The 76ers said that 5,000 tickets "were claimed" for an outdoor watch party for Thursday's NBA Draft, which saw the franchise take Washington G Markelle Fultz with the No. 1 overall pick, according to Jake Lourim of PHILLY.com. There "wasn't an official attendance" for the event, held inside the Piazza at Schmidt's Commons in Philadelphia. 76ers fans have "experienced nights like this before," but "none came with as much anticipation as this." Hope for the Draft "had been building" since the 76ers officially secured the No. 1 pick from the Celtics on Monday. Within days, the organization "
sold all of its available season tickets, needing a waiting list for those who signed up later." 76ers C Joel Embiid’s jersey "was the most common jersey worn" at Thursday night's event, with F Ben Simmons’ a "close second." One fan had "already procured" a 76ers jersey with Fultz’ name. Another "wore a Fultz T-shirt, and still another put on" Fultz’ college jersey (
PHILLY.com, 6/22).
FINALLY SEEING THE LIGHT: In Atlantic City, Michael McGarry notes the addition of Fultz to the core group of Embiid, Simmons and F Dario Saric makes the 76ers "one of the NBA's most intriguing teams next season. Fans "are pumped up" about the team's future, as evident by the team selling "close to 15,000 season tickets." 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo said after drafting Fultz, "We're an organization on the rise. There's a team-oriented feel. It's special. We're going to keep building on that" (PRESS OF ATLANTIC CITY, 6/23). In N.Y., Scott Cacciola writes the hope within the 76ers organization is that Embiid and Simmons are "fully mended and capable of beginning to fulfill their enormous promise." The addition of Fultz will "only heighten expectations among the team’s success-starved fans" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/23). Colangelo said, "The city got a taste of what success is all about in January last year. We went 10-5, Joel Embiid had just an incredible month. There's a buzz here, there's a feel for excitement that’s on the horizon. I think that everybody's really jazzed up about it." He added his goal is about "putting together something that you hope is sustainable and long-term in nature." Colangelo: "We're trying to make those decisions that fulfill that objective, but do it so with strategy and do it so with a notion that you are going to be able to maintain and control this thing for a while" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 6/23).
