Tuesday featured a preseason contest between arch-rivals the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics. Despite playing in a crowdless Wells Fargo Center due to COVID-19 protocols, the Sixers still decided to make the Celtics feel as if they were playing in front of a capacity crowd.
Philadelphia decided to blast some “you suck” crowd chants via the PA system, which prompted a rather endearing reaction from C's head coach Brad Stevens. According to the 44-year-old shot-caller, he actually appreciated the gesture from the Sixers:
“I appreciate Philly, when they announced our starting lineup, they did the ‘You suck’ chant,” Stevens said, via Matt Vautour of Mass Live. “That made it feel a little more like Philly. I missed all those people behind me wishing me ‘happy holidays’ in their own special way.”
The Sixers have some of the most passionate fans in all of sport, for better or for worse. and as Stevens implied above, this is a key part of the atmosphere when playing against Philly in their home floor. However, with the NBA prohibiting teams from accommodating fans for home games, the Sixers — much like every other team in the league — will need to come up with creative ways to make their players (and the opposing team as well) feel as though they are playing in front of a packed house.
The fake crowd chants seemed to have worked out in the favor of the home team, with the Sixers emerging victorious via a 108-99 win over the Celtics.
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