Sixers

KCP’s Apartment Being Struck by Lightning is Actually a Good Omen, as Once-in-a-Lifetime, Ultra-Rare Stuff is Happening for the Sixers 

By Matt Schultz

Published: Aug 31st, 2026 · 2:16 PM EDT

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Over the weekend, new Sixer Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s Philly apartment building was struck by lightning, which caused a huge leak and overall appeared to be a pretty big headache:

@mckenziecaldwellpope First day in Philly 🦸🏽‍♀️ #storytime ♬ original sound – McKenzie Caldwell-Pope

Everyone online is saying this is a very Sixers thing to happen. “Get out of Philly while you can KCP,” “The Sixers curse started early,” “This is why Bron didn’t wanna move to Philly,” “This sort of bad stuff always happens to the Sixers,” etc. etc. But I believe these reactions are dead wrong. Naysayers are being shortsighted…

His apartment is all wet, yes, that’s true. He’s going to need some towels in there, and a roof guy, all that sort of stuff. Big fan. Dehumidifiers. Maintenance-type worker guys will be in and out of his place a bunch. That’s not great. This all may be an unpleasant experience for him. I’m not denying that. But once the chores are finished, I hope KCP sees what this event actually was: A beautiful reminder from the universe of just how rare an opportunity it is for him to join this Sixers team, how rare it was for this team to come together in the first place, and the once-in-a-lifetime chance they have before them to do something special. 

This is what this is. This is a sign. This is an omen. This is as on-the-nose as a metaphor can get. The Sixers signed LeBron James. The Sixers traded for Jaylen Brown. The Sixers are real, actual championship contenders. This should not have happened. There was no indication that this was in the cards. Sixers fans have watched this team repeatedly fail to get out of the second round for the last decade, running into countless unforeseen obstacles and getting hurt and underachieving and choking over and over and over. 

Meanwhile, we’ve seen seemingly every other team have better luck. We’ve seen the Knicks, the Pacers, the Raptors, and the Heat make unpredictable, random-seeming runs to the Finals over the last couple years. We’ve seen flawed teams click at the right times, get favorable matchups, and overachieve. But never, ever for the Sixers. 

And if you asked me two months ago if this could be the year the Sixers finally get a little lucky, if things will finally break their way, if they could be one of those teams that makes a run to the Finals out of nowhere, I would’ve told you there wasn’t a shot in hell. I would’ve said the Sixers won’t compete for a championship for another decade at least. I would’ve said you have a better chance of being struck by lightning. 

And here we are…

Suddenly, these things are not pipe dreams. The Sixers are title contenders. Stuff is being struck by lighting. The impossible has become possible. The rarest of rare is now our reality…

It’s important that KCP, the Sixers organization as a whole, and all of us fans carry this lesson into the season: There is no ceiling. The tides have turned. We’ve crossed the plane of normal into an unknown realm of endless possibility. Rare stuff will likely continue to happen for all of us.

Some will win the lottery. Some will get dream jobs. Some of us will get struck by lightning a couple more times. Some will find a pearl in an oyster. Some will strike oil in their yards while driving in a post for a hammock. Some will complete a perfect March Madness bracket. Some will be attacked by sharks. It’s not always gonna be a good thing. That doesn’t matter. That’s beside the point. The point is that statistics and odds and what we thought were our limits have been thrown out the window. Rare stuff happens to us now, is what I’m saying. We are now the exception to what the world tells us was possible…

Good luck drying out your house, KCP. Hope you’re smiling ear to ear about your good fortune as you towel down your stuff.