As the Detroit Pistons defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 105-95 on Wednesday, Tobias Harris got the final laugh. Harris traveled to Philly with his new team as they played against the team he played for the past five seasons.
Harris was part of the Sixers organization since the 2018-19 NBA season. The forward stayed in Philly until the 2023-24 season when the front office allowed him to walk and join a different team. The veteran forward didn’t receive a contract extension to stay.
When Harris was part of the squad, most supporters were upset with him. The 6-foot-8 forward had a rocky stint with the team, especially in his final season. During the 2024 Playoffs, the Sixers were matched against the New York Knicks in the first round. The series was played until Game 6. However, the veteran forward failed to score a single point in the crucial Game 6, despite playing 29 minutes.
Over the summer, Harris joined the Pistons on a two-year, $52 million deal. Tonight was his first game back since leaving during the offseason and met with negative energy from the fans. Sixers fans booed their former starting forward while the player introductions were underway.
76ers fans boo Tobias Harris during player intros 💀
(via @BySamDiGiovanni)pic.twitter.com/cASKlW2skj
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) October 30, 2024
Harris took advantage of the Sixers team that didn’t feature Paul George and Joel Embiid. He helped Detroit win and ended the night with 18 points and 14 rebounds. The next time the two teams will face each other will be on Nov. 30.
76ers fans are passionate, according to Tobias Harris
Despite the boos from the Philly fans, Tobias Harris didn’t allow it to bother and prevent him from helping his team. After playing for their organization for five years, however, Harris knows how passionate the fans can be, even booing their own sometimes.
Following the game, the 32-year-old forward admitted that the boos from the fans while he was a member of the Sixers bothered him. Fortunately, he got used to it and thrived off it.
“I did thrive off of it,” Harris said.
“When I was here playing, that was something that was hard to play through. But you know, tonight, I was like, let me just take a different approach to it and embrace it a little bit. You know, like when you’re in the moment, it’s just tough. Like when you’re in the moment, it’s tough to get through.”
Tobias Harris 18 pts/14 rebounds in his return. Pistons beat 76ers 105-95. #DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/mfjMC73EHs
— Johnny Kane (@Johnny__Kane) October 31, 2024
The crowd let Harris know by booing him every time he was shown on the jumbotron. They even booed him each time he had the ball in his hands. Despite the treatment he had from the fans, the former Sixers forward believes they are simply passionate about supporting their team.
“I think the fans here get like, a bad rep on just their passion,” the veteran forward finished. “I played in different cities, and this is like one of the cities where you can get booed by fans, but you can be out at a restaurant, and they’ll put their baby in your hands to take a photo. They’re just passionate basketball fans, and they want to see their team do well.”
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
