Commence The Charles Jenkins Era: Heat vs. Sixers Preview

Oh boy.

Through this wretched, Bynum-less 2012-13 season, one thing had remained constant for the Sixers. They were getting demolished by teams not named the Miami Heat. The Sixers now play 4 of their next 23 games against the defending NBA champions. Something something I really miss you Andrew Bynum something something.

Watching the Sixers for the past several months has been nothing short of an exercise of self-loathing. While Jrue Holiday may be a well-deserved all-star point guard, he has flaws in his game including his propensity for the long two and not getting to the foul line providing a cloud hovering around one of the season's very few bright spots. Spencer Hawes is still Spencer Hawes. Kwame Brown is still Kwame Brown. Thad Young is hurt. Evan Turner is inconsistent. Damien Wilkins and Royal Ivey continue to provide nothing off the bench. Doug Collins continues to be unfamiliar with any form of offensive basketball not involving isolation plays and long twos.

Contrast that to the Miami Heat, and it is night and day. LeBron James is the undisputed greatest basketball player of this generation. On top of that, the Miami Heat are currently on a nine game winning streak, including wins over Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, that dominant Los Angeles team, and that other Los Angeles team. The Heat's next three games include the Sixers, Cleveland, and Sacramento.

Sport talent inherently has an unequal distribution, and I stare at the Heat in envy. They are everything I want the Sixers to become and currently everything the Sixers aren't. They have superstars, they have complimentary pieces, and they are a championship contender year after year with no signs of letting up any time in the near future, barring some catastrophic injury to their King of Kings, LeBron James. They are a dream in perfect opposition to the Sixers' nightmare.

Let's get to the bullet points.

• Traded for in the final minutes before Thursday's trade deadline, Charles Jenkins will make his debut as a Sixer, a debut that will most likely see him spend 48 minutes conversing with on the bench with Kwame Brown.
• A slightly minor, hardly noteworthy update from this morning on Andrew Bynum. He practiced this morning. WAIT WHAT?!?!?!
• Nutella is awesome.
• Kwame Brown is healthy and Andrew Bynum is injured. This is your daily reminder that there is nothing in this world that can't be Sixers'd.
• Thaddeus Young's presence is sorely sorely missed on the Sixers frontcourt. Without him, Spencer Hawes, Lavoy Allen, and Kwame Brown are seeing increased minutes. None of this is good, and going up against a front court featuring Chris Bosh probably won't be helping things.
• In case you missed it, LeBron James picked up a slight injury against the Bulls during Thursday night's affair. LeBron appears to be all right, but he was limping around for a brief time. Bulls fans mostly cheered with approval at the sight of Miami's superstar player being hurt because Bulls fans are incapable of empathy in that regard and have no idea what possibly losing a superstar for any amount of time is like.
• Miami Heat fans are talking about their basketball team at Hot Hot Hoops. Check it out if you want a perspective from fans who engage in this unfamiliar concept known as "enjoying their basketball team."
• Everyone who wants to purchase Philadelphia 76ers Tickets should go here.