Article content
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — On Day One Josh Harris stood behind the microphone to celebrate the 76ers’ purchase, promising fans that the new ownership group cares deeply about the struggling franchise and vowing the return of an ownership that includes Fanatics founder Michael Rubin and rapper Will Smith. Team to greatness.
Article content
Article content
“Our goal, make no mistake, is to create a world-class franchise and win NBA championships,” Harris said.
Advertisement 2
This ad has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
More than 13 years later, from the “process” to the postseason, Harris can win his first major championship in Philadelphia — a conference title, no less — with one ironic caveat:
Forget the NBA. Now also the owner of the Washington Commanders, Harris could win one in Philadelphia with an NFL team closer to the nation’s capital than the Liberty Bell.
Across the street from where the 60-year-old Harris’ team is already stumbling to the finish line about halfway through the NBA season, the Leaders play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in an unlikely NFC Championship game.
He took the Commanders to the Super Bowl in only his second season after the ugly end to former owner Dan Snyder’s tenure and the District of Columbia may erect a statue of Harris near the Washington Monument. Lift the George Halas Trophy awarded to NFC champion Philadelphia — where the Sixers have yet to win a playoff game past the second round on his watch — and Harris may need to summon the Big Dom from the Eagles’ sideline to escort him to field safety.
He finds himself in the middle of the sporting loyalties of two cities 130 miles apart.
Article content
Advertisement 3
This ad has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Harris, who made his fortune as a co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, was not always popular in Philadelphia. Under the Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment Banner, the 76ers moved their practice field from an orthopedic campus to a gleaming facility in New Jersey and weren’t afraid to dig deep into their deep pockets to spend on a winner. Joel Embiid signed a $192 million contract extension in September, and big-name free agent signings and bigger contracts for players from Jimmy Butler to Paul George to James Harden have kept the Sixers competitive.
After a few years of squabbling, the 76ers recently abandoned their plans with the city to move downtown and will instead partner with Comcast Spectacor, the current property owner, to build a new arena in South Philadelphia.
Philadelphia fans are taking it to Harris these days not just because the much-discussed process failed to produce anything close to a championship but because the former Penn collegiate wrestler — who once called Philly his “second home” and talked about his family’s roots in the city — In which a grandfather works as a US postal worker – he has not fully committed his heart to Philadelphia.
Advertisement 4
This ad has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
He swiped right on sports teams as if they were profiles on a dating app. New Jersey Devils. Crystal Palace English Premier League. Even a stake in the Nascar team founded by former Washington coach Joe Gibbs.
Harris, through other ownership groups and structures or through HBSE, built a portfolio of sports teams and properties that culminated when he purchased the Commanders from Snyder and Family in 2023 for a North American professional sports record $6.05 billion. Just as when he bought the Sixers, Harris cited his geographic heritage and noted that he grew up in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland.
The 76ers endured one of the worst losing streaks in NBA history — and earned the nickname “Tancadelphia” — in the early years under Harris and fellow owner David Blitzer through a calculated rebuilding process. With Washington, the turnaround was immediate _ from 4-13 last season to 12-5 this season behind prodigy QB Jayden Daniels. The Leaders are flying high heading into Philadelphia, coming off two straight playoff wins, including last weekend’s shocker against No. 1 seed Detroit.
Advertisement 5
This ad has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
And just like in Philadelphia, a new stadium is also on the horizon.
Harris, who has a real-time net worth of $11.3 billion, according to Forbes, still has a day job outside of sports as founder of asset management firm 26North. However, after each game, Leaders coach Dan Quinn and members of the front office that includes consultant and former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers take a video call with Harris and review crucial plays.
“I particularly like those times as a coach so I can show, ‘This is what we were thinking, this is what happened,’ and so it’s a good way to highlight the player, the moment, the situation, and why we chose to do it.” “What we did,” Quinn said. “And that’s good because I want him to be able to ask anything: ‘Why did you do that?’ “Why did you do that? And he’s curious that way.”
Harris declined to be interviewed by The Associated Press for this story through an HBSE spokesperson.
Like Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, Harris has largely retreated from the media spotlight in Philadelphia, and the owner who used to hold regular press conferences about the state of the franchise is now mostly courting like a politician or with free agents after the latest assets have been added to his portfolio. He’s never positioned himself as a Philly fan like Phillies owner John Middleton, but he remains a fixture with his family or other power brokers in the Sixers’ courtside seat, more visible to fans and haters than the hierarchy of Comcast that runs the flyers.
Advertisement 6
This ad has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
After the 76ers signed George to a four-year, $212 million contract over the summer, Harris said the Sixers were “among, if not the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Devastated by injuries, the 76ers crashed toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
But Harris is right in one respect: He has gathered his best team in Philadelphia under his ownership — and here come his leaders ready to send the Eagles packing.
“I put on my football helmet and my pad and I was ready for the bottles to fly,” Harris said in 2014 of the expected response from fans after a 19-win season with the 76ers.
Is he still within reach?
___
AP Sports Writer Steven Wino in Ashburn, Virginia, contributed to this report.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Article content