Kelly Oubre Jr.’s Philly moment: It was lyrical, poignant, even poetic. Even if he gets punished for it.

Kelly Oubre Jr. became an unintentional legend Wednesday night, expressing the sentiments of 20,000 outraged Sixers fans after two horrible non-calls cemented a loss that should’ve been a win.

He used an emasculating term that defines a female dog and rhymes with “witch,” the word we’ll use hereafter as a substitute. More memorably, Oubre used the word with a pointed eloquence, and even a measure of grace, and with eerie control, directly in the faces of the three officials whose injustices affected him personally and the Sixers is a whole as the teeming mob in the stands raged. For his frustrated supporters, the defeat was especially poignant.

That’s because the biggest witch in the arena walked away with an undeserved win. James Harden, the latest Philly sports traitor, had returned to town with the Los Angeles Clippers for the first time Wednesday night.

The scene:

In the final seconds of the game, Kawhi Leonard fouled Oubre with his left arm on Oubre’s right hip twice as Oubre drove to the basket. There, Leonard blocked his shot with such force that it became lodged between the rim and the backboard. He also hit Oubre’s wrists, but whatever.

The ensuing jump ball went the Sixers’ way, but when Oubre got possession, drove to the basket, and leaped, he was fouled by Paul George. It was pretty obvious. It came before the buzzer. The refs initially ruled that George had been vertical, and so the contact was legal, but they later admitted to a pool reporter that they’d blown the call.

» READ MORE: Sixers-Clippers takeaways: Late blown call, Mo Bamba’s minutes and James Harden’s lack of awareness

What happened in between was mortifying and delightful and legendary.

First, as he sat on the floor and mayhem erupted around him, Oubre looked up at one official, caught his eye, and gave him the middle finger.

Oubre was not done.

As the officials gathered at midcourt postgame, head coach Nick Nurse, almost completely unhinged, approached them and offered a review of their efforts with vitriol and all sorts of colorful F-bombs. Oubre joined him, but with the composure of an assassin and the ease of a jazz poet.

He looked each of them in the eye, and pointed at them, and said:

“You’re a bitch, you’re a bitch, and you’re a bitch. A’ight?”

He was not done. He brought up their forebears, once again pointing to each:

“Your mom’s a bitch, your dad’s a bitch, your grandma’s a bitch.”

Oubre’s initial assertion regarding the refs might have merit, but his judgment of their ancestors is unfair. Wildly entertaining, but unfair.

Also, in bad form. My 15-year-old daughter, who’s a hell of a baller, attended Wednesday’s game, and she brought two teammates, also excellent basketball players and well-rounded athletes. They were shocked at Oubre’s words and actions, and they asked me afterward if his words and actions, and those of his coach, were inappropriate. I, of course, told them that yes, those words and actions were inappropriate, and they should never seek to mimic them.

But damn, it was smooth.

Oubre will get fined and he might even get suspended, but this is the way Matthew McConaughey or Billy Dee Williams would get fined or suspended.

His protest was so elegant and lyrical it could’ve been set to music.

» READ MORE: Keith Pompey: Call me a cynic, but Paul George’s connection to the Sixers feels like a leverage play

In the locker room, Oubre apologized for his actions, blaming the heat of the moment and recognizing his shortcomings as they pertain to the teachings of his god. The apology, too, was eloquent. It might even save him some money.

Within seconds, the usual idiots who believe sports, and especially the NBA, are fixed by the league to benefit certain teams through favoritism from the officials jumped on the internet and spouted their typical, tired conspiracy theories. They’re wrong, and they look foolish, but they’re on the right track. Refs are human.

There is certainly a home-team bias at most high-tension NBA games. There is certainly star-player favoritism, again, heightened during high-tension games. Leonard and George are among the 10 best players of their generation. Leonard is, perhaps, the best defender of his generation. A fringe player like Oubre probably isn’t going to get either of those calls in the last minute of a game of great actual importance for both teams and great aesthetic performance for fans.

Tensions in the building were heightened because of Harden’s return.

Talk about a witch.

Harden’s weak and heartless play in the past two postseasons, his self-promotion and self-aggrandizement, and his holdout at the beginning of this season all served to turn him into the latest malcontent on the Philly sports scene. He was roundly booed all night.

» READ MORE: James Harden doesn’t want to reconcile with Daryl Morey — and has not spoken to Joel Embiid

The backstory: After his friend and former GM in Houston, Daryl Morey, traded Ben Simmons to the Nets for Harden in 2022, Harden had expected to stay in Philly forever and make more money than he deserved. However, his poor play kept Morey from overspending on his buddy, both with the economical extension signed after the 2022-23 season and by not offering him the obscene money Harden inferred would come his way for 2023-24 and beyond if Harden took less the year before.

So, Harden called Morey a liar, said he didn’t want to be his friend anymore, held out during the early part of the season, and forced a trade to the Clippers.

Harden also managed to get Sixers coach Doc Rivers fired, but Sixers fans certainly weren’t angry because of that.

After the game, Harden played dumb (played dumb?) about the booing.

He said he believed that his efforts and monetary sacrifice should’ve been better appreciated by Sixers fans during his tenure in Philly. He said he’d given his all, which, if true, is sadder than if it’s a lie.

The reality is, nobody was ever going to pay an old, depleted James Harden. His game fell off a cliff when, in 2021, the NBA Instituted its policy of not calling fouls in favor of offensive players who initiate contact. He’s a free agent after this season, but he’ll be a husky, 35-year-old fading star who averaged 29.6 points between 2013-2020 but who’s averaged 20.9 points since he turned 30. He’ll be lucky to get a one-year deal approaching his current $35.6 million salary.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid ‘on the court’, Nick Nurse confirms. But Sixers coach doesn’t reveal much else.

There remains a degree of genius in Harden’s game — he had 16 points, 14 assists, and just one turnover Wednesday night — but he and the Clippers have underachieved, as all of his teams have done since he was drafted by the hyper-talented Thunder 16 years ago, usually because Playoff James shows up.

The Sixers led the Celtics, three games to two, in the Eastern Conference semifinals last year, then lost Games 6 and 7. Harden shot 7-for-25, hit one of five threes, shot four air balls, and was scared to drive the lane.

He played like a witch.

Can’t speak for his mom, his dad, or his grandma.