Michael Rubin trolled by Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner over Fultz-Tatum Draft, hindsight is always 20/20

Michael Rubin walked into the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Wednesday morning hoping to get a five-year betting license for Fanatics.

What he got instead was a trip down memory lane — straight to one of the darkest moments in recent Sixers history: the Markelle Fultz trade.

And of course, it came courtesy of a Celtics fan. About 15 minutes into the proceedings, Commissioner Paul Brodeur couldn’t help himself.

Michael Rubin trolled by Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner over Fultz-Tatum Draft

"You guys should just thank me for everything in the state of Massachusetts. I think it was so bad I had to cease my ownership with the 76ers."

Michael Rubin was trolled by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission after trading for the #1 pick and not selecting Jayson Tatum. pic.twitter.com/OnOR6DfFAr

— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) April 30, 2025

“I think you’re overlooking you were in ownership in 2017… That was the year the Sixers traded the rights to Jayson Tatum and received Markelle Fultz if memory serves.”

Brutal. Just casually dropping a flashbang in the middle of a licensing hearing. But Rubin rolled with it, even trying to spin it into a Massachusetts feel-good story:

“I would say it will go down as one of the biggest charitable contributions in sports that anyone has ever known. With that, it should be the fastest review — you guys should just thank me for everything in the state of Massachusetts… After the humiliating, and embarrassing trading up to number one and being fleeced by the fine Boston Celtics, we just had to switch teams and get with the winning team.”

Slow down there, Michael Rubin…

We get that you’re trying to play nice to get your sportsbook approved, but let’s not rewrite history.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Yes, the Fultz trade blew up in Philly’s face. Yes, Jayson Tatum became a franchise cornerstone while Fultz’s shoulder turned into a mystery novel with no ending. And yes, it’s deeply, cosmically frustrating to see Tatum win a ring while the Sixers keep resetting the “Trust the Process” clock.

But here’s what people forget: That trade made perfect sense at the time.

It wasn’t just a good idea — it was the consensus idea. The Sixers had Joel Embiid. They had Ben Simmons (who had never played a game yet). And they had zero perimeter scoring or shot creation. They needed a dynamic lead guard who could shoot, create off the dribble, and fit next to Simmons.

Fultz was the No. 1 guy on every board, touted as a smooth three-level scorer with elite vision.

The scouting reports were glowing. The workout was reportedly off the charts. Fultz was the safest pick in the draft — or so we all thought. Nobody in Philly was screaming for Tatum back then. In fact, most people praised the Sixers for being bold and making the move.

So to act like the Sixers were duped, or that Rubin and company were buffoons for green-lighting the deal?

That’s revisionist history, plain and simple.

Could they have taken Tatum at 3 and kept the future pick? Sure. But nobody — not Danny Ainge, not Bryan Colangelo, not a single ESPN draft expert — saw Tatum being this guy this quickly. Tatum himself didn’t even want to work out for Philly. It wasn’t happening.

So where does that leave us with Michael Rubin?

Nowhere good. I’ll tell you that much.

Michael Rubin played along with the chirp, calling the Fultz trade “embarrassing” and even saying it drove him to jump ship and become a Celtics fan. Which… look, if you’re trying to win over a room full of Massholes, maybe that’s the move but it’s still disgusting behavior for Philly fans and honestly, I don’t really appreciate the jokes.

Should Rubin have taken the opportunity to throw Bryan Colangelo under the bus and remind everyone that Adam Silver basically installed him like a bad Windows update? Absolutely. That would’ve been the real alpha move.

Instead, he laughed along, knowing full well he was reliving one of the biggest “what-if” moments in Sixers history.

The Fultz trade made sense. The shoulder didn’t. Burn the tapes.

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