NEW YORK – During their rebuilding process under general manager Sam Hinkie, the winless Philadelphia 76ers have been in the national spotlight more for late-night talk show discussion, rather than for broadcasts of their games. That trend continued Monday evening during the opening monologue of NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
"The Philadelphia 76ers set a new record for the longest losing streak in American sports history with 28 losses in a row since last season," said Fallon, who is a fan of the Sixers' Atlantic Division rivals, the New York Knicks.
After joking that the Sixers are so bad they "leave the game early to beat traffic," Fallon turned to The Roots, who are from Philadelphia, to make jokes of their own.
"It seems only fair that they be able to make some jokes about that," said Fallon.
The Roots did not ease up on the Sixers either:
- "The Sixers are so bad that the last time they won, Ben Franklin had courtside seats."
- "The Sixers are so bad, they're now named after how many people are in the crowd."
- "The 76ers are so bad that the flu vaccine is the only shot they got this season."
- "The 76ers are so bad, they're the real reason the 'Fresh Prince' left Philadelphia."
- "They're so bad, they think the NBA stands for 'No Baskets Allowed'."
- "The Sixers are so bad, their mascot asked to get traded."
- "The 76ers are so sad, their hype music is the new Adele album."
- "The 76ers are so bad, their basket's net is made of cobwebs."
Begin watching around 4:30 into the video below.
Fallon concluded by saying, "the 76ers are so bad that Nike is sponsoring them to wear Adidas."
Philadelphia will look for its first win of the season Tuesday evening as they face Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant, 37, will be making his final NBA appearance in his hometown — Philadelphia — as he announced on Nov. 29 that he will be retiring at the end of the season.
(h/t The 700 Level)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappasports) is a contributor to Sixerdelphia.com.