The Process. It was a patient strategy painstakingly executed by the Philadelphia 76ers to allow the team to return to prominence. It involved losing — lots of terrible uncompetitive losing. But all that purposeful losing resulted in draft picks including All-Star center Joel Embiid and fellow All-Star guard Ben Simmons. For years Sixers fans growing impatient with the rebuilding of their team were assured: Trust the Process.
And it worked. The fans bought in and trusted, and even bought t-shirts and sweatshirts that testified to their willingness to wait. Joel Embiid, battling early career injury and being brought back very very slowly to the game, became the poster child for The Process.
It’s a banner he wore proudly. But after the heartbreaking last-second Game 7 loss to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference semifinals, an understandably dejected Embiid told reporters: “I don’t give a damn about The Process.” (Embiid’s comment is viewable in the video below, at around the 5:34 mark.)
Embiid’s words no doubt mean that The Process is now officially over.
Hear from @sixers after the 76ers come up short in Game 7. https://t.co/DO36dzxPU1
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 13, 2019
