From the outside looking in, it’s easy to dismiss the Philadelphia 76ers’ return to being a mediocre team after several ill-advised moves and extensive injury troubles. But those inside the city aren’t sitting quietly while the franchise figures out what’s next. On Podcast P, Philadelphia rapper Gillie Da Kid recently discussed the frustrations of the fan base from the perspective of someone who truly knows the city and its people.
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Gillie still laments the fact that his hometown Sixers passed on the opportunity to draft Jayson Tatum — now an NBA Champion — in favor of Markelle Fultz. To be fair, Fultz was viewed as the top prospect in the 2017 NBA Draft by many, but the fundamental changes the Sixers made to his jump shot may very well have kept him from reaching his star potential.
Gillie was also upset about Philadelphia’s inability to play their best players at the same time throughout the last few seasons. The Sixers have always struggled with injuries, but never before has injury caused such a massive number of lineup changes as it did in 2024-25.
“It’s not like we don’t got the talent, we have the talent,” Gillie told Paul George. “It’s like we can’t even get everybody on the motherf***in’ court together, man. I hate to be harsh, man, but I got to speak with the real how we feeling. Bro, [George] played damn near as many games as you didn’t play, bro.”
With all the uncertainty surrounding the franchise, the 40-year-old rapper is ready to ship everyone away and start from scratch. “And it’s getting to the point now where it’s like, man, rebuild that s*** man. Rebuild all this s***,” Gillie continued. “Cause we don’t even know if our motherf***in’ best player is going to be available, man.”
Gillie’s clearly disturbed by the Sixers’ downfall over the past couple seasons, but that didn’t stop him from heaping praise on Joel Embiid, who’s been with the franchise through all of their ups and downs. “Like, it ain’t no doubt to me that Joel Embiid is the best f***ing player on the planet. I say that all the f***ing time,” he declared.
“The only difference is, we don’t know what the f*** we gonna get every night, man.” Gillie continued. “Oh, we might come out one night [and give you 50 points and 20 rebounds]. And we might come out the next night and [Embiid] might settle for 17-footers all game.”
Gillie pointed out that other superstars don’t leave their fan bases with that kind of uncertainty every night. There’s no doubt that the 2023 MVP is among the NBA’s best talents, but his inconsistent play has begun to drive the fans into the deep end. Meanwhile, franchise players like Giannis Antetokounmpo are ready to suit up and dominate nearly every night.
“The one thing you know about Giannis is he’s going to give maximum f***ing effort every f***ing night,” Gillie said adamantly. “So that just be my problem, bro. Philadelphia, we like to see effort. Allen Iverson didn’t win s***. He’ll always be the GOAT around this motherf***er because he put in 100% effort. He left everything on the floor.”
At this point, Philadelphia fans aren’t expecting Joel Embiid to miraculously lead them to a title, especially considering George’s own injury issues last season. If the seven-time All-Star is able to put together another season reminiscent of his MVP campaign while being a physical force down low, he’ll still be a legend in the city’s eyes.
