Good news keeps ringing out of Philadelphia these days. On Monday, rapper Meek Mill, who was released from prison just days ago, had his travel ban lifted by the judge overseeing his case, Genece E. Brinkley.
He is now able to leave the city of Philadelphia for work purposes while he is on bail, and that may be a beneficial for his hometown 76ers.
While incarcerated for violating his probation, Mill received public support from 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin and, indeed, it was Rubin who picked Mill up from prison last week and immediately drove him to the Wells Fargo Center, where the Sixers were hosting the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Mill had the honor of leading the team’s pre-game bell-ringing ceremony at center court, firing up the crowd before the Sixers laid a 104-91 beatdown on Miami to win the best-of-seven series, four games to one, their first playoff-series win since 2012 and just their second since 2003.
.@MeekMill ringing us in! pic.twitter.com/Ze0BKelRXn
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 25, 2018
Now locked in a heated battle with the Boston Celtics, the Sixers find themselves in an early 1-0 hole after dropping Game 1 in Beantown, 117-101. Because the Celtics are suffering from a rash of injuries, Philly is still favored to advance in the series; their current odds are around -215 compared to +185 for Boston. Any bettors who feel like Meek is their good luck charm, take heed on your sites these days, (there’s some things to note in this review about sketchy sites). Secondly, this really comes down to Ben Simmons, not the artist on the sidelines.
Mill is only allowed to travel for work, in this case meaning performances, and must submit his travel plans 72 hours in advance, so Game 2 (Thursday, May 3rd) is out of the question.
But the series shifts to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4 (May 5th & 7th) and Mill may very well be in attendance. If the Sixers’ show improvement at home, an impromptu Boston show on May 9th (coincidentally the day of Game 5) may be in order.
Does it sound far fetched that an NBA team would resort to bringing a good-luck charm to a playoff game? It shouldn’t. Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert just did the same thing.
Plus, teams (Philly included) routinely send their “good-luck charms” to the draft lottery, and that’s worked out well for the 76ers franchise! Maybe Philadelphia should have been doing this the whole time.
