Written by Marcus Hayes The Inquirer of Philadelphia (TNS)
The city of Philadelphia I see it now, all right.
The disdain is genuine.
When the NBA All-Star reserves were revealed Thursday night, I stopped believing the localized paranoia that Philadelphia coaches and athletes are treated unfairly. It just astounded me that the Eastern Conference coaches chose the reserves instead of Tyrese Maxey.
Other notable figures included Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball, the East’s best scorer, and NBA assists leader Trae Young of the Hawks. Apologies. Compared to the other snubees, Maxey is a better player and is enjoying a better season.
More importantly, Tyler Herro of Miami, who I adore and who was on the reserves list, is a far, far worse player than Maxey. Maxey is better than my favorite player, Darius Garland of Cleveland, who will also be an All-Star backup. I’ve seen all of the candidates play a lot this season, with the strange exception of Victor Wembanyama, because I love NBA basketball and I watch a lot of non-Sixers games. So far, Maxey is the best player among Herro, Garland, Ball, and Young.
Why, then, did players and fans vote him sixth among starters? For what reason did the coaches disregard him while choosing backups?
Baby, Philly. Philadelphia.
Maxey is not the only one.
Nick Sirianni is not a finalist for head coach of the year, despite the fact that his Eagles have won 12 of their last 13 games. It’s definitely Philly.
Saquon Barkley, who was the finest running back in the NFL and had one of the top ten seasons by a back in history, is unlikely to earn the NFL MVP award. Barkley’s season was the best since Adrian Peterson’s MVP season in 2012. Yes, that is more of a quarterback bias issue, but you have to ask yourself: Would voters have made an exception this time if Barkley had played in New York or Los Angeles and transformed teams there from wild-card failures, like the Eagles in 2023, to the No. 2 seed in the NFC, like they were in 2024?
Since Maxey was ignored last week, this is significant today. Additionally, Snoop Dogg, the well-known gangsta rapper, cannabis advocate, and confidant of Martha Stewart, will host the NFL Honors in New Orleans on Thursday, when the Associated Press honors will be given out. Sirianni will be ignored there. Barkley is likely to win offensive player of the year and the running backs’ consolation trophy, which is absurd because if he is a superior offensive player than the MVP, he should be the MVP unless the other offensive player also plays special teams or defense. In any case.
Why is this happening?
Perhaps Philly is being punished for its miscreants, such as the foolish Eagles fans who steal caps and insult women.
Perhaps the Sixers still harbor grudges from their time in the depths of The Process, their hilarious mistakes since Josh Harris took over in 2011, and Joel Embiid, the franchise’s disappointing part-time player.
Perhaps Sirianni’s history of aggressive behavior against fans—whether in Kansas City, as in 2023, or Philadelphia, as in Week 6 of this season—is the cause.
Perhaps it will be LeBron and Jordan syndrome for Barkley, when a clear MVP loses because the elite decide it’s someone else’s turn. For this reason, Josh Allen and the only other serious contender, MVP Lamar Jackson, are cofavorites.
It feels tangible and real, whatever it is. I’ve resisted Philly’s self-pity since I’m a transplant, but in three weeks I’ll have lived here for thirty years, and I have to say that I’m starting to change my mind.
Mad, Max
I understand. Though he plays for a terrible squad that is nine games below.500, Maxey is by far the team’s greatest player. The announcement of the All-Star reserves the day after he scored at least 28 points for the 12th consecutive game and averaged 33.3 points in the previous four games—all victories over playoff or play-in teams—seemed appropriate. These games were played without Embiid, the MVP two years prior, and without veteran star and future Hall of Famer Paul George for the final two and a half games.
In the first half of an NBA basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City, Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski defends while Philadelphia 76ers player Tyrese Maxey (0) heads to the hoop. (Photo by Rick Egan/AP)
Maxey’s impressive improvement as a defender is demonstrated by his average of 27.5 points through 47 Sixers games, which ranks fourth overall and second among guards; 6.1 assists, despite having almost no one to pass to; and an incredible 1.9 steals, which ranks third in the league and is nearly twice his average from the previous season.
Despite having 0.1 less assists and 1.6 more points per game on average after 47 games than he did the previous season, Maxey had Embiid on the floor most of the time in the early going, and he was the league’s top scorer before to suffering a knee injury.
Because of Embiid’s constant presence, Maxey was an All-Star reserve and won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award last season. So Maxey won’t be an All-Star when he continues to get better this season without Embiid? Unless you embrace the Philly Factor, of course, it makes no sense.
Nick, nicked
The fact that Sirianni is in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years and isn’t even considered for coach of the year this time is equally disheartening. After placing fifth in 2022, he received nominations. The Giants’ Brian Daboll took first place, followed by the San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan in second place, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Doug Pederson in third, and the Buffalo Bills’ Sean McDermott in fourth.
Since then, Pederson was fired last month, and Daboll, Pederson, and McDermott have combined for zero Super Bowl appearances.
The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Washington Commanders in the NFL Championship game on Sunday, January 26, 2025, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Wide receivers DeVonta Smith (6, left) and A.J. Brown (obscured) questioned head coach Nick Sirianni with the Gatorade bucket late in the fourth quarter. The Eagles prevailed 55–23.NJ.com’s Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media
Similar flaws exist in some of this year’s nominees. However, Andy Reid’s Chiefs won the Super Bowl last season, Dan Campbell’s Lions advanced to the NFC championship game, and Sean Payton’s Broncos improved by just two games. My favorite coach is Commanders’ Dan Quinn, who won a lot with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, and Vikings coach Kevin O. Connell, who won with Sam Darnold, may God bless him. Of those three, Sirianni most definitely deserved a nomination.
Sirianni is capable of more than just winning the playoffs. Among coaches who have coached at least 50 games since free agency and the wage cap was implemented almost 30 years ago, his winning percentage of.706 is the highest. With new coordinators, he oversaw total system substitutions on both sides of the ball. In order to make his previous MVP-caliber quarterback, Jalen Hurts, the most effective quarterback in the league for the final three quarters of the season and to raise his passer rating to a career-high 103.7, he changed his offensive philosophy.
Sirianni controlled that quarterback’s ego as well as the underutilized egos of top receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. After losing Hall of Fame center Jason Kelce and replacing him with Cam Jurgens, who played guard as a rookie but made the Pro Bowl as a center, and turning failed tackle Mekhi Becton into a standout right guard, Sirianni has the best defense in the NFL, orchestrated the best running back performance in 12 years, and improved his already outstanding offensive line.
And hardly none of it is attributed to Sirianni. Why?
Well, Philly is Philly, and Nick is Nick.
Saquon, sublime
Even though I disagree with the evolution of NFL regulations that guaranteed Tom Brady’s ability to play quarterback through six presidential election cycles, I am a big quarterbacks-are-king realist. Every play involves a quarterback touching the ball, thus it is now illegal to sneeze on a quarterback or receiver without getting penalized.
The pass is still the best tactic. That’s precisely why Barkley ought to win MVP.
Barkley has changed the discourse in a time designed to reduce the number of running backs. Between Christian McCaffrey s MVP-worthy season for the 49ers in 2023, and Derrick Henry s third season with at least 1,500 rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns, Barkley s 2024, punctuated with four touchdown runs of at least 65 yards, could shift the paradigm.
On Sunday, November 24, 2024, in Inglewood, California, Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, 26, runs with the ball during an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/AP)(Photo by Kyusung Gong/AP)
If you think the Eagles take the No. 2 seed, win 14 games, and turn their season around after a 2-2 start without Barkley, then you re crazy. As if to prove the point, Allen s weak quarterback sneak that failed and his weaker subsequent drive that lost the game for the Bills only underscores the value of Barkley, whose brilliance in the NFC championship game just secured a spot for the Eagles in New Orleans.
Sadly, though, Barkley is not only a running back in an era where analytics and rule changes have made the MVP club quarterbacks only, but he s also from Philly. It’s just too big of a mountain to scale.
After the Eagles won Super Bowl LII, during the victory parade, Kelce notoriously adapted an old English soccer hooligan ditty, No one likes us, We don t care, set it to Oh, My Darling Clementine, and made it appropriately profane.
It has never been accurate. The second portion, at least, has never been true.
Philly cares, desperately.
As we should.
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