The Sixers are a business. And lately, business has been bad.
We’re not talking about a recession here. The Sixers rank 29th in attendance and one source said they lost well into eight figures last season. Yes, the franchise is in a full-blown depression.
It’s not going to take a world war to get this team out of their economic funk. All it’s taking is Allen Iverson.
Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski and the Comcast brass continue to call this is a basketball move, one made simply because Lou Williams (fractured jaw) is out for two months.
“The first thought was basketball. If it means that we start playing good basketball and win and bring fans in, that’s great,” Stefanski said yesterday. “But in order to sustain any kind of attendance in the building, you have to win basketball games and we’re aware of that.”
That’s the question. In Iverson’s final years with the team, attendance was dwindling rapidly as the losses piled up. At age 34, can Iverson add a few more wins?
With this shaping up to be a farewell tour, it may not matter.
“Wild. Crazy,” said Stefanski when asked about what kind of atmosphere he expects on Monday.
“He’s a rock star, this kid. He’s a lightning rod.”
