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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — On the first day Josh Harris stepped behind the microphone to celebrate buying the 76ers, he promised fans the new ownership group cared deeply about the distressed franchise and vowed a holding that included Fanatics founder Michael Rubin and rapper Will Smith would return the team to greatness.

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“Our goal, make no mistake, is to create a world-class franchise,” Harris said, “and win NBA championships.”

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More than 13 years later, from The Process to the postseason, Harris can make good on winning his first major championship in Philadelphia — a conference title, at least — with one ironic caveat:

Forget the NBA. Now also owner of the Washington Commanders, Harris can win one in Philly with an NFL team closer to the nation’s capital than the Liberty Bell.

Across the street from where the 60-year-old Harris’ 76ers already are straggling to the finish line about halfway through the NBA season, the Commanders play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in an unlikely NFC championship game.

Take the Commanders to the Super Bowl in just his second season following the ugly end of former owner Dan Snyder’s tenure and the District of Columbia just might erect a statue for Harris near the Washington Monument. Hoist the George Halas Trophy awarded to the NFC champion in Philadelphia — where the Sixers have yet to win a playoff game past the second round on his watch — and Harris might need to summon Big Dom over from the Eagles’ sideline to safely escort him off the field.

He finds himself in the middle of two cities’ sports loyalties separated by 130 miles.

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Harris, who made his wealth as co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, wasn’t necessarily always unpopular in Philly. Under the Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment Banner, the 76ers moved their practice court from an orthopedic medicine campus into a sparkling facility in New Jersey and haven’t been afraid to dig deep into their deep pockets to spend on a winner. Joel Embiid signed a $192 million contract extension in September, and trades or free-agent signings for big names and bigger contracts for players from Jimmy Butler to Paul George to James Harden have kept the Sixers competitive.

After a couple of years of squabbling, the 76ers recently abandoned plans with the city to move downtown and instead will partner with Comcast Spectacor, their current landlord, to build a new arena in South Philadelphia.

Philly fans dish it out to Harris these days not just because the oft-debated Process failed to yield anything close to a championship but because the onetime college wrestler at Penn — who once touted Philly as his ” second home ” and talked up his family’s roots in the city, including a grandfather employed as a U.S. postal worker _ didn’t commit his full fan heart to Philadelphia.

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He swiped right on sports teams like they were profiles on a dating app. The New Jersey Devils. Crystal Palace of the English Premier League. Even a stake in a NASCAR team founded by former Washington head coach Joe Gibbs.

Harris, through other ownership groups and structures or through HBSE, built a collection of teams and sports properties that peaked when he bought the Commanders from Snyder and family in 2023 for a North American professional sports record $6.05 billion. Much like when he purchased the Sixers, Harris invoked his geographical heritage and noted he grew up in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland.

The 76ers endured some of the worst losing streaks in NBA history _ earning the nickname ” Tankadelphia ” — in the early years under Harris and fellow owner David Blitzer through a calculated rebuilding process. With Washington, the turnaround was instant _ from 4-13 last season to 12-5 this season behind wunderkind QB Jayden Daniels. The Commanders are flying high headed to Philly, coming off two straight road playoff wins that included last weekend’s shocker against No. 1 seed Detroit.

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Just like in Philly, a new stadium also appears on the horizon.

Harris, with a real-time net worth of $11.3 billion, per Forbes, still has a day job outside of sports as founder of asset management firm of 26North. Yet after each game, Commanders coach Dan Quinn and members of the front office that include adviser and former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers hop on a video call with Harris and review the deciding plays.

“I specifically like those times as a coach so I can show, ‘This is what we were thinking, this is what happened,’ and so it’s a good way to highlight the player, the moment, the situation, why we chose to do what we did,” Quinn said. “And it’s good because I want him to be able to ask anything: ‘Why’d you go for it? Why did you do that?’ And he’s curious in that way.”

Harris declined an interview with The Associated Press for this story through an HBSE spokesperson.

Much like Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, Harris has largely receded from the media spotlight in Philadelphia and the owner who once held regular state-of-the-franchise news conferences now mostly holds court like a politician or with free agents in tow after the latest asset has been added to his portfolio. He’s never posited himself as a Philly fan everyman like Phillies owner John Middleton but is still a staple with his family or other power-brokers at his courtside Sixers’ seat, more visible to the fans and the haters than the corporate Comcast hierarchy that runs the Flyers.

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After the 76ers signed George to a four-year, $212 million contract over the summer, Harris said the Sixers had “amongst, if not the best team, we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

Ruined by injuries, the 76ers have crashed toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

But Harris is right in one sense: He does have his best team in Philadelphia assembled under his ownership — and here come his Commanders ready to send the Eagles packing.

“I put my football helmet on and my pads and I was ready for bottles to fly,” Harris said in 2014 of the expected response from fans after a 19-win season with the 76ers.

Does he still have them handy?

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno, in Ashburn, Virginia, contributed to this report.

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