An ex-minority owner and ex-president of the Philadelphia 76ers from 1996-2001, Pat Croce still keeps hopes alive for his hometown team.
Croce left the team shortly after losing in the NBA Finals when he was denied the chance to become the owner of the team, but has never stopped cheering for the Sixers.
The Philadelphia native is optimistic about his team after a three-year span that earned the Sixers a 47-199 win-loss record.
“I am excited about the current Sixers because there is hope,” Croce told Marc Narducci of Philly.com. “The past three years have been truly awful. I suffer because anywhere I go in the world, people think I am still associated with them and I've been told a lot, ‘Your Sixers suck.'”
Croce has been forever engraved into Philly culture ever since his days with newly-inducted Hall of Famer Allen Iverson. He drafted him and was responsible for the coaching and pieces he put around his star to take the team to the Finals.
The Sixers have an important decision to make with Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, and Joel Embiid all ready to start the season as they'll likely have to shuffle the deck and one of them will be the odd man out.
“It is really good because they are going to transition with some good players, some good pieces, and the coach (Brett Brown) has some weapons to demonstrate how well he can coach,” said Croce.
The team is young and inexperienced and boasts plenty of talent, but there's no imminent reason to believe they're ready to take a step forward this season. Croce remains hopeful.
“I am always a fan, truly a fan,” he said. “I am born and bred in Philly. Are you kidding me? I bleed Philly.”
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