The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and his wife just bought part of the 76ers

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and his wife just bought part of the 76ers

By Kelly Dwyer

To most of your parents, Will Smith owns the only rap lyric they can reliably relate word for word -- "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme. And because everyone seems to know that Will Smith was "born and raised" in West Philadelphia, it makes complete and total sense that he and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, are members of the latest group to pay way too much for an NBA team. The team, as you and your parents would guess, is the Philadelphia 76ers.

This is from a press release sent out on Tuesday, announcing the sale of the 76ers to a group led by Joshua Harris:

The investor group is led by Harris, who will serve as Managing Owner of the 76ers and as the team's Governor on the NBA Board of Governors. Other investors include David Blitzer, who will serve as Co-Managing Owner and an Alternate Governor of the NBA, CEO Adam Aron who will also serve as an Alternate Governor of the NBA, Martin Geller, David Heller, Travis Hennings, James Lassiter, Marc Leder, Jason Levien, Michael Rubin, Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith, Handy Soetedjo, Erick Thohir and Art Wrubel, all of whom have made personal investments in the team.

Don't know, don't know, don't know, don't know, billion-dollar action star and actress-turned-heavy metal singer, don't know, don't know.

The group is purchasing the 76ers from Comcast, a company that didn't mind spending quite a bit of money in running the Sixers. Comcast went after boffo free agents like Elton Brand(notes), didn't shy away from firing coaches that still had guaranteed money left on their contracts, and often traded one eight-figure-making superstar for another. Money wasn't an issue for this big-market team. Sound decision-making was.

How the new group will handle the team, trying to lead them from their perennial first-round ousters, is anyone's guess. We can only tell you that Will Smith's influence on the team will likely be clean, non-threatening, and very accessible.

There have been rumors that Will and Jada are separating, but they've been denied by family members. Here's hoping it's a good match for the 76ers.