The Philadelphia 76ers succumb to the Kardashian Curse one more

After seemingly dodging a bullet earlier this summer, the Philadelphia 76ers dropped a crazy loss to the Cavs with Kendall Jenner in attendance.

This is a headline I hoped I’d never have to write: The Philadelphia 76ers succumb to the Kardashian Curse one more.

Ugh, I know.

When news broke that Ben Simmons had reportedly hit it off with certified celebrity/Kardashian clan member Kendall Jenner over the summer, it very literally sent minor shock waves throughout the City of Brotherly Love.

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After fans became attached to the Fresh Prince’s former GF Tinashe, who stood by her man over the Sixers abbreviated stint in the 2018 NBA postseason, it came as a bit of a surprise that the duo not only called it quits but that Simmons rebound was an even more famous influencer with an ugly history of ruining basketball player.

In case you somehow missed out on this piece of pop culture, there is a very legitimate Kardashian Curse in the NBA (and sports in general, more on that here).

So, when Jenner was spotted courtside for the Philadelphia 76ers home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was not a good omen by any stretch of the imagination.

And the first half all but confirmed that fear.

In the first quarter, Philly went down 31-23 after coming out incredibly slow but found a way to tie things up at 54-all in time for halftime. But with a solid chunk of time to tighten up the kinks, Brett Brown would surely find a way to get his boys back on track in route to their 21st straight regular-season home win, right?

Yeah, no, no he could not.

Down one point going into the fourth quarter, the Sixers dropped an enormous egg in the fourth, being outscored by Larry Drew‘s squad by an embarrassing margin of 37-29 in what will undoubtedly go down as the worst loss of the team’s season so far.

Sure, Ben had a solid day in front of his on-again, off-again girlfriend, recording a 22-4-10 double-double, but his team was thoroughly outplayed by a team that started the ‘dynamic’ three-guard starting five of Collin Sexton, Rodney Hood, and David Nwaba.

Just think about that for a second, even though the 76ers starting five outscored the Cavs’ by a score of 95-93, Drew’s crew, rounded out by Tristan Thompson and Cedi Osman, they still found a way to lose.

None of those players could even start for the Sixers, and yet this miss matched collection of role players somehow found a way to win on the road.

And the worst part? Jordan Clarkson had himself a game.

While this may be less common knowledge, Clarkson too was once a suitor of Miss Jenner, when he was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. While his career hasn’t exactly taken off since the duo called it quits, Clarkson is having a rebound year in Cleveland after being shipped to the city at the 2018 NBA trade deadline for Isaiah Thomas, averaging a career-high 15.7 point per game as the Cavs’ certified sixth man.

In 20 minutes of action, Clarkson scored 19 points and kissed the team’s chances of remaining undefeated at home away with a 48-second two-point jumper to seal his team’s first win in 10 days.

Is this all karma? Did Jenner’s appearance courtside seal the team’s fate before the game even began, or did the team’s anemic bench, which was single-handedly outscored by a scorned Clarkson play a more significant part? You decide, but for the sake of the team, let’s hope Jenner doesn’t take the show on the road and make an appearance at the Barcley Center for the 76ers Sunday evening game against the surprisingly formidable Brooklyn Nets.

Jimmy Butler barely made it out of the Wells Fargo Center unharmed after a late-game sprained ankle, why tempt the basketball gods any further?