i am kind of on both sides of this issue, i have always had an affinity for the 76ers strictly because of their history as the Syracuse Nationals, but it was more of a casual fan thing, I tended to root more for SU players in the NBA as opposed to teams, for instance, I rooted for Denver because Carmelo was there, but once he left Denver fell off my radar. That being said, now that I am living in Philly, I have become a much more active 76ers fan, but still if a Syracuse player comes to town on an opposing team, I will go and root for that player and team probably slightly more than the Sixers.