Dawn Staley gets hyped as Philadelphia 76ers beat Boston Celtics in exhilarating Christmas match-up

Dawn Staley tuned into the Christmas night matchup at TD the Garden between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers and seemingly loved every moment of it. The defending women's college basketball champion coach was rooting against the defending champions of the NBA.

After Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid shouldered the 76ers to the finish line (118-114), Dawn Staley took to X to showcase her excitement about the win.

"Here comes my @sixers…..yeah fellas! Merry Christmas from all of Philly!!" Staley wrote.

Staley has not openly declared her support for the 76ers yet. However, her childhood in North Philadelphia and a young basketball-playing career at the Dobbins Technical High School suggest some natural affinity towards David Blitzer and Josh Harris' franchise.

After a 66-58 deficit at the half, the Celtics mounted another one of their elite 3rd quarter runs, outscoring the visitors 24-16 to level the score. Tyrese Maxey opened the fourth with three straight buckets, responding to Jaylen Brown's 14 3rd quarter points. Maxey scored 13 points in the last stretch, including a quick-trigger inbound layup with 1.1 seconds left on the shot clock for a late server point lead.

Behind Maxey's 33 points, Joel Embiid's 27 points and Paul George's 12 points, Philly's big three posted 72 combined points on nearly 45% shooting.

However, their biggest draw was Caleb Martin's tendency to produce instrumental outings against the Celtics. His do-it-all performance resulted in 23 points on 72.7% shooting, including a big-time inbound assist to Maxey late in the game and 7 of 9 3-point shooting.

Dawn Staley wanted to play in the NBA

After the Gamecocks defeated NC State (71-57) in November, Dawn Staley revealed that she dreamed of playing in the NBA as a young hooper. The championship-winning coach’s desire stemmed from the lack of a professional platform for women in basketball during her playing years.

"There wasn't an outlet when I was growing up. My goals and dream were to play in the NBA," Staley said. "The WNBA wasn't thought about."

"I wanted to play in the Olympics. The Olympics, national championship and NBA is where I saw most of my basketball growing up. And I only saw a woman play in two of those events - Olympics and national championship. Those were my goals, to be a gold medalist and a national champion."

The WNBA was founded in 1997, five years after Dawn Staley graduated from the University of Virginia. She joined the league in 1999 after the Charlotte Sting drafted her as the ninth overall pick.