Are fruit baskets really the type of baskets Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown is in need of?

Just when you think you've seen it all in the sports world, you come across something like this: a group of Sixers fans are raising money to send Brown a fruit basket because... well, it's not entirely clear why exactly. Perhaps because they feel bad he has to coach such an awful group of basketball players? Maybe it's a sort of get-well-soon gesture towards the 0-15 coach?

I know plenty of people who try very hard at their job, yet nobody sends them fruit baskets. Sometimes the only thanks people get are vitriolic Internet comments at the end of their work.

News of the fan effort comes via the Sixers page on reddit where a user named Xepa -- who describes himself as a fourth year season ticket holder who is getting his MBA at Penn -- started a thread titled, "Operation Brett Brown Fruit Basket Is Live."

Now, gifts in sports aren't a rarity. Teams giveaway bobbleheads and t-shirts and whatever else they can think of all the time, frequently because they know their team is pretty bad and mostly it's a nice business practice to entice fans to actually come to games and support a mediocre product. But fans actually ponying up money for a highly-paid sports person? This may be a first.

As of this posting, the GoFundMe-like "Tilt" page had raised a whopping $311 for goodies for Brett. The effort started out with the goal of a fruit basket but has since moved on to include a spa treatment, a massage, and some chocolates -- maybe more!

Other commenters suggested the head coach of the Sixers surely needs some booze.

Xepa says he got information from the Sixers on where to send the goodies once the fundraising finishes. We reached out to him to try and get a better understanding of why he felt Brett Brown needed to be showered with gifts, but he has yet to respond. We'll update this post if we hear back.

UPDATE: Xepa, whose real name is Ron, responded to a few questions of mine which are included below.

What on earth made you think Brett Brown needed a fruit basket? Spa treatment, etc? Doesn't he get a pretty nice pay check from the team?

We're aware that Brett Brown signed a four year, $8 million+ contract. That's not the point. Money does not matter when you are in the moment and are suffering losses. Money does not shield you from the pain of pouring your entire soul into something only to see constant failure.

We're bringing him more than gifts; we're bringing faith and support. We want to remind Brett that while many of us are behind the television screen, we're there with him every day and every game.

How many people total have contributed?

45 so far, and the night we get our first win I anticipate this number to balloon up even further.

When do you plan to actually send the stuff to him?

The day we win, I already have a route mapped out to where I'm going to deliver the contents to (based off my Sixers contact as I am a season ticket holder). I've already begun to purchase some of the items including: truffle chocolate from around the world, a Rittenhouse Square spa treatment, and an expensive bottle of champagne. Since fruits are perishable, I'm holding off on that purchase until we actually win.

Anything else you'd like to share about it all?

We trust the process. We're not stupid fans. I'm an MBA at the Wharton School in the University of Pennsylvania. We understand the financial engineering, the focus on advanced analytics, and the medical sports science principles being applied to this team. People don't realize that Hinkie is a Stanford GSB alumni and worked at Bain Capital (the same place where Mitt Romney made all his money). He knows what he's doing. Josh Harris knows what he's doing.

As a season ticket holder, people say that the team is "cheating" me and wasting my money. That's further from the truth, as being a Sixers season ticket holder has given me incredible front office and player access to the team. It immerses me in the game I love, and you can't put a price tag on life memories.