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Even Sophie Cunningham Knows That Basketball in Philly is Better Than Cleveland and Detroit
By Kyle Pagan
Published:
I posed this question yesterday when it was announced that Philly was getting a WNBA team:
It feels crazy that Philly would be on any list behind Detroit and Cleveland on anything other than losses in the NFL over the last three decades. Philly is a better basketball hub than those two cities. We have the Big 5, the Catholic and Pub League, Herb Magee, Sonny Hill, and a solid list of players that have come from high schools all around the Delaware Valley. I’m sure the answer to the question of why we have to wait five years is underneath the backdoor deals, promises made, and the fact the Sixers want to open their arena in 2030 and have a shiny new toy they can attract people with in case the Sixers stink. Still, if you polled any NBA player I’m sure 90% would rather play in Philly then Detroit or Cleveland – except Tobias Harris.
Sophie Cunningham and I are on the same page. Notice how she strategically left out Philly when criticizing the new locations:
Now could we argue that no one wants to live in Indiana and play either? Absolutely. But the pros of playing with Caitlin Clark vastly outweighs the cons of living in Indianapolis. It’s also not great business to already poo poo two new franchises when your league is experiencing it’s best growth opportunity in it’s history. But she’s not wrong. We see it in the NBA all the time. Guys rather play in Miami or Los Angeles or Dallas over places like Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Detroit. Damian Lillard got cut today and the reports out of his camp are that he’s ecstatic he doesn’t have to play in Wisconsin anymore. That’s just the name of the game. Just ask Colin Murray-Boyles:
I don’t think Philly’s WNBA team will have any trouble attracting free agents. We’ve signed Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Zack Wheeler, and Saquon Barkley over the last decade. People do want to come play here despite what people think. Maybe even Sophie Cunningham is carving out a spot on the roster just in case. You can never have enough enforcers:
Kyle writes blog posts and does Man on the Street-style videos all around Philadelphia. He graduated from Temple University (a basketball school) in 2015. contact: k.pagan@sportradar.com