Sixers can’t be blamed if they step over city line

Before Josh Harris could ever move the 76ers out of the Wells Fargo Center, he would be obligated to run a predictable play.

So a few weeks ago, the Sixers proposed relocating to a site almost directly across the Delaware River from their New Jersey training center, yet safely inside a Philadelphia ZIP code.

Within days, city planners rejected the idea. And at that instant, the Sixers had what anyone in pro basketball always craves: Free agency.

No, Harris didn’t win a pass to move the Sixers to Newark, where he owns a nifty arena, or South London, where he is a partner in a soccer team, or anywhere out of a sports market as expansive as Philadelphia. But as for keeping the Sixers within the city limits, that was no longer an obligation. He tried. The shot was snuffed. He was free.

Only Harris and his firm know where the Sixers will land. But if they study a couple of snapshots this week, they will head someplace outside a city too quick to prevent a sports franchise from proper operation.

On Tuesday of last week, there were several thousand people, comfortably spaced amid health concerns, in a highclass stadium on the Delaware County waterfront enjoying a Union MLS playoff game. This Monday, there will be zero fans allowed to watch the Eagles in the Linc … a mere 15.7 miles to the north. Thousands of fans in one arena. None in the other. Thousands. None. Philadelphia officials can do what they feel best for their citizens during a virus scare. But if your plan is to construct a billion-dollar sports facility with the potential to seat 20,000-ish customers, wouldn’t you have to figure that default disposition of a city’s government into the handicapping?