Since the 2016-17 season, the Philadelphia 76ers have made considerable progress-the 28-54 season marked a turning point for the team. Joel Embiid (Joel Embiid) became a young star that year, and Ben Simmons (Ben Simmons) missed this season due to a foot injury, he is on the flanks waiting for the relevance of pushing the team to the NBA .

The 76ers have entered the playoffs every year for the past four seasons and are currently the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The intense series with the Atlanta Hawks will continue with the fifth game at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night.

This will be the last 76ers game of Izzy, who is the internet celebrity behind the #RaiseTheCat boom in Philadelphia in 2017.

76ers fan Dennis Grove first lifted Izzy into the air after a rare 76ers victory that year. He announced on Twitter that he and his wife Valerie (Valerie) Iz will have to put down on Thursday after fighting osteosarcoma. She was 14 years old and lived a long and fulfilling life, but the couple did not want her to endure the developmental stages of cancer.

Just for review, just in case someone needs it, Grove and Izzy launched a social media trend for 76ers fans to keep cats in the air after the victory. Since then, this trend has been there.

These cat photos tagged with #RaiseTheCat for the 76ers reached their peak in the early months of 2017, when the 76ers achieved a series of victories and demonstrated their vitality for the first time in the Process era. The NBA commemorates this incredible game with a montage of highlights from several of the games.

In the winning streak, even rookie Joel Embiid and other players have joined the hype.

At the time, Grove marveled at Izzy’s moments spreading so quickly.

“Makzumov said it on the radio. ESPN has fully exposed it. It’s on Snapchat news. It’s on Bleacher Report,” Grove told the Voice of Philadelphia. “This won’t happen if the 76ers continue to lose, but for some reason, they keep winning. This is a perfect storm. To have this trend, you have to be a little lucky.”

Grove’s initial inspiration was to lift Izzy into the air after seeing it A special photo posted by Ben Simmons Showing off his two young Savannah cats on social media, this is the exotic between a serval and a domestic cat. (Ironically, Simmons later admitted that the purchase of these two cats was a huge sum. $10,000 error with one Crazy lessons about responsible pet ownership).

However, the photos of Simmons are only part of Grove’s inspiration.

“He might help me think about #RaiseTheCat and start it because I thought,’Hey Ben, I’m going to try to do the same with my cat,'” Grove said. “But I feel that as things develop, this is not a true reflection of Ben. It’s more the 76ers community and myself that really ran with it. I didn’t think about Ben like trying to promote adoption of pets-it was just that they won. Try to show some enthusiasm when playing the ball.”

#RaiseTheCat has snowballed into the T-shirts that Grove printed for local animal shelters (including Philadelphia PAWS and Morris Animal Sanctuary). These shirts raised approximately US$4,600 and brought fans together, conveying the message of not only raising cats, but also raising cats and caring for them like pets. The NBA store tried to take advantage of this trend to profit, but Finally launched his own counterfeit T-shirt In the fight for possible trademark competition.

Grove said that he learned a lot from this experience—not all good at the time—but he chose to follow #RaiseTheCat’s views on 76ers fans and Philadelphia.

“What I learned is that our fan base will do anything. We like lucky charms. We hate bad luck charms. We are superstitious,” Grove said. “It feels like we are reactionary, right? When we lose, we think the end of the world is coming. When we win, this is the greatest day of our lives. It’s easy to understand why this has become so important because we act as The 76ers fans and the Phillies broadcast live during a game. It feels right to have a regular season victory in January with someone lifting a cat on top of their head. This is how crazy we are, this is what sports are all about Mode of operation.”

As the 76ers continue to advance to the playoffs in 2021, Grove said he and his wife are remembering Izzy’s incredible story. Grove started out as a country outdoor cat. In 2009, when Valerie adopted Izzy from her sister, she met Izzy. She was Grove’s first pet, and he knew it would be emotional to say goodbye to her on Thursday. She has always been a stable presence in their lives and smoothly transitioned to indoor life in Philadelphia.

“She is a very simple cat, and this is what we like about her,” Grove said. “She does have a good time sometimes. On the roof deck, she gets a little crazy. I think she is just a very valuable member of this family. We always rely on her to be there and tell when we walk in the door. We say hello.”

On Wednesday night, Grove will cherish his last game with Izzy.

“She will be nearby. I definitely want to make sure she feels comfortable and won’t bother too much,” Grove said. “If they win, it will be an exciting time because that is the way I remember Izzy the most. She will definitely leave a legacy.”