Sixers Roundup: Old Men, Young Men, and Bowling

Photo Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

K.J. McDaniels — rookie athletic freak — told CBS Sports that he’s been asked to participate in the dunk contest. McDaniels, who is 21-years-old, says he’s not sure if he’ll do it because he’s more of an in-game dunker and can’t do what he used to do when he had “like, extra bounce.” If this is K.J. without extra bounce, I can’t imagine what he was like with it.

In an effort to maybe catch some of that bounce, a 76-year-old man from Marple is going to walk to tonight’s game against the Raptors. Harold Sampson’s two favorite things are the Sixers and walking (a modern day Walter Mitty, this guy) and since it’s his 76th birthday, he’s gonna walk the 18-miles from Marple-Newtown High School to the Wells Fargo Center for tonight’s game, where he’ll be honored at halftime. This is great and all, but maybe this is just a pity-play so someone will call him an Uber. [Editor’s note: Using code crossingbroad for $20 off first ride.]

And finally, the Sixers’ partners in tank, the Knicks, had a bunch of nationally televised games on their schedule at the beginning of the season. Slowly, TNT and ESPN realized they didn’t want to show really terrible basketball on their networks, so they starting pulling the Knicks’ games from their lineup. But this Super Bowl Sunday, there was some counter-programming going on: ESPN was going to air Knicks vs. Lakers, which seemed great during the season but is now just bad, pathetic basketball. But fear not. If you hate football and just want to watch some other sports on Super Bowl Sunday, you will no longer have to sit through Knicks/Lakers. You can now watch a Chris Paul-hosted celebrity bowling event instead featuring Chris Hardwick and Terrell Owens. Rather than air the Kobe-less Lakers taking on the terrible Knicks, ESPN is airing “celebrities” bowling. Yet, Phil Jackson is a genius.