The Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers are definitely viewed as having a bit of a rivalry, and there’s definitely no shortage of the two teams’ fans going at one another. That is in part due to both franchises being in the Eastern Conference and having to face one another in the playoffs consistently, even since the days of Julius Erving and Larry Bird.
The two teams have also faced off relatively often in the playoffs as well, and in the last 5 years, the Boston Celtics have dominated their playoff matchup against the 76ers, beating Philadelphia both during the 2017-18 and the 2019-20 seasons.
A new member of the Boston Celtics, Josh Richardson, was asked about the rivalry between them and the Philadelphia 76ers. Richardson has a unique perspective on the situation, as he is a player who has now been part of both franchises, suiting up for the 76ers during the 2019-20 season.
Josh Richardson revealed that Joel Embiid “shut all that down” when referring to a rivalry between the two franchises. Richardson revealed that the Celtics would always beat them and that because the 76ers “always lost” it was definitely “not a rivalry”.
Josh Richardson laughed when asked if he thought there was a rivalry with the Celtics when he was in Philly: "From when I was there, Joel (Embiid) shut all that down, cause they always kicked our ass. We always lost, so like it's not a rivalry."
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) October 7, 2021
Both teams will be trying to contend for the championship next season, and things will get heated between fans even if the 76ers don’t consider their relationship with the Celtics a rivalry.
While neither team would be considered a true contender, both teams will likely be comfortably in the playoffs. Obviously, the Philadelphia 76ers still have yet to resolve the Ben Simmons situation, but they should be a competitive team with the return that they would get in a trade for the 3-time All-Star. Both franchises have superstars in Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum, and it would certainly be fun to see a series between the two.
There have been previous rumors that the Boston Celtics would trade for Ben Simmons if his price keeps dropping, and it’d certainly be amusing if Ben Simmons were to go to a rival Eastern Conference team. However, the Philadelphia 76ers have held firm on their demands thus far, and it looks like it’ll have to be something else that ends up fueling this “rivalry”.
