Sixers’ heavy presence at NBA All-Star Game signifies growth team has made since last season

ATLANTA —The 76ers are among the headliners at Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game.

Doc Rivers and the Sixers’ coaching staff will lead Team Durant in the All-Star Game at State Farm Arena (8 p.m., TNT). Joel Embiid will start at center for Team KD, marking his fourth straight All-Star start.

Ben Simmons, on Team LeBron, will be making his third consecutive reserve appearance.

Simmons and Embiid being selected as All-Stars is not surprising. They have been regarded among the league’s elite players for some time.

So, it’s the Sixers coaching staff’s leading Team Durant that most signifies the improvement Sixers have made since last season.

The staff received the honor because the Sixers (24-12) had the Eastern Conference’s best record at the halfway point of the season. This marks the first time since 2001 that the Sixers’ staff has coached in the All-Star Game. Back then, Larry Brown’s staff led the Eastern Conference All-Stars to 111-110 victory at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.. Sixer great Allen Iverson scored a game-high 25 points en route to being named MVP on his way to being named the league’s MVP at the end of the season.

We’ll find out Sunday night if Embiid or Simmons can duplicate Iverson’s feat and if the Sixers staff will be victorious.

But this is the most excitement surrounding the team since that 2000-01 campaign, which concluded with the Sixers losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Being in this position seemed far-fetched at the conclusion of last season, which ended in a world of flux.

The Sixers, playing in the NBA bubble, were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs in August. It marked the first time the Sixers have been swept in the first round since 1989 -- when they were swept, 3-0, by the Knicks -- and the third time in their history.

The disappointing ending to the 2019-20 season led to the firing of head coach Brett Brown and brought changes to the front office and ultimately the roster. The Sixers hired Rivers to replace Brown and brought in Daryl Morey as president of basketball operations to point the franchise in the right direction.

When the season began, it was thought that the Sixers would be anywhere from the fourth- to the sixth-best team in the conference. While things are expected to be tougher in the second half, the Sixers have surpassed expectations through their first 36 games.

A lot of it has to do with the Sixers who are here in The ATL.

Rivers has Embiid playing at an MVP level by having the Sixers play through their big man. He has Tobias Harris playing the best basketball of his career by making sure the starting power forward gets his share of shots. And Rivers is fully utilizing Simmons’ many talents by instructing his 6-foot-10 point guard to do a little bit of everything. Unlike last season, there’s solid team chemistry and players’ roles have been defined.

» READ MORE: Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons’ 3-point shot looks sweet, so he has no excuse to not take it | Marcus Hayes

Embiid is having his best season. The 7-foot-2 center is averaging 30.2 points (second in the league, behind Washington’s Bradley Beal), 11.6 rebounds (fifth in league), 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 steals. He’s also scored 31 or more points 15 times this season.

Simmons is playing at a high level as well. He is one of the leading candidates for Defensive Player of the Year on the strength of excelling while shutting down opponents regardless of position. The “facilitator” has played the point guard, forward, and center positions in the same game.

A 2019-20 first-team All-Defense selection and third-team All-NBA pick, Simmons is averaging 16.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.6 assists, and 1.6 steals (eighth in the NBA).

So he and Embiid are deserving of their All-Star nods. The only disappointment for the Sixers is that Harris doesn’t get to share the All-Star spotlight despite having an All-Star-worthy season.

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Embiid is using his appearance as a way to give back.

He is committing his All-Star Game earnings, expected to be $100,000, to Philadelphia homeless shelters, including Project HOME, Sunday Breakfast Mission, and Youth Service Inc. The Sixers, led by owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer, have also donated $100,000 to the same three organizations.

“So many have fallen on such hard times during the pandemic,” Embiid said in a statement. “I felt it was important to provide more support for individuals and families struggling with homeless and food insecurity. I’m continually grateful for all of the support that Philadelphia and the fans have given me not just around [being an] All-Star, but all my years in the league.

“I will continue to help in any way I can.”