Getty Image / Adam Glanzman
Ten years ago, the Philadelphia 76ers decided to hire Sam Hinkie as their general manager and do a complete tear-down of the 76ers from the bottom, called “the process.” Basically, they traded away all of their assets for draft picks and young players, tanked for years in the hopes to land multiple superstars, to hopefully get a championship roster.
The part of getting high draft picks certainly worked. The Sixers picked in the top five four times from 2014-2017, plenty of chances to get a roster full of superstars. And, they did draft one superstar out of that four, in 2022-2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid. But, the other three, Jahlil Okafor, Markelle Fultz and Ben Simmons are all busts to varying degrees.
And, the team has not been able to get further than the second round of the NBA Playoffs throughout the process era. After another incredible choke this year, when the Sixers had the Celtics in Philadelphia for a clinching game but lost that game and game 7 in humiliating fashions, Sixers fans and NBA are mourning or mocking the end of the process.
The 76ers have not won a playoff series against a top-4 seed since Embiid was drafted in 2014.
Safe to say The Process era was a failure.
— Brenden Deeg (@BrendenDeeg_) May 14, 2023
The Process is over
— Run It Back Philly (@RunItBackPhilly) May 14, 2023
Not a bit: it’s time for the Sixers to start the process all over again.
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) May 14, 2023
Now that The Process is officially over, it’s official, the best chance the Sixers had to win a title was when the guy on the right wore this uniform. And people in the organization thought to keep Ben Simmons over Jimmy Butler!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Sixers franchise is a losing one pic.twitter.com/iolcd3ihf1
— Joe Andre (@eaglesjoejoe612) May 15, 2023
The process is one of the funniest things in sports. 76ers fans are told to be patient just trust the process. The Process started in 2013 they will now have to wait another year to get eliminated by the Boston Celtics
— Marty Mush (@martymush) May 14, 2023
The fact that The Process resulted in 4 years of some of the most unwatchable basketball in history
The fact that the results from The Process yielded a core that will never reach a conference finals
The fact that The Process began a decade ago and the Heat made 4 ECFs since
— Christian Hernandez (@ICanBeYourHerro) May 14, 2023
Wonder if Embiid will cry after this one? Cause we all have cried watching him today. The MVP and his partner no showed. Just as they did in the 4th walking up the court in game 6. The Process=Ponzi Scheme.
— Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) May 14, 2023
Maybe the process was about the friends we made along the way.