disinterested deep pocket for an interested deep pocket. In hindsight, however, Katz presided over the darkest period in Sixers (and perhaps league) history. During his tenure, the Sixers:
1. Traded the first overall draft choice (who became Brad Daugherty)for Roy Hinson.
Incredibly, Katz was rewarded for this performance by realizing a gain of more than $100 million when the team was sold to Comcast.
Probably the biggest disappointment was when the freakin' Sixers drafted Shawn Bradley . ... *grrr* ... I don't think I could ever forgive them for that. And the runner up would have to be when they got rid of Larry Hughes for Toni Kukoc
Although I knew it was inevitable (every Philly fan knew it was coming), it still crushed me to hear when Charles Barkley was traded to Phoenix in 1992. I had just graduated high school and was enjoying senior week at the Jersey Shore. No one pays attention to what's happening in the real world during that week, so it wasn't until I bumped into one of my classmates that I heard the news that my favorite player was leaving. To see him in the Finals with another team a few years later was very hard to watch.
Since then, we've had to deal with players like Shawn Bradley, D. Coleman, Jayson Williams, and 'Spoon. These are examples of good players who couldn't make it happen in Philly. But now, we thankfully have the Answer to our prayers.
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Despite what Sixers fans thought, 