It was the first stop on the last dance for Kobe Bryant, and it seemed most fitting that he would kick off his farewell tour where it all started.
The Lakers superstar came home and was warmly embraced by a sold-out crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.
It was only natural that the kid who fist rocketed to stage battling teams like the Chester Clippers as the star of the Lower Merion Aces would come back to his roots for his first appearance after his announcement Sunday night that he would retire at the end of the season.
I don't know if Bryant planned it that way, but it certainly made for some high drama.
His high school coach, Gregg Downer was on hand.
Maybe Kobe's appearance inspired the Sixers, who rolled to their first win of the season in posting a 103-91 win.
There were only two splotches on this very special night.
First, and I suppose it's something the Sixers could not control, is that the night originally was intended to honor late Sixers center Moses Malone, the backbone of their last world championship team. The man who will forever be remembered for his "Fo, Fo, Fo" prediction seemed to get pretty short shrift after the spotlight shifted to Kobe's final appearance in Philly.
But the other is something that was completely in the Sixers' control - and it was shameful.
The team that has brought us the notion of "tanking" - a team that barely can be considered a viable NBA franchise at this point, decided to take advantage of Bryant's swansong to stick it once again to their loyal fans.
Not only is it enough that they put this drek out there on the floor every night, but they hiked the price of some tickets to take advantage of the fans' desire to pay homage to a local hero.
The Sixers explained that they have two tiers for pricing tickets to games. There is Tier B, which has a cheaper price, and there is the pricier Tier A. When Bryant made his retirement announcement, the Sixers shifted tickets to Tier A.
The cheap seats for a Tier B game can go for anywhere from $24 to $43. They promptly got bumped up to $44 to $70. The high-dollar seats went from $126-$206 to $140-$298. It should be noted that tickets for season ticket holders and mini-ticket plans were not affected.
Still, it's pretty clear the Sixers used the occasion to gouge the fans. I guess that's business.
Maybe they can use some of the profits for that security guard they are considering hiring to keep tabs on rookie Jahlil Okafor.
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