When the Philadelphia Eagles made their run to the Super Bowl, they did so while not-so-subtly campaigning for Meek Mill, the area rapper whose incarceration for a 10-year-old gun charge has sparked pushes for nationwide criminal justice reform.
As soon as the Philadelphia District Attorney said in March that Mill's conviction could be reversed, in fact, there might not have been anyone happier than the Eagles -- players who rallied for him, touted his music and worked alongside his family during and after the team's championship season.
Now, as the Philadelphia 76ers' journey toward what they hope is the road to a title in their own storybook season, the city's basketball stars are taking a page out of the Eagles' book.
Just this week, triple-double prince Ben Simmons and big-name rookie Markelle Fultz were in Chester, Pennsylvania, to visit Meek Mill in prison, and the visit was personally organized by 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, as TMZ Sports first reported. The meeting, which followed a separate visit from the Sixers' Joel Embiid in December, was apparently set up in part to give the youngsters added motivation for an NBA playoff run.
"The conversation was very positive and Meek's spirits are still high," TMZ reported. "He is also proud of the 76ers."
A native of South Philadelphia, Mill attended Sixers games before being sentenced to two to four years in prison in November 2017 for a violation of parole, which stems from a 2008 charge of illegally possessing a firearm.
