The ultimate Sixers Villains honorable mentions

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All week at NBC Sports Philadelphia, we're debating the biggest villains in Philly sports history. Today, we look at the Sixers. You can vote here

The four greatest villains in Sixers history are the Colangelos, Magic Johnson, the 1980s Celtics and Andrew Bynum, according to our panel.

Here, we look at a few villains who just missed the cut.

Reggie Miller

This one may be a little personal for those who grew up worshipping Allen Iverson.

It wasn’t quite Michael Jordan vs. the “Bad Boy” Pistons, but the Sixers were a young team that struggled with the experienced and physical Pacers. In 1999 and 2000, Iverson and the Sixers won their first-round series before having to square off with Indiana. Both times the Pacers came out on top. It was only fitting that the Sixers took down Indiana in the first round in 2001 on their way to the Finals.

Miller was one of the best shooters in NBA history … but he was also a jerk. As we saw in The Last Dance documentary, Miller loved to talk trash and often took a shot or two after the whistle. When you look back on it, those Pacers teams were very good. They had Rik Smits, Dale and Antonio Davis, Jalen Rose and Mark Jackson, among others. But it was Miller who led the way and pissed off a bunch of Sixers fans in the process.

Miller is an honorable mention simply because he’s pretty much a villain everywhere — especially in New York.

Danny Ainge (the GM)

There was plenty to dislike about Ainge the basketball player. Similar to Miller, he was prone to chirp and take the occasional cheap shot.

But just when you thought you couldn’t possibly despise Ainge more, he took the Celtics’ GM job and fleeced multiple teams — including the Sixers.

It all started when Ainge pulled off a heist that would make what the Ocean’s 11 crew did look like petty theft. Former Sixers GM Billy King took over as Nets GM and essentially handed Ainge four first-round picks for whatever was left of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

If it wasn’t bad enough that Ainge appeared to set Boston up for the foreseeable future with that deal, he used the No. 1 overall pick in 2017 to swindle Bryan Colangelo and the Sixers. Colangelo gave up the third overall pick and a 2019 first-round pick in order to move up two spots to select Markelle Fultz. Ainge knew something was off about Fultz and had his eyes set on Jayson Tatum. The rest is unfortunate history.

The only solace Sixers fans can take is that Ainge has yet to win a championship since disbanding the 2008 championship team. But thanks to strong drafting and a great coaching hire, Ainge and the Celtics will likely be villains for years to come.

Jimmy Butler

A Batman enthusiast, Butler has indeed lived long enough to see himself become a villain for many Sixers fans. 

It’s a role he seems to savor. 

“I know a place where villains are welcome,” he commented on Joel Embiid’s Instagram post in February after the All-Star center had shushed the Wells Fargo Center crowd.

Butler enjoys confrontation and certainly doesn’t appear to mind controversy. 

“I love that s---,” Butler said after Brett Brown gave a fiery halftime address in Game 3 of the Sixers’ first-round playoff series against the Nets last year. “I love when people get cussed at, yelled at and say, you know, ‘You can’t do that, it’s your fault.’ I’m all for it.” 

He is not hesitant to discuss the hard work that’s helped him become a five-time All-Star and has spoken about how well he fits “Heat Culture.” Of course, Butler has said he did not feel the same way about Brown and the Sixers.

If Butler can win a title in Miami and/or eliminate the Sixers from the playoffs, he’ll rise up the villain ranks. 

1960s Celtics 

Nobody could beat Boston in the ‘60s besides the Sixers, who snapped the Celtics’ run of eight consecutive championships in 1967. For most of the decade, though, the Celtics were responsible for ending the Sixers’ season early. If you count the Syracuse Nationals’ loss to Boston in the 1961 Eastern Division Finals, the franchise fell to the Celtics five times in the playoffs during the 1960s. 

Two of those series defeats were in seven games, including a crushing blown 3-1 lead in 1968 with Billy Cunningham sidelined by a broken wrist. It was the first time the Sixers had lost three straight games all season. 

The sheer volume of great Celtics during that period is immense. Nine players on those five teams that eliminated the Sixers were eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame, including John Havlicek — you may have heard that he stole the ball to seal the 1965 Eastern Division Finals — K.C. Jones, Tommy Heinsohn, Sam Jones and Bill Russell. There was Red Auerbach and the demoralizing sight of his victory cigar, too, a perfect symbol of villainy. 

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