Anthem Censorship, Embiid's Debut, and the Finger: The 76ers Home Opener

Man the fans showed so much love… I freaking LOVE YALL!!!! TRUST THE PROCESS pic.twitter.com/zXvwo28naY
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 27, 2016

The 76ers opened the 2016 season in familiar form, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-97, but there is considerably more excitement around the team this season than in years past. Although they lost Ben Simmons—the No. 1 pick from the draft—to an ankle injury, and they're not quite sure when he'll return (some reports say January), they did get big man Joel Embiid back, but we'll get to that in a minute. First, let's talk about this gentleman.

Sixers fan gives Russell Westbrook the double bird pic.twitter.com/iRZH9xVZlS
— Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) October 27, 2016

In the first quarter, Westbrook was fouled on a layup and wound up at the corner of the baseline, where he met a freshly shorn Santa Claus in an Allen Iverson jersey. This Sixers fan was super fired up and shot Westbrook a double-barreled bird and basically screamed "Fuck Youuuu" in his face. Westbrook's reaction was perfect. He looked like he wasn't sure this was really happening, and then his teammates came and got him out of there. Similarly, security came and collected the fan and escorted him out of the stadium.

In another instance of Sixers personnel keeping people they don't want making a scene off the court, the woman who was originally scheduled to sing the national anthem was prevented from doing so when Philadelphia's brass saw she was wearing a "We Matter" shirt, a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement. Sevyn Streeter posted a video to her Twitter account saying the organization specifically told her she could not sing the anthem because of her shirt:

Was suppose to sing the anthem at @sixers & @okcthunder game but mins b4 @sixers said I couldn't because I was wearing a "We Matter" jersey pic.twitter.com/wjoJN3rq0r
— Sevyn (@sevyn) October 27, 2016

She told the Associated Press this all happened about two minutes before she was supposed to perform. The Sixers released a statement addressing the situation, I think?

"The Philadelphia 76ers organization encourages meaningful actions to drive social change. We use our games to bring people together, to build trust and to strengthen our communities. As we move from symbolic gestures to action, we will continue to leverage our platform to positively impact our community."

I am pretty sure that is just the prologue to the Sam Hinkie resignation letter, but whatever. A member of the Sixers dance team filled in and sang the anthem at the last minute. The league also had no comment on the issue, which is strange, given their strong position on other issues such as the bigoted bathroom bill in North Carolina, which led them to move this year's All-Star Game to New Orleans..

So it was a weird start to the night, but things eventually settled in and Philly fans were finally given a real, meaningful look at Joel Embiid and he did not disappoint. Embiid played 22 minutes in his Philly debut, finishing with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, and the love of a thirsty fanbase. For his efforts, Embiid, who has embraced a new nickname based on the previous regime's mantra-bordering-on-psychosis—The Process—was serenaded by the crowd with chants of "Trust the Process."

On the opening night of the season, there was a little bit of the familiar—before the game started, a questionable organizational decision, once the game started, a vocal minority reinforcing every bad Philly fan stereotype, once the game ended, a loss—and a little bit of the unfamiliar: hope.