Philadelphia 76ers Fans Are Mourning The End Of The Process

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid

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.

Maybe the process was about the friends we made along the way.