Stephen A. Smith used to cover the Philadelphia 76ers during the Allen Iverson years, so it's safe to say that the ESPN First Take host has a soft spot for the franchise. Over the years, he has been quite critical of their moves, and now that they finally have a solid roster, Smith is especially hard on them as the expectations for success are much higher. Despite these expectations, the Sixers have failed to deliver on every occasion, and they're doing so, once again, this time in the first round against the Boston Celtics.
Last night, the Sixers lost in pretty devastating fashion as they simply weren't able to muster up enough offense to compete with the Celtics. Now, the Sixers are down 2-0 in the series and it's starting to look like they could very well get swept. Today on First Take, Smith lamented this fact as he went off on the Sixers, particularly Joel Embiid and head coach Brett Brown.
To be fair to the Sixers, they are currently missing Ben Simmons which has certainly hurt them moving forward. It's clear that this roster simply isn't constructed to make a deep run and as far as championship hopes are concerned, they are probably better off waiting until next season.