Former Sixers Lottery Pick Enrages Fanbase with Comments on National TV

Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz have headlined the Sixers’ disappointing first-round picks in the 21st century, which made it easy for younger fans to forget about Evan Turner. But Turner has not forgotten about the Sixers.

Turner, an NBC Sports Analyst who had a 10-year NBA career, expressed his disdain for Philadelphia on national television on Monday. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 draft said “I can’t stand Philadelphia” before the Sixers' 119-109 defeat to the Heat.

"I can't stand Philadelphia" - Evan Turner on NBC pregame pic.twitter.com/T5mJlC4USI
— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) March 30, 2026

Turner’s three-and-a-half-year Sixers tenure was rocky, and he made sure to remind everyone.

What went wrong for Turner in Philly?

Fresh off a 2009-10 season where he won Associated Press Player of the Year, the Ohio State product was largely viewed as a top-three prospect in the 2010 draft. Turner’s ball-handling, finishing, motor, and perimeter defense made fans and media alike believe he was the most NBA-ready player of the class.

When the Sixers drafted him second overall, no one blinked an eye. In hindsight, however, future All-Stars Derrick Favors, DeMarcus Cousins, Gordon Hayward and Paul George were selected after Turner.

It would be interesting to see how different Philadelphia’s trajectory would have been had it drafted a needle-moving star like George or Cousins instead of Turner at No. 2 in 2010.

Instead, Turner averaged 8.2 points in his first two seasons as a rotational piece, playing behind Andre Iguodala. Even when the Sixers dealt Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets in the four-team Andrew Bynum trade on during the 2012 offseason, Turner didn’t ascend in the way fans had hoped.

While the wing entered the Sixers' starting lineup in 2012-13, he averaged only 13.3 points while shooting 41.9% from the field. Turner was a respectable facilitator with 4.3 assists per game, but his inability to expand his shooting range hurt his development.

Turner shot below 33% from deep in three of his four years with the Sixers, and his tweener positional status mixed with his ineffectiveness off the ball caused him to struggle.

The end of Turner's tenure in Philly

Sam Hinkie took the reins from Tony DiLeo as Philadelphia’s lead executive on May 14, 2013 and ended the Turner experiment less than a year later. The Sixers traded him to the Indiana Pacers on February 20, 2024, despite Turner posting a career-best 17.4 points through 54 games. Philadelphia received a 2015 second-round pick and Danny Granger in return.

Turner signed a two-year, $6.7 million contract with the Boston Celtics that September and became a key cog in their rotation. He averaged 10 points, five rebounds, and five assists in his two years with the Celtics, and he finished fifth in Sixth Man of the Year voting in the 2015-16 season.

“[Playing for the Sixers] was a disgusting experience as a player, for sure,” Turner said on X following his comments on Monday night. “Then I went to Boston and learned what a real sports city was, [you] know.”

Turner experienced two postseason appearances in both Philadelphia and Boston, but only the Sixers went further than the first round in his respective tenures. He then played for the Portland Trail Blazers from 2016-17 through 2018-19, and he concluded his NBA career on the Atlanta Hawks for the 2019-20 campaign.

Turner won't go down as an all-time draft bust like Greg Oden or Sam Bowie, but he certainly qualifies as a disappointment given where the Sixers selected him. There likely isn't much love lost on either side of the Turner-Philly relationship.