For two years now (2013-14, 2014-15) the annual “Can you name the players who have been on the Sixers’ 15-man Roster?” Sporcle quiz is a holiday of sorts for those who keep track the team closely. Even if that very well might qualify as the saddest thing you’ve ever heard, it’s necessary to have a sense of humor when following this team on a daily basis at this stage of the game.
The Sixers are pretty much all I think about and I still forget four or five names. On Monday’s edition of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, a Miami-based, nationally syndicated program on ESPN Radio every afternoon, we finally got our answer as to what would happen if an actual Sixers player were put to the test. Here’s how Le Batard’s line of questioning to Nerlens Noel began:
Le Batard: Nerlens, was there any point where you were on the court with a guy who came into the game and you’re like, “What’s that dude’s name?”
Noel: Nah, you see Coach Brown became very good at introducing every player so we made sure we knew everybody’s name.
Eventually, Le Batard wanted Noel to tell him anything he could about relative unknowns like Malcolm Lee and Ish Smith (By the way, shame on you, Le Batard; Smith and Noel were only the greatest pick-and-roll combo on a team that finished last in offensive efficiency by a mile in history). When Noel was predictably able to do so with relative ease, the stakes got raised: They moved on to uniform numbers. Here’s a sample of the conversation:
Le Batard: Who is Number 88 on the Philadelphia 76ers?
Noel: Well, he’s not on the team anymore. He’s actually on the Knicks, I think he’s Number 1: Alexey Shved.
Le Batard: Shved! Shved! Tell me how much you laughed when Shved threw the ball into the stands with the Knicks.
Noel: Yeah, that was funny.
The whole interview is archived here and it’s worth a listen. At one point, Noel names a player who wore the number during his short tenure in Philly but not most recently. And at the end, he finally gets stumped.
I feel ya, big fella.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann