The 76ers appear to have a new Dribbling Ben Franklin logo

The Philadelphia 76ers name is a unique, great reference to the city’s importance in the colonial era, but the team hasn’t really sold the connection much in its various symbols. Sure, there are 13 stars in the logo and the team’s colors are red, white and blue, but we personally have been waiting on some sort of awesome, over-the-top connection between basketball and the 1700s.

Well, we have to wait no more:

Yup, that’s Ben Franklin, founding father, diplomat, inventor, patriot, and SHAKING AND BAKING POINT GUARD, taking the ball up the court on a fast break. He’s balling in a thick button-down coat and rocking bifocals with a sly grin. We kinda wish he wore a headband like LeBron to cover his receding hairline, but we like that he’s letting his locks flow behind him as he hoops.

We’re curious if this could be an actual live action mascot. In 2011, after killing off their somewhat-hated mascot (a floppy-eared dunking rabbit named Hip-Hop -- get it? Get it? Like rap music) the team announced a contest for a new mascot featuring a much gaudier version of Franklin as one of the competitors, but nothing ever came of it.

We’d also like to point out the resemblance to early-era Knicks logo Father Knickerbocker, the dude wearing a tricorner cap hustling the ball up the floor, and note that SB Nation fully endorses all 1700s basketball logos.

Update! This could be much ado about nothing, which would be a shame.