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Every kid in Philadelphia grows up deeply invested in their local sports teams. The city is internationally renowned for its die-hard fans who ride for their teams like medieval knights carrying banners into battle.
Most people never come close to owning their local sports team. But 76ers part-owner and Philly native David Adelman, driven by a lost game of HORSE at age 11, a lifetime of Philly fandom and a career in property management and investing, asked one simple question: Why not?
Behind every great entrepreneur is a great mentor, and Adelman is no exception. He was introduced to the property management business at just 11 by his “uncle” Alan Horowitz, founder of Campus Apartments, now one of the largest providers of on- and off-campus housing in America, with some $2 billion of properties across 80 schools in 23 states.
“Alan wasn’t a sophisticated guy in a business sense,” Adelman recalls. “He didn’t go to college, but he was a genius with math” — something that eventually rubbed off on Adelamn. “He was just like a pal even though he was 30 years older,” Adelman recalls. “He taught me the value of loving what you do. Learning that early on was a gift for me.”
Along with founding campus apartments, Horowitz has another equally meaningful legacy in Philly. He’s known as the resident 76ers superfan, who can be found sitting courtside in his custom #76 SIXTH MAN jersey.
Adelman and Horowitz often played basketball together in Adelman’s youth, where the “sixth man” showed the 11-year-old Adelman that he could do more on the basketball court than just look cool.
“Alan was very competitive, and he loved to bet,” Adelman recalls with the smile of someone who’s told this story a million times. “One day, we were playing HORSE, and he asked me to place a bet.”
Most adults would let an 11-year-old child win. Not Uncle Alan. He took young David for everything he had, from his football to his baseball glove to his grandparents’ birthday money.
“It didn’t sink in until I woke up the next day and realized I couldn’t go play sports,” Adelman laughs.
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