Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes

Blog

  • Philly connections to the Winter Olympics, from a young figure skater to Donovan McNabb’s niece

    Philly connections to the Winter Olympics, from a young figure skater to Donovan McNabb’s niece

    The Winter Olympics are underway — and the opening ceremony was Friday night. Team USA features 232 athletes — 117 men, 115 women, 98 returning Olympians, and 18 Olympic champions. And there are a few Philly-area natives competing in Milan and Cortina.

    Here’s look at some Olympians with ties to the region and how to watch them compete:

    Isabeau Levito, figure skating

    Isabeau Levito, who was born in Philadelphia and lives and trains in Mount Laurel, will make her Olympic debut in front of family in Milan, where her mother was born and some family still lives. The 18-year-old Levito, who has been skating since she was 3 years old, burst onto the scene with a third-place finish at the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and won the event the next year when she was 15. She also won a silver medal at worlds in 2024.

    How and when to watch? The women’s individual figure skating competition doesn’t take place until the second half of the Winter Games. The women’s singles short program is Feb. 17 (12:45 p.m. Philadelphia time), and will air on NBC (Part I) and USA Network (Part II). The women’s singles free skate is scheduled for Feb. 19 (1 p.m.), and will air on NBC. Both events will stream live on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC Olympics app, and the NBC app. You can check out the full women’s singles figure skating TV schedule here.

    A beginner’s guide to watching figure skating at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics
    Taylor Anderson-Heide (center) grew up in Broomall and learned to curl with her identical twin sister.

    Taylor Anderson-Heide, curling

    Taylor Anderson-Heide, another Philadelphia-born Olympian, grew up in Broomall and graduated from Marple Newtown High School before attending the University of Minnesota. Anderson-Heide began curling with her identical twin sister, Sarah Anderson, at a young age and trained at the Philadelphia Curling Club in Paoli.

    Anderson-Heide is a five-time national champion, winning twice in mixed doubles (2015, 2018); three times in the women’s event, including twice alongside her sister (2019, 2021); and again in 2025. While Anderson-Heide has finished in the top three in women’s curling in two U.S. Olympic trials, the Milan Games will be her first Olympic events.

    How and when to watch? Mixed doubles curling is underway, but Anderson-Heide is competing in the women’s event, which doesn’t begin until Feb. 12. The U.S. women’s team has round-robin sessions every day between Feb. 12-19, and if it advances, the semifinals take place on Feb. 20. The women’s bronze medal match is on Feb. 21, and the women’s gold-medal match takes place on Feb. 22. You can check out the women’s curling TV schedule here, as the games will air at different times and on a trio of networks — CNBC, USA, and NBC — throughout the tournament.

    Curling is back at the Olympics. What are the rules? Why do people love it? And how can I watch it?

    Andrew Heo, speedskating

    Heo, the son of South Korean immigrants, grew up in Warrington. He followed his cousins and older brother into speedskating and made his first U.S. national team at just 17. Three years later, he made his Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games, finishing seventh in the men’s 1,000-meter race, 28th in the 1,500, and eighth in the 2,000-meter mixed relay. Heo is a two-time world bronze medalist, and he won his first ISU Short Track World Tour race, the 500 meters, in 2025. Also helping Heo at this Olympics: His parents can attend, after COVID-19 restrictions forced them to watch from their home in Bucks County in 2022.

    How and when to watch? Men’s speedskating runs from Feb. 7-21, with events airing on NBC, USA Network and streaming live on Peacock. Heo will compete in the 1,500- and 500-meter races, and the 2,000-meter mixed relay. The mixed relay finals will be held on Feb. 10; the 1,500-meter finals will be held on Feb. 14; and the 500-meter finals will be on Feb. 18. For more time and channel information, click here.

    Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet is serving as an assistant coach for Team Canada.

    Flyers players and coaches

    While they weren’t born in Philly, there are four members of the Flyers in Italy for the Olympics.

    Rick Tocchet: Tocchet, who represented his native Canada in World Championships and Canada Cups as a player, will get his first Olympic experience in Milan as an assistant coach with the Canadians. The tournament will have added meaning for the Flyers’ bench boss, as both of his parents emigrated from Italy.

    Travis Sanheim: Sanheim’s rise from a small Manitoba town of 500 people to the pinnacle of the sport has been nothing short of remarkable to watch. After winning a 4 Nations Face-Off title last year with Canada, the Flyers defenseman will look to add an Olympic gold medal to his trophy case.

    Dan Vladař: The goaltender, who is in his first year with the Flyers and has been the team’s MVP through the Olympic break, will represent Czechia in Milan. Vladař has the best NHL numbers of the three Czech goalies and could push starter Lukáš Dostál for the net.

    Rasmus Ristolainen: A year after missing out on the 4 Nations Face-Off due to injury, Ristolainen will return to the Finnish setup for the first time in nine years. Pesky Finland always seems to be in contention for a medal, and Ristolainen will provide size and snarl to their blue line.

    *Rodrigo Ābols: The Flyers centerman was announced as one of Latvia’s initial six players, but will be unable to participate after suffering a nasty-looking ankle injury on Jan. 17.

    You can check out the full men’s hockey TV schedule here.

    Penn State’s Tessa Janecke is making her Olympic debut at the Milan Cortina Games.

    Athletes from Penn State

    In addition to Philly natives and pro athletes, there are also some Olympians from Penn State.

    Tessa Janecke, ice hockey: Janecke, 21, holds the title for most career goals, assists, and points in Penn State women’s hockey history. She was named to the U.S. women’s hockey team three years ago and scored the golden goal in the 2025 IIHF World Championships when the U.S. defeated Canada, 4-3. Janecke was raised in Warren, Ill., and started playing hockey at age 3.

    The U.S. women’s hockey team began its schedule with a 5-1 win over Czechia on Thursday, and Janecke recorded a pair of assists. The team’s three remaining preliminary games run through Feb. 10. The knockout rounds begin with the quarterfinals on Feb. 13, and the tournament wraps up with the gold and bronze medal games on Feb. 19. Women’s ice hockey will be live primarily on Peacock, which will stream every game. TV coverage is also available for select games on NBC, USA, and CNBC.

    Penn State’s Tessa Janecke will fulfill ‘my dream’ in Milan with Team USA women’s ice hockey

    Dan Barefoot, skeleton: Another Nittany Lion, the 35-year-old Johnstown, Pa., native didn’t take up skeleton until his mid-20s. Barefoot was inspired to start training after looking up online which Olympic sports a novice could learn later in life with little to no experience. When the skeleton was the search result, he got to work. Since then, Barefoot, who graduated from Penn State with a degree in landscape architecture, has competed in three world championships for the U.S. and finished 11th at the 2025 IBSF World Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. The 2026 Games will be his Olympic debut.

    Skeleton events can be watched live on Peacock, NBC, and USA Network from Feb. 12-15.

    Chloe Kim won gold in the women’s halfpipe at each of the last two Winter Olympics.

    More local connections

    There are more athletes just a bit farther outside the Philadelphia area, as well as one with a familial connection to the city. You can check out the times and TV information for their events here.

    Summer Britcher, luge: Britcher was raised in Glen Rock, Pa., in York County and is no stranger to the Olympic stage. She is a veteran of four Olympic Games, and was the youngest member of the U.S. luge team at the 2014 Sochi Games when she was just 19. Britcher has five career World Cup victories, making her the all-time singles leader in U.S. luge history.

    Kelly Kurtis, skeleton: Kurtis first made history at the 2022 Beijing Games when she became the first Black athlete to compete for Team USA in skeleton. She was raised in Princeton, N.J., and grew up hating the cold. She first took up bobsled in 2013 before transitioning to skeleton a year later after watching the event during the 2014 Olympic Games. In the 2022 Olympic Games, Curtis finished 21st overall.

    Brianna Schnorrbusch, snowboarding: Schnorrbusch grew up in Monroe Township, N.J., and was just 17 when she was named to the U.S. snowboardcross Pro Team. Her specialty is women’s snowboardcross, while her sister, Ty Schnorrbusch, competes in slopestyle snowboarding. Now, at just 20 years old, Schnorrbusch will make her Olympic debut.

    Chloe Kim, snowboarding: A household name for Team USA, Kim made her Olympic debut in the 2018 Pyeongchang games where she won gold in the women’s halfpipe at 17 years old, making her the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal. She defended her title in the 2022 Beijing Games. Kim, who attended Princeton, is also the first athlete to win titles at all four major snowboarding events — the Olympics, Youth Winter Olympics, X Games, and FIS World Championships. At age 25, the Torrance, Calif., native is already tied with Shaun White for the most halfpipe wins in X Games history (8).

    Sarah Nurse, ice hockey: Nurse isn’t from the area — and doesn’t even play for Team USA — but she’s one of the stars of women’s hockey and is an Olympic veteran. So why should Philadelphians care? She’s also Donovan McNabb’s niece. But the family’s athletic bloodlines extend beyond the former Eagles quarterback. Nurse’s cousins, Darnell and Kia Nurse, play in the NHL and WNBA, respectively. And their father, Nurse’s other uncle, played in the CFL. Nurse has helped Canada, the favorite again this year, to a pair of Olympic medals — gold in 2022 and silver in 2018 — and three World Championships titles.

  • A stadium district mega-development opposed by the Phillies, Eagles, and Comcast Spectacor appears to be dead

    A stadium district mega-development opposed by the Phillies, Eagles, and Comcast Spectacor appears to be dead

    A major development project that would have brought 1,367 residential units to South Philadelphia’s stadium district seems to have fallen apart since the real estate partnership behind the project ended last summer.

    The project was revealed in 2024 and would have been a collaboration between Hines, an international development company, and the King of Prussia-based Philadelphia Suburban Development Corp. (PSDC), which owns the land.

    It would have constructed six buildings, including an office tower and entertainment complex, to the east of the Live! Casino & Hotel where Parx Casino’s South Philadelphia Race & Sportsbook and Packer Avenue Foods once stood.

    Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who represents the area, has moved to repeal several zoning ordinances that he had passed to enable the project, despite protests from PSDC president Mark Nicoletti, who says the move will kill the project.

    “Hines withdrew from the project last summer,” Johnson said in a statement. “Since the plans that were presented to me at the outset of the partnership with Hines and PSDC have significantly changed, I feel it is in the best long-term interest of the residents … to introduce new legislation this year that repeals the original 2024 zoning legislation.”

    Johnson advanced his repeal legislation at an early February hearing of City Council’s Rules committee. A final vote could come as soon as next week.

    Nicoletti says PSDC could have developed the project without Hines, but only if the zoning legislation had remained in place.

    “I’m honestly scratching my head. This makes no sense,” Nicoletti said Tuesday after the City Council hearing. “What happened today was random and inexplicable and unfortunately killed thousands of jobs and a very important economic development project.”

    The project proved controversial early on, with representatives of the Phillies, Eagles, and Comcast Spectacor — which owns the Flyers — expressing concerns at a 2024 City Council hearing.

    Earlier in 2024 those three organizations shared plans of their own for a mixed-use development of their own at the sports complex.

    The release occurred as debate raged around a plan from the 76ers to leave the sports complex and build an arena in Center City — an effort the team ultimately aborted.

    But Nicoletti says his company met with local community organizations and the major sports teams about the proposal.

    “We presented comprehensive plans from a top architectural firm at a dozen meetings with community groups and the teams,” Nicoletti said. “We worked through any concerns the Planning Commission had to win their support.”

    But Nicoletti says the two developers went separate ways last summer because Hines did not exercise an option to buy all or part of the property from the PSDC.

    Hines declined to comment.

    An overview of what Hines and PSDC are planning for the stadium district.

    Johnson’s legislation contained a sunset clause for the zoning overlay he created to aid the project, which would have repealed itself later this year. But he decided to act sooner.

    Johnson also repealed a change in the underlying zoning from industrial to land use rules that allow mixed commercial and residential use.

    If he had left that mixed-use zoning in place, the land value would have increased even without the project moving forward.

    “I look forward to hearing new proposals from anyone, including PSDC, concerning new development plans for the former South Philadelphia Race & Sportsbook location at 700 Packer Ave.,” Johnson’s statement read.

    Johnson emphasized that any new proposal would need to be presented to neighborhood groups and get their support before he introduces any new zoning legislation.

    The Hines and PSDC collaboration promised to create thousands of construction jobs, but the exit of the international developer is seen by union leadership as the catalyst for the project’s death.

    “Hines stepped away from the project, and that caused the Council president to look at it with a new set of eyes,” said Ryan Boyer, who leads the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council and the Laborers District Council.

    “The Council president has approved correct development, but he wants the community to have a say — as is his right,” Boyer said. “But I also think that [Johnson] and Mark [Nicoletti] are both reasonable people and reasonable men will come to a resolution for both of them, and for the building trades.”

  • ‘Sermon on the Lot’ compares Eagles fandom to a religious experience: ‘On Sundays, you go to Mass’

    ‘Sermon on the Lot’ compares Eagles fandom to a religious experience: ‘On Sundays, you go to Mass’

    Mike Cordisco is not the first person to compare football to religion, but he might be the first person to spend years photographing Eagles tailgates to make the comparison clearer.

    Cordisco’s newest project, Sermon on the Lot, is a 98-page book that compiles photos the Cherry Hill native took at Eagles tailgates between 2018 and 2025.

    The goal of the project, Cordisco said, was to push past the typical rowdy image of Eagles fans before a game and show their passion as a kind of religious fervor.

    Beyond the project’s title, the book itself is designed to look like something one might find in a church pew, with silver embossing on the front and a midnight green ribbon bookmark.

    It also features a sermon written by Philadelphia journalist Dan McQuade, who died last week at 43.

    Select photos from Sermon on the Lot will be on display at Unique Photo in Center City. Cordisco, 34, is hosting a gallery opening on Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and says it will remain in place until mid-March.

    Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata reacts to Jeff Stoutland’s departure: ‘I’ve been crying about it.’

    Play Ball

    Cordisco’s origin story in becoming a photographer is simple. He bought his first camera in 2016 to document his trips to baseball stadiums. It was around the same time he moved within Philadelphia’s city limits for the first time.

    Baseball is Cordisco’s “true passion.” He played high school baseball at Cherry Hill West and spent one season on the club team at Rutgers-New Brunswick, where he attended college. He spent a few years working for minor league clubs, working game day operations for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and selling tickets for the Frisco RoughRiders.

    After three years in Texas with the RoughRiders, Cordisco moved to the Bella Vista neighborhood of Philadelphia and got a job as a database administrator with Better Tomorrows, a Camden-based nonprofit.

    Cordisco was still making frequent trips to MLB stadiums in an effort to see them all, but grew frustrated with trying to document them on his cell phone camera.

    “I was straining, lying on the ground, straining on railings to get these perfect shots on my iPhone,” Cordisco said. “And I was like, ‘You know what, why don’t I just get a camera?’”

    Cordisco’s love for photography grew, and eventually he became interested in not just documenting moments, but telling stories with his lens. He collected his baseball photography into a project titled If They Don’t Win It’s a Shame, which “exposes American culture and society within the confines of its national pastime,” according to Cordisco’s website.

    “It’s a way to tell all these stories and use my experience in the field, [to] visually tell these stories that I’m interested in,” Cordisco said.

    Some fans blame Nick Sirianni for Jeff Stoutland’s departure. Others are just thankful for ‘Stoutland University.’

    Sacred Sundays

    Once Cordisco started to take photography more seriously, he knew he wanted to put together a project that would capture Philadelphia, which he considers to be “the one identifiable U.S. city.”

    The city’s sports teams seemed like a natural place to begin framing Philly’s identity. Cordisco did not have personal allegiances to the Philadelphia teams, as his family had roots in New York, but he knew how much Philly cared about its teams from growing up in its suburbs. He began to shoot the places where he saw the city and its teams entwined.

    “I was photographing diners that might have Eagles merch in the windows and people’s Phillies and Eagles bumper stickers,” Cordisco said.

    He also began photographing the occasional Eagles tailgate. He became captivated by the community that surrounded Lincoln Financial Field on Sundays. By 2022, he had narrowed the project down to focus on tailgating.

    A photo of Eagles fans tailgating from Mike Cordisco’s photo project, “Sermon on the Lot.”

    “Through the middle of this season, I went to every single one,” Cordisco said. “It was just, for me, the best way to really show and visualize Philly culture.”

    Those photos became Sermon on the Lot. Cordisco chose to drape the project in religious metaphors to frame football, and particularly Eagles fandom, as a religion — one with its own set of rituals, traditions, and ways of worship.

    “On Sundays, you go to Mass,” Cordisco said. “But in Philly, you go to the parking lot and tailgate an Eagles game.”

    Jeff Stoutland exits as Vic Fangio pondered retirement: Eagles drama never ends | Marcus Hayes

    Even though the scope of the project changed from its initial aim to portray Philadelphia, Cordisco still feels the city’s identity lies within Sermon on the Lot.

    “There’s no way it can’t come through,” Cordisco said. “I think my photos and the work definitely still show that classic grit and character that Philly is known for in the images … It’s still there, even if it’s maybe a layer or two deeper in the work.”

    Dan McQuade, seen here in a Daily News photo from 2014, died on Jan. 28, of neuroendocrine cancer, one day after his 43rd birthday.

    McQuade’s missive

    Cordisco was seeking a Philadelphia writer to pen a foreword for his book. He was a frequent reader of McQuade’s work, so Cordisco sent McQuade a cold email in September to see if he would be interested writing something for the project.

    “There was nobody else who could have written that,” Cordisco said. “He had no idea who I was, I just e-mailed him one day and he got back to me and said that he would love to do it.”

    To fit the project’s religious theming, McQuade’s foreword takes the form of a sermon. It is about the two men who showed up to former Eagles owner Leonard Tose’s house after news broke that Tose had agreed to sell a portion of the team and move it to Phoenix in 1984.

    Jordan Mailata sings a cappella ‘Eye of the Tiger’ at Super Bowl with Adam Devine, George Kittle, Bijan Robinson

    The two men, Barry Martin and Robert Vandetty, left Tose a note asking the owner to reconsider, as McQuade detailed in a 2023 story for Defector. Martin and Vandetty’s note closed with a simple phrase: “Go Birds — Philadelphia Birds.”

    “‘Go Birds’ is your greeting, your mantra, your rallying cry,” an excerpt of McQuade’s sermon reads. “The Eagles trademarked it, but it does not belong to them. It is yours. Think of Barry and Rob. They risked arrest to say ‘Go Birds.’ When you go forth today, I beseech you to say it too.“

    Cordisco said McQuade went “above and beyond” in his involvement with the project, offering ideas on how to display the work at the Unique Photo gallery showing. McQuade’s words will hang alongside Cordisco’s photos on the walls of the Center City photo store.

    Cordisco started Sermon on the Mount more interested in how the Eagles reflected Philadelphia than the team itself. But now, thanks to the community he found in the parking lots, he considers himself a Birds convert.

    “I went out to the tailgates and just saw how much it truly meant to people,” Cordisco said. “Not even just the wins and losses, but just being there. I talked to people that have been tailgating in the same RV for 40 years now, and they would tell me all these stories about how they raised their kids at the tailgates.

    “Making that connection with so many people only strengthened my fandom of the Eagles.”

  • Eccentric former Eagle Mack Hollins is fine if you call him a journeyman: ‘At least I got to do it my way’

    Eccentric former Eagle Mack Hollins is fine if you call him a journeyman: ‘At least I got to do it my way’

    SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Mack Hollins stood barefoot on the drab gray carpet at the San Jose Convention Center, surrounded by reporters and cameras, and couldn’t have felt more grounded in the spotlight.

    It might have made more sense if the New England Patriots wide receiver was on one of the risers for Super Bowl LX opening night, considering all the attention the eccentric Hollins received. He’s far from a celebrity on a team lacking in stars, but the journeyman can’t help but stand out wherever he goes.

    Whether it’s the cartoonish outfits he wears on game days, his stylish hairdos, or his idiosyncratic practices and beliefs — like hardly ever wearing shoes off the field — Hollins makes an impression. On the gridiron, the ninth-year pro continues to make an impact despite never being a top receiver on any of the six teams for which he’s played.

    Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata reacts to Jeff Stoutland’s departure: ‘I’ve been crying about it.’

    Hollins, who spent his first three seasons with the Eagles, has embraced his singular odyssey in the NFL.

    “I’m totally fine with that [journeyman] label, whatever it is, because I chose wherever I went — outside of getting released from Philly and picked up by Miami,” Hollins said two days after opening night from a riser (and barefoot) — at the Santa Clara Marriott. “Every choice after that I got to pick. And I always was able to pick where I saw value and they saw value in me. And I’ve learned over the years that people that value you, don’t go where the money’s the best or you think the opportunity is the best.

    “Go where it feels the best. And you only learn what feels the best from trial and error. So, yeah, if I’m a journeyman, so be it. At least I got to do it my way.”

    Hollins’ way could include bookending his career with Super Bowl victories. He’s one of three active players on the otherwise youthful Patriots who have previously won a title — cornerback Carlton Davis and former Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams are the others. (Only former Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Kupp and linebacker Ernest Jones have rings for the opposing Seattle Seahawks.)

    Mack Hollins was a contributor as the Eagles’ fourth receiver in their first Super Bowl title season of 2017.

    Hollins won in his rookie season in 2017. He wasn’t targeted as the fourth receiver, but he played 17 snaps and had a few key blocks in the run game as the Eagles beat the Patriots, 41-33, in the Super Bowl LII shootout.

    He said he didn’t appreciate how tough it would be to get back to the big game.

    “Not at the time. I was like I don’t know why [Tom] Brady is like this big deal,” Hollins said of the seven-time champion quarterback. “It’s not that hard. You just go there. You win three playoff games and you’re like going to get a ring. Literally, did not know it would be eight years before I’d get back to one.”

    In that rookie season, Hollins caught 16 passes for 226 yards, including a memorable 64-yard touchdown against Washington on Monday Night Football, and was viewed as a field-stretching prospect. But he suffered a groin injury and surgery sidelined him for all of 2018. He returned the following season, but struggled to return to form.

    The Eagles cut Christian Elliss as the 2023 season unraveled. His new life with the Patriots has him back in the Super Bowl.

    The Eagles released him in December and the Dolphins claimed him the next day.

    “In an ideal world, do I wish I would have had 1,000 yards every year and still be in Philly nine years later?” Hollins said. “Yeah, because then I wouldn’t have had to move my family six times. I didn’t have to like get six new jerseys for my family six times. But it worked out just the way it was supposed to.”

    It wasn’t easy. The Dolphins didn’t reach the postseason in any of Hollins’ three seasons in Miami. And he remained a deep reserve at receiver, although he shined on special teams. But signing with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022 altered his career trajectory.

    The connection Mack Hollins (10) made with coach Josh McDaniels when arriving to the Raiders would help the receiver down the line.

    Hollins flourished in coach Josh McDaniels’ offense and finished behind only All-Pro Davante Adams in receiving with 57 catches for 690 yards and four touchdowns. But he didn’t make the playoffs with the Raiders either, and wasn’t utilized as much when he transitioned to the Atlanta Falcons the next season.

    But he became one of Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s more reliable receivers in Buffalo in 2024, and this season — after being reunited with Patriots offensive coordinator McDaniels — he posted numbers (46 catches for 550 yards and two touchdowns) that approached his career highs.

    And perhaps more importantly, he helped a young group of receivers adjust to McDaniels’ system.

    “Some of the younger guys have gravitated toward him and asked him, ‘How do we do this? How do we do that?’ And he’s been great with that,” receivers coach Todd Downing said. “And just the relationship part — getting to know him on a personal level isn’t very hard. I love his authenticity.”

    Ex-Eagle Josh Jobe won Seahawks’ respect through battles with Jaxon Smith-Njigba: ‘This guy’s pretty dang good’

    Rookie Kyle Williams has been one of the receivers Hollins has taken under his wing. He said there’s more to the 32-year-old than meets the eye.

    “He’s a little odd in his own way, not in a bad way, but in his own way, which everybody is,” Williams said. “But then you get to start knowing him, having conversations and I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s really cool. He’s chill.’ I can chop it up outside with him.

    “He’s just been a great brother, a great vet. And if I have a question on any conspiracy theory that I have, I know it’s one person I can ask.”

    Mack Hollins’ quirks have been evident throughout his career, but he’s been a beloved teammate and a productive pro.

    Hollins can confabulate with the best of them, whether it’s about regenerative agriculture, or his quest to build the world’s largest aquarium — “Big enough so I can swim in it” — or his penchant for going sans footwear.

    “I feel like I’m more connected to the ground. As corny as that sounds, and people are like, ‘Oh, you’re such a hippie,’” Hollins said. “I think the body is developed to connect to a lot of things. The same way you can feel energy when you walk in a room with people or the way you feel about something, you can’t put it into writing, but it’s just a feeling.

    “And I feel like when I’m connected to the ground or when I walk outside or I get to be outside, I feel better, I feel more connected to the earth, and I feel like my body is less stressed out.”

    Williams said Hollins would play barefoot if permitted. He and other Patriots have occasionally followed in his steps.

    “I’ve dibbled and dabbled into it,” Williams said. “I think it’s better at home. I’m not comfortable letting my dogs out around 100-some eyes. But when I’m at home, I can walk around and do it faithfully.”

    Some Eagles fans might have known about Hollins’ pet snakes or exotic fish, but their exposure to him was limited. He may be most remembered in Philly for his celebration after that long touchdown vs. Washington in 2017 when he did the then-famous “Floss” dance.

    “I still have the dance,” Hollins said. “Every once in a while when somebody needs it, I can pull it out. The backpack Mack never died. He’s just over to the side.”

    Mack Hollins (13) has been a key part of a historic turnaround in New England this season.

    Hollins is perhaps the NFL’s best embodiment of Walt Whitman’s famous line from “Song of Myself”: I am large, I contain multitudes.

    “I think people sometimes will look away from what life is supposed to be because they’re chasing something that isn’t realistic,” Hollins said. “They see the end result. A bodybuilder goes on stage, you see him, you’re like, ‘Oh my goodness. Look at that. Look how strong he is, how his body is sculpted.’ But they skip all the pain he went through to tear his muscles apart and rebuild them.

    “Life is simple. It just takes heart to get what you want.”

  • The Sixers trading Jared McCain will either be a head-scratcher or an embarrassment

    The Sixers trading Jared McCain will either be a head-scratcher or an embarrassment

    A week ago, Joel Embiid decided to spend a little bit of the organizational capital he reaccrued in recent months. In response to a question about the Sixers’ approach to the upcoming NBA trade deadline, Embiid pointedly expressed his hope that the team would be looking to add talent rather than cut costs.

    “Obviously, we’ve been ducking the tax past couple of years, so hopefully, we’ll keep the same team,” Embiid said. “I love all the guys that are here. I think we got a shot.

    I don’t know what they’re going to do, but I hope we get a chance to just go out and compete because we’ve got a good group of guys in this locker room. The vibes are great. Like I said, in the past we’ve been, I guess, ducking the tax, so hopefully, we think about improving because I think we have a chance.”

    The Sixers got under the tax and took a small step back at the NBA trade deadline

    Embiid was surprisingly — some might say ungraciously — candid in noting the Sixers’ recent prioritization of shedding salary at the trade deadline to avoid paying the NBA’s luxury tax (and, thereby, to receive a share of the pooled taxpayer dollars). But he also was prescient, and unfortunately so.

    Sixers president Daryl Morey is scheduled to meet with the media on Friday, so we’ll have to wait to hear the official defense of the team’s decision to trade 2024 first-round pick Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder for what most likely will be a low-value first-rounder (plus the obligatory smattering of second-round picks). We don’t have to wait to judge the optics of the thing.

    The optics are poor, and that will remain true even if the thing ends up making more sense than we can immediately glean. The Sixers didn’t trade McCain for a player who is more likely to help them contend for a championship, be it this year or beyond. They didn’t trade him for a pick that they then flipped for a player who can help them capitalize on their momentum this season. Everywhere else, teams got better, and many of them did so in ways beyond this season. The Minnesota Timberwolves can re-sign Ayo Dosunmu. The Indiana Pacers can pair Ivica Zubac with Tyrese Haliburton next season. The Sixers can hope a late first-round pick is worth something in June.

    Jared McCain (right) only played in 60 games with the Sixers after being selected in the first round of the 2024 draft.

    A good way to judge the optics of a move is to attempt to write an executive summary of it in as favorable a way as possible. That’s an extraordinarily difficult task in this case. The Sixers just traded away a guy who they drafted at No. 16 barely a year and a half ago and who probably would be drafted higher in a redo. In exchange, they received a pick that currently projects as the No. 23 pick in the 2026 draft, two picks later than where the Sixers grabbed Tyrese Maxey almost six years ago. It is a range of the draft that rarely yields starters, let alone stars. It is a range where the odds say you are more likely to draft a player who never cracks a first-division rotation than one who becomes a meaningful starter.

    Just look at the track record. Of the 42 players drafted with the last seven picks of the first round since 2020, only 17 have started more than 17 NBA games. Just eyeballing it, you’d be hard-pressed to identify 10 of those 42 who’ve turned out to be better than the median potential outcome of even this year’s version of McCain. Jaden McDaniels and Desmond Bane are stars. They are followed by Payton Pritchard, Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, and Santi Aldama. Beyond that: Peyton Watson and Cam Thomas, and then Bones Hyland, Day’Ron Sharpe, Nikola Jović, and Kyshawn George. You get the picture.

    Risk vs. certainty is the name of the game. The Sixers traded McCain for a first-round pick that will be uncertain, even on draft day. Let alone five months before. Whatever negative certainty they felt about McCain’s mid-to-long-term trajectory, it can’t possibly be greater than the negative uncertainty of a draft-day replacement. Which is why, optically speaking, the move looks like one that was inordinately influenced by the cost-cutting benefits.

    Trading Jared McCain is a big risk, unless something bigger is in play

    The Sixers surely will point to optionality as a variable. On draft day, they will have another opportunity to flip the McCain first-rounder for an established NBA player or include the pick in a package. If that influenced the move, then the bet they are making is that the pick will be more in a draft-day trade than McCain would have been himself. There’s a decent chance that is true, given how far McCain has fallen on the depth chart and how little opportunity he could have to reestablish value.

    It just rings a little bit hollow to anybody who has bought into the commendable shift we’ve seen from the Sixers in their roster-building strategy over the last year. And it rings especially hollow when you consider that the team that traded for McCain is one of the best and brightest roster-builders in the modern NBA. As somebody said the other day, when Sam Presti wants one of your guys, it’s a good reason to think a few more thoughts about whether you should want to get rid of him.

    Barely a year and a half has passed since the Sixers made McCain the No. 16 pick in the 2024 draft. In that year and a half, we’ve seen McCain:

    • Play 23 games in which he looked like one of the top five players in the class, forcing his way into the starting lineup and then averaging 19.1 points while shooting 39.7% from three-point range in the 16 games before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.
    • Play 25 games where he looked like a player working his way back from a broken thumb that he suffered while working his way back from knee surgery.
    • Play 11 games in a 15-game stretch in which he logged just 132 minutes.

    In the Sixers’ defense, they’ve seen much more of McCain than the television cameras capture. Nobody can have a more informed opinion on where he projects within the context of their roster. But it wasn’t long ago that McCain looked like a player who could eventually transcend questions of fit. His ceiling never was close to VJ Edgecombe’s, and his probable reality was always short of Maxey’s. Again, though. The Thunder have a lot of guards. They are built on a two-way mentality. It makes you wonder.

    What it comes down to is that the Sixers better be right in their evaluation of McCain. Whatever the marching orders from ownership regarding the luxury tax, there is a level of player even Scrooge McDuck wouldn’t deem an appropriate cost-savings measure. McCain isn’t that player now. The Sixers could be accurate in their judgment of the odds that he ever becomes one. The question is whether they are accurate in their judgment of their risk of being wrong.

  • How to claim tax breaks on overtime, tips, and more this filing season

    How to claim tax breaks on overtime, tips, and more this filing season

    Many Americans stand to collect larger tax refunds this year, whether they itemize or not.

    Certain filers can now write off tips, overtime pay, and auto loan interest because of changes enacted under last year’s sweeping tax and spending bill. People 65 and older can collect a $6,000 write-off. And the standard deduction has grown, as has the child tax credit.

    Many workers may have had more money withheld from their paychecks than needed because the IRS did not adjust withholding tables after Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4. Excess withholding is different from a tax cut, of course, but it generally translates into larger refunds because the government returns the overpayment.

    Overall, the law disproportionately benefits the wealthy and shifts government benefits from low-income households to higher-earning ones, according to independent analyses. Though most people will see some reduction in taxes, many low-income households lost more in federal benefits like SNAP or Medicaid than they would gain from tax cuts.

    Here’s what filers need to know about the new provisions heading into tax season, which runs through April 15.

    Tips

    Workers in specific jobs — such as bartenders, gambling dealers, DJs, babysitters, tailors, and many more — can deduct as much as $25,000 in tips from their taxable income. They don’t need to itemize; however, married filers must file jointly. Those who earn more than $150,000 (or $300,000 jointly) cannot claim the full deduction.

    The new deduction is only available to filers with a Social Security number, which will prevent some immigrants from claiming it.

    Next year, employers will have new tax forms for recording their workers’ tips that qualify for the deduction. This year, however, workers will need to figure out their qualifying tips on their own.

    The IRS estimates that about 6 million people can claim the new deduction. The Congressional Budget Office estimates they will collectively pay about $10 billion less in taxes this year.

    Overtime wages

    When workers earn a bonus for working extra hours — the “half” part of those “time-and-a-half” earnings — that money won’t be taxed. The income limitation is the same as those on tips, but the total allowable deduction is capped at $12,500 for an individual and $25,000 for joint filers.

    This deduction also requires taxpayers to have a Social Security number and to file jointly if married. It isn’t limited to specific named occupations, though not all workers are entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The number of salaried, full-time workers who are guaranteed overtime based on their wages dropped from roughly 65% in the 1970s to 15% in 2024, according to the National Employment Law Project. Still, this deduction is one of the more costly ones in the new law, projected to decrease tax revenue by more than $32 billion.

    Like tips, the deduction is available whether taxpayers itemize or not. And workers will be responsible for calculating their overtime pay this year, as the IRS will not have forms available until next tax season. Many employers will provide workers with pay statements to help them figure out what they can claim.

    Car loan interest

    If you took out an auto loan in 2025, you may be able to write off as much as $10,000 in interest. The deduction is Republicans’ response to rising car payments: Consumers are now paying more than $50,000, on average, for a new vehicle, leaving 1 in 5 of them with payments in excess of $1,000 a month.

    The deduction is reserved for automobiles that had their “final assembly” in the United States. A long list of popular cars and SUVs from both American and foreign brands are assembled here, but some vehicles won’t qualify. The Nissan Sentra, for example, is assembled in Mexico, and many Toyota Corollas are assembled in Japan. You can look up your own car at vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/decoder.

    Only taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income below $100,000, or joint filers below $200,000, can claim the full deduction.

    The CBO estimated that the deduction will cost the government $5.4 billion in 2026.

    Senior citizens

    Taxpayers 65 and older already get a larger standard deduction than younger people. The Republican law bumps it up by $6,000 for low- and moderate-income seniors (individuals with as much as $75,000 in income or joint filers with $150,000). It also allows those seniors who itemize instead of claiming the standard deduction to be eligible for the same additional $6,000 deduction.

    Republicans created this deduction instead of exempting Social Security income from taxes, an idea floated by President Donald Trump during his campaign. With the new deduction, few seniors will wind up owing taxes on their Social Security benefits.

    The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that the enhanced deduction will cost the government more than $17.6 billion a year.

    Bigger deductions

    The standard deduction rises to $15,750 for individuals, $23,625 for heads of households, and $31,500 for couples filing jointly.

    The Republican bill passed in July extended many of the provisions of a 2017 tax law that otherwise would have expired — including a larger standard deduction and no more personal exemptions.

    The law increased the maximum Child Tax Credit to $2,200 per child, and the amount of state and local taxes (SALT) that filers can deduct from their taxable income, from $10,000 to $40,000.

  • Trump helps Putin wage an ‘energy war’ to freeze Ukrainian civilians into surrender

    Trump helps Putin wage an ‘energy war’ to freeze Ukrainian civilians into surrender

    When Philadelphia temperatures dipped to near zero last week, the frigid weather was so unbearable that most of us retreated indoors. Of course, our homes were warm and well-lit, although the threat of losing power was unnerving.

    For my friend Maisie, whose family lives in the Philly area but who is doing research in Kyiv, Ukraine, on blast injuries and coordinating international programs to help amputees, there is no escape from subzero weather.

    When I spoke to her on the weekend, she was huddled in two down parkas, under a mountain of blankets, and hugging her dog, Olly, for warmth, having had no heat for three weeks.

    Thanks to Vladimir Putin, Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities have been under massive missile and drone attacks deliberately aimed at civilian heating and power infrastructure. All in an effort to freeze Ukrainians into submission.

    Such attacks on civilians are a war crime.

    Donald Trump is helping Putin weaponize winter. The president echoes Russian propaganda, claiming Putin agreed to a weeklong pause in bombing energy infrastructure — even as Putin was raining down record numbers of missiles on apartment buildings, a maternity hospital, and power grids. Kyiv is only expected to receive four to six hours of power daily for the rest of February.

    To make his pro-Russian stance clear, Trump had a framed photo of himself and the Kremlin leader, taken at the failed Alaska summit last August, put up in the White House Palm Room, above one of him and a grandchild. Only Trump could consider it appropriate to hang a photo of a modern-day Adolf Hitler in the White House visitors’ area.

    Moscow, of course, loves it. To quote the X post of Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev (who has brainwashed his White House counterpart, Steve Witkoff, into adopting Moscow’s positions): “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Indeed.

    Other pictures to consider are those of mothers and children clinging to each other in underground subway stations — reminiscent of the London Blitz — because they fear repeated Russian drone attacks on apartment blocks, or because they simply have no heat.

    “Even if you can get food, you don’t need a refrigerator,” Maisie, whose last name I’m not using from safety concerns, told me via WhatsApp. “Any food you have freezes.” Her electricity is sporadic, she told me, barely giving time to charge power banks, a small heater, her laptop, and her phone.

    “It got so bad these past weeks that I remember a moment when I realized I hadn’t felt my toes in so long, I took off layers of socks to realize they had blistered so much from the cold that they were bleeding.

    “A lot of grocery stores were closed, and it was a mad rush when they were open. Sheets of ice are coating every street, which makes it particularly difficult for the elderly.

    “Despite all this, Ukrainians are still holding on, adapting, supporting one another and enduring conditions that should never be normal in the civilized world,” she said.

    What infuriated Ukrainians this week was Trump’s repeated claims that his deal-making skills had persuaded Putin to stop bombing energy infrastructure for a week, until the trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Putin “kept his word,” Trump told White House reporters on Tuesday.

    No, Putin did not keep his word.

    Drones and missiles on power distribution sites halted for barely two and a half days, during which Russia kept hitting residential buildings — along with workers repairing damaged energy infrastructure. Then, with the missiles saved up from the two-day “energy ceasefire,” Russia launched a massive strike against energy targets even as Trump was touting that he had talked Putin down.

    Any president with minimal smarts would have grasped by now that the Russians are trolling him.

    Trump has been pushing since the Alaska summit for a direct meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the Kremlin recently offered one — if it took place in Moscow. The slimy Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said his country would guarantee Zelensky’s safety.

    Needless to say, Zelensky — whom the Russians have tried to assassinate many times — declined the honor. One doesn’t have to be a fortune teller to imagine poisoned soup (a tactic used by Russia against a previous Ukrainian president) or a sudden fall from a window. Yet, no doubt, Trump will soon be criticizing Zelensky for refusing this golden opportunity.

    Similarly, the U.S.-Ukraine peace talks pushed by Trump — along with this week’s trilateral meeting of U.S., Ukrainian, and Russian officials — are a farce. That’s because Trump refuses to press Putin to make any concessions, and the Russian leader has yet to veer from his position that Ukraine slash its army, change its president, give up unconquered territory, and refuse any strong Western guarantees.

    In fact, chief White House negotiator Witkoff, an ill-informed real estate mogul who seems to be Trump’s main emissary to everywhere — from Israel to Iran to Russia — insists Kyiv cave to Putin’s key position: give up a belt of Donetsk that Ukraine still holds, which is the main fortified barrier that prevents Russian troops from moving into central Ukraine.

    Witkoff, who, like Trump, thinks only of land deals, might as well be calling on Ukraine to commit suicide. He has actually proposed that this armed Ukrainian territory could become a “free trade zone.” As with the “energy ceasefire,” Putin would respect that zone for about five minutes before sending his troops in.

    Yet, through sheer grit, Ukrainians are enduring and preventing serious Russian gains on the front, as the Kremlin’s war economy sags and Russia suffers staggering numbers of military casualties. I believe if Ukraine can get through this winter, with European help, Russia will be unable to continue the war at this level.

    So now would be the perfect time for Trump to push back strongly against Putin’s “energy war” on civilians. Having basically halted military aid to Ukraine, the president could still help Kyiv by selling Europe desperately needed air defense weapons that it would then pass on to Ukraine. The president could also finally stop blocking a vote on bipartisan congressional legislation to impose more sanctions on Russian oil sales.

    By turning up the heat on Putin, Trump could help turn the heat back on for Ukraine. But don’t hold your breath.

    The only slight opening I can imagine is if the president finally grasps how weak and foolish his bow to Putin makes him look on the world stage, and how dangerous his links to Putin are to his own legacy.

    Rather than be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump looks more likely to be tarred by his subservience to the greatest war criminal of the 21st century, who played him like a military drum.

  • Letters to the Editor | Feb. 6, 2026

    Letters to the Editor | Feb. 6, 2026

    Recognizing the past

    Why does it matter so much to the Trump administration that an exhibit about nine enslaved Africans at the President’s House be removed? Yes, we know this display does not allow Americans to skip past the horrors of enslavement and the daily violence that people of African descent faced. Yes, we know the display counters the majestic view of the Founding Fathers as saintly people who fought for the equal rights of all. Yes, we know this memorial ingrains in the American consciousness that Black people were thingified and their free labor built this country.

    Simply put, the dismantling of this exhibit is an attempt to erase our collective consciousness so that Black children and white children grow up without a clear reference point of what this nation was. Without understanding what America was, we are bound to make the same oppressive mistakes. And what will efforts like this mean for the future of the curricula in our schools?

    The removal of the exhibits was an assault on our spiritual eyes — the eyes we use to invoke our collective memory. My spiritual eyes watched a video of the dismantling and saw my ancestors being brutalized by the crack of the whip again. My spiritual eyes saw my ancestors labor to build a nation and fight for a country that does not see them as fully human.

    The Sankofa proverb teaches us that progress occurs when we must recognize our past. Our past is not perfect; it is complex and filled with moments of dehumanization that make us all cringe and feel saddened. But examining and reflecting on the past allows us to build a better, more beautiful society together. Let’s take that path forward as a nation.

    Nosakhere Griffin-EL, Pittsburgh

    A disappointing nomination

    I know that I am not alone in expressing my deep disappointment in the confirmation by the Pennsylvania Senate of the Shapiro administration’s nomination of Dr. John S. O’ Brien II to the state’s Board of Pardons.

    Dr. O’Brien will now help make the ultimate decision on both commutation and pardon applications from deserving people who seek to shorten their prison sentence.

    My experience with the Board of Pardons is deeply personal. My father was the victim of a kidnap carjack robbery in 1980 and died as a result of the crime. The two accomplices to the carjacking, who did not intend to kill my father and did not kill him, were still convicted of second-degree felony murder, and they were sentenced to the mandatory sentence in Pennsylvania: life in prison without parole. They were 18 and 19 respectively.

    They were incarcerated for 40 years. They more than paid for their participation. I felt so strongly about this that I was a key advocate for their release through the commutation process.

    Dr. O’Brien is known for being a paid expert witness in criminal cases, almost always for the prosecution, often involving children. He has argued that accused children cannot be rehabilitated and should be charged as adults. This biased point of view goes against science and documented research.

    People who committed or were participants in severe crimes when they were teenagers are often incarcerated for years and pay dearly for their crimes. These people deserve consideration (but not automatic release) when applying for commutation. To think otherwise is simply not true.

    It is just wrong to deny people who have paid their debt to society a voice as they are fighting to prove they are not the same person they were at such a young age.

    Nancy Leichter, Philadelphia

    Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.

  • Joel Embiid keeps his reaction to Sixers’ trade deadline politically correct: ‘I believe in myself’

    Joel Embiid keeps his reaction to Sixers’ trade deadline politically correct: ‘I believe in myself’

    LOS ANGELES — When asked to assess the 76ers’ approach and execution at the trade deadline, Joel Embiid kept his words politically correct.

    But his multiple pauses to look to his right at a team public relations staffer observing his postgame media session — not out of nervousness, but as if this was the way he could make his desired point — spoke volumes.

    “The only thing I’ll say, I believe in myself,” Embiid said late Thursday, after the Sixers dealt guards Jared McCain and Eric Gordon and did not add any players. “I believe in Tyrese [Maxey]. I believe in everybody in this locker room. But the main thing is I believe in myself.

    “So no matter what, we’re going to go out there and compete and still try to win it.”

    Sixers takeaways: Second half turnovers, Joel Embiid’s scoring and more in loss to Lakers

    Those comments came exactly one week after Embiid said publicly that he hoped the Sixers (29-22) would not make moves purely to duck the luxury tax and would instead try to bolster a roster that, after Thursday’s 119-115 loss at the Los Angeles Lakers, sat in sixth place in a crowded Eastern Conference.

    “Hopefully, we keep the same team,” Embiid said then. “ … We’ve got a good group of guys in this locker room and the vibes are great. … Hopefully, we think about improving, because we have a chance.”

    When those previous comments were referenced to Embiid following Thursday’s game, the standout center coyly quipped, “I don’t remember what I said.”

    Sixers center Joel Embiid defends Los Angeles’ LeBron James’ (right) layup during their matchup on Thursday.

    Like several teammates on Thursday, Embiid complimented McCain’s impact and wished him well with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

    “I felt like [McCain] was starting to find himself there [after knee and thumb surgeries],” Embiid said from his locker inside Crypto.com Arena, “especially considering what he was doing last year. OKC got a great one.”

    The departures of McCain and Gordon, who was dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies, are at least a temporary blow to the Sixers’ guard depth before the buyout market opens. Those losses are particularly crucial while starting wing Paul George serves a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. The Sixers surrendered a 14-point second-half lead against the Lakers, and four starters played more than 37 minutes in the team’s third game in four nights.

    Yet there is reason for Embiid, the 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player, to have re-instilled self-belief after struggling with knee issues the previous two seasons.

    The Sixers got under the tax and took a small step back at the NBA trade deadline

    He put together another monster stat line against the Lakers, totaling 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting, seven rebounds, seven assists, and two blocked shots. In his last 11 games played, he is averaging 31.4 points on 53.2% shooting, 8.1 rebounds, and 5.1 assists to put himself in All-Star contention. And though Embiid has not been cleared to play in back-to-backs, he has logged 34.9 minutes in that timeframe and is moving and elevating better.

    “I’ve made a lot of progress, and I think this is only the beginning,” Embiid said. “I think, from now on, every single day … keep stacking them up, it’s only going to get better. With the hope that, whether it’s by the playoffs or next year, I’m really, really back to being myself. I’m on my way there.”

  • Sixers takeaways: Second half turnovers, Joel Embiid’s scoring and more in loss to Lakers

    Sixers takeaways: Second half turnovers, Joel Embiid’s scoring and more in loss to Lakers

    The 76ers were handling business at the conclusion of an emotional two days, until they began turning the ball over when things got chippy in the second half.

    They were also doomed by the Lakers’ bench points.

    But if there’s a positive for the Sixers, Joel Embiid was back to doing a little bit of everything against Los Angeles.

    And coach Nick Nurse will tell you that the biggest strides that VJ Edgecombe have made are with his consistency.

    Austin Reaves scores 35 to help Lakers snap the Sixers’ five-game winning streak

    Those things stood out in Thursday’s 119-115 loss to the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena.

    The setback dropped the Sixers to 29-22 and snapped their five-game winning streak. They also fell one spot into sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

    Unable to handle business

    The good news is the Sixers didn’t initially look like a team that was emotional due to losing teammates Jared McCain and Eric Gordon before the 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline.

    The bad news is that the team continued its trend of falling apart after the intermission.

    At one point, it looked like the Sixers would coast to an easy victory. However, they began to struggle as the Lakers (31-19) increased their physicality. That led to costly turnovers by the Sixers.

    Sixers guard Quentin Grimes (center) reaches for a loose ball with Los Angeles Lakers forward Jake LaRavia on Thursday.

    Los Angeles opened the fourth quarter on a 21-6 run.

    The Sixers committed 15 turnovers, with 11 coming in the second half. To their credit, they battled back after trailing by 16 points with 4 minutes, 4 seconds left to play. Tyrese Maxey’s floater pulled the Sixers within two points with 27 seconds left.

    But they just couldn’t overcome costly turnovers at inopportune times, combined with Los Angeles’ chippy play.

    “It’s just the physicality at one end was a big thing,” Nurse told the media. “I think it was we had [been] playing pretty good and rolling along pretty well, winning. It just seemed like it was physical at one end and not at the other.”

    Sixers convert Dominick Barlow’s two-way contract to a standard NBA deal

    This loss could be considered a major disappointment, given that the Sixers’ stars shone.

    Embiid finished with 35 points on 13-for-19 shooting along with seven rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and two blocks. Maxey added 26 points, 13 assists, and four steals for his sixth double-double this season. Edgecombe finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and four steals for his third double-double. And Dominick Barlow had 13 points, two steals, and a block hours after having his two-way contract converted to a standard deal.

    But the last couple of days for the Sixers were intense mentally.

    First, the uncertainty surrounding the trade deadline was emotionally taxing. They knew that several teammates could be moved before Thursday’s deadline. Then there was some added emotion seeing the well-liked McCain get traded on Wednesday. And even though he rarely played, the emotion resurfaced when Gordon, a team mentor, was moved on Thursday.

    The Sixers got under the tax and took a small step back at the NBA trade deadline

    “I think it is emotional for everybody,” Nurse told reporters before the game. “Just watching it all unfold over the last three days, it seems like every half hour there’s some news around the league. I think that pours into the emotion for everybody that there’s a lot going on, seeing the wildness of all of it going so fast.”

    The Sixers knew the trade deadline was coming down to the wire when they arrived at Thursday’s shootaround. And it was a bit of a distraction for them.

    “But everybody is going through it,” Nurse said. “So you can’t sit here and say it’s a factor in anything. And you have to get through this game. And we’ll see what kind of emotions it had for us when we go out there and play tonight.”

    And they came to play, with all five starters scoring in the first five minutes to set the tone early.

    Bench-point disparity

    The Sixers could have used McCain’s scoring production off the bench against the Lakers. That’s because Los Angeles had a 61-14 advantage in bench points. Austin Reaves, a regular starter, is coming off the bench for the Lakers because of a minutes restriction. The guard finished with a team-high 35 points and made 5 of 8 three-pointers while playing just 25:03.

    Rui Hachimura added 14 points in a reserve role.

    He and Reaves took up the slack for Luka Dončić, who exited the game in the first half with left leg soreness.

    Sixers’ Joel Embiid (left) made 13 of 19 shots against the Lakers on Thursday.

    Embiid’s night

    It didn’t take long to realize Embiid would have a solid night.

    The 2023 MVP and seven-time All-Star scored 12 of the Sixers’ 27 first-quarter points. Embiid was averaging 30.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in 12 career games against the Lakers before Thursday’s game.

    Sixers trading Eric Gordon to Memphis in exchange for a second-round pick swap

    But Embiid had struggled through 4-for-21 shooting — including missing all six of his three-pointers — while scoring 16 points in the Sixers’ 112-108 loss to the Lakers on Dec. 7 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    Thursday, however, marked the seventh time that he scored at least 30 points against Los Angeles.

    Edgecombe’s consistency

    As a 20-year-old rookie, Edgecombe has experienced peaks and valleys in his play.

    “But not many,” Nurse said. “Not … too high or too low. And I think that’s an accomplishment or development, or a stride that rookies are usually pretty up and down. But he kind of came in doing a lot of stuff, and he continues to do a lot of stuff. That’s all I keep saying, he’s so versatile. He does a little bit of everything. And again, he has great maturity and composure for his age as well.”

    Sixers rookie guard VJ Edgecombe (right) finished with a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) against the Lakers.

    The Sixers are trying to get Edgecombe to become more aggressive. Nurse has seen increased aggressiveness from him lately.

    “But I don’t want to say we’re there yet, either,” the coach said.