It was the fall of 2016, and chants of “Trust the Process” rained down from the seats in Wells Fargo Arena. Sam Hinkie had resigned about 6 months prior, and his most important pick had just been hacked by Steven Adams. As Joel Embiid sauntered to the line, you couldn’t help but wonder if they were making fun of Hinkie, or praising him as a martyr.
More than two and a half years later, there were no chants, only a crying Embiid. Kawhi Leonard had thrown up a fadeaway over Embiid – it was Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Kawhi’s shot bounced, once, twice, three, FOUR times on the rim, and nestled through the net – the Raptors were moving on. A month later, and the NBA world would realize that the Sixers were the closest to knocking off the champions. The Process worked, but what comes next?
Hinkie and Embiid are two important characters in this drama, but Ben Simmons is one as well. He was born in Melbourne a couple years after Embiid was in Yaounde, Cameroon, two distant corners of the world (at least by American standards). Simmons learned the game from his father, a player on the Melbourne Tigers – Embiid only picked up the game at age 15, when he became too big for even volleyball. One used his size to become a dominant big man, the other was an anomaly, a point guard with power forward dimensions.
Both played a year in college, with varying success. Simmons played a disappointing year for LSU in 2015-2016, failing to lead LSU to even an NCAA tournament berth. Embiid had slightly more success at Kansas in 2013-2014, but fractured his back before the postseason tournaments – and sat watching as the Jayhawks lost in the third round of the NCAAs. Both were regarded as unique talents, leading to Embiid being picked 3rd overall by the Sixers in the 2014 draft, and the team followed up two years later with Simmons as the #1 overall draft pick.
And yet, trust the process. This wasn’t only about the tanking, the dreadful teams, the talk about next year. This was about the injuries; players may have star potential, but fail at the test of availability. Embiid would sit out his first two seasons with feet problems, leading the Philadelphia faithful to wonder if his immense potential could ever be fulfilled. Then, in the first season where Embiid did play, Simmons sat out with his own foot injury. Would the snakebitten team ever succeed?
That’s where the “Trust the Process” chants come in. Less than six months after Hinkie resigned, the Philly fans showed their faith with those chants. Simmons was on the bench, but the Sixers looked like they were finally turning the corner. A known basketball family in the Colangelo’s had taken over, and the future was bright. In the following season, Simmons would win rookie of the year, Embiid would be an all-star, and the Sixers made the second round of the playoffs. The future looked bright.
And yet, these were the Sixers, and nothing could just be nice and simple. The Ringer did a wonderful job covering Colangelo-gate (seriously, read Ben Detrick’s article). The GM had his wife posting about Philly players on burner accounts on twitter. There were many funny tweets, but the best were perhaps about Bryan Colangelo’s collars i.e. “get a new slant” – and the obvious bashing of Sam Hinkie.
When Colangelo resigned a week later, Joel Embiid showed not only why he is a star on the court, but also off of it. He talked to Colangelo and said that he believed him – and stayed pretty quiet about the whole thing. For a player in his early 20s who the burner accounts criticized, it would have been easy to lash out and complain, but Embiid showed maturity, and opened up a new side to NBA fans.
One of the things that worried people about Embiid, besides his health, was his motor. One of the burner accounts described Embiid as “a bit lazy,” “selfish,” and “acting like a tool,” and accused him of partying too much. “Ben is going to be better than Joel@snd less distracted by models and social media,” the burner account “Still Balling” wrote in 2016. Joel is indeed known for his loud, trollish behavior on the court, as players like Andre Drummond, Hassan Whiteside, and Russell Westbrook can fully attest. But unlike his backcourt mate, he hasn’t fallen into the trappings of celebrity life. Embiid doesn’t even drink, and seems to be constantly working on his game.
Unlike their beloved Embiid, this has been a reason why Philly fans have sometime had a cold reaction to Simmons (well, besides the three pointer, which will be mentioned below). Unlike Embiid, Simmons has taken his time in the celebrity limelight. Just last year, Simmons was criticized for spending the summer traveling around the world with Kendall Jenner instead of working on his craft. The irony of the burner accounts being wrong about which player will give into the lifestyle that the NBA can provide.
On the court, they are both freakish players. Embiid is an extraordinary defender, using his size to swallow up shots at the rim, and his quicker than expected feet to contest on the perimeter. On offense, he is dominant in the post, but is also a good free-throw shooter and can even hit the three, so he can’t be fouled like Shaq back in the day. Simmons is also a menace on defense, with his 7 foot wingspan just being unfair to smaller opposing point guards. He can get his hands on a lot of passes, and can guard any position from 1-4. While Simmons is an unreal passer and great driving to the rim, he has one serious issue that will prevent him from being a top-ten player in the NBA.
Of course, this is the three pointer. In an NBA where players like Steph Curry, James Harden, and Damian Lillard are throwing up hundreds of 3s per year, Ben Simmons not only is a poor shooter, but he also refuses to take them. This creates a problem for the Sixers, as they just can’t space the floor if defenders don’t have to guard Simmons on the perimeter. When they have lost in the playoffs the last two years, the Sixers have had trouble scoring in the 4th quarter. Simmons NEEDS to learn how to shoot 3s to truly make the Sixers great – luckily for Sixers fans, signs this summer point to cautious optimism.
The Process clearly works, but now the Process must win. With a starting lineup of Simmons, Embiid, Al Horford, Josh Richardson, and Tobias Harris, this team has the potential to hold up a championship trophy in June. Embiid has taken on his giant shoulders the hope for a rowdy fanbase, and the nickname that will never let him forget where he came from, “The Process”.
There may not be chants every time Joel heads to the line, but somewhere in Silicon Valley, Sam Hinkie smiles.
