Beyond the storied Sixers-Celtics rivalry dating back to the days of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, extending through the Julius Erving, Larry Bird and, to a lesser extent, Allen Iverson and Paul Pierce eras, these two franchises are still connected in 2018.
The rivalry in recent years, though, has extended more to the process than the games. From Sam Hinkie’s time as general manager through Bryan Colangelo’s, there’s been something of a battle with Celtics executive Danny Ainge to accumulate more assets. The Sixers process has been a longer one, bearing the fruit that is Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Robert Covington and T.