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Philadelphia 76ers Getting Away From “The Process” Culture In Wrong Way

By George Kondoleon

Oct 8, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie (R) talks with chief executive officer Scott O
Oct 8, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie (R) talks with chief executive officer Scott O /
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The Philadelphia 76ers still find a split in their fanbase caused by the hotly debated “Process” and the Sam Hinkie-era.

The Process is dead…maybe?

The Philadelphia 76ers are clearly trying to move away from “The Process” and its culture, but are doing so in a wrong way.

President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo has been very vocal (maybe too vocal) in that the Philadelphia 76ers are no longer focused on prolonging a rebuild, but are now trying to win sooner than later.

This is not a bad thing to try and change the culture towards a winning one, but Colangelo has repeatedly used the term “The Process” in multiple interviews. Why is this such a big deal in Sixers land? The fanbase should be happy the team is gearing towards winning right?

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Well, it has to be understood that a nice chunk of the fanbase (some of the most passionate fans, also) had been persuaded for the last three years to suffer through years of sub-20 win seasons. The fanbase from a city that has sought out a championship every year had now agreed to patiently wait for the Philadelphia 76ers to snag a cornerstone player that would lead them to greatness.

The fans went through the Phil Presseys, the Furkan Aldemirs, and the Andrew Bynum hairstyles, just to see Sam Hinkie abruptly end his tenure with the team. This of course comes after Jerry Colangelo slowly made the Philadelphia 76ers his empire, then coincidentally passing the job to his son just hours before Hinkie’s “surprising” resignation.

So, the fanbase is now supposed to entrust Bryan Colangelo. For a good part of his first few months with the team, he actually started to connect with some of the Process Trusters and ensured that he was there to act on the work of Hinkie and accelerate The Process.

Naysayers became believers in Colangelo until the seemingly backhanded comments towards The Process came. Sam Hinkie is no longer a relevant figure in the Philadelphia 76ers organization, but the fans he persuaded are. An insult to his rebuild plan and its faultiness is like a Draymond Green-kick to the groin to the fans who dedicated three years to watching bad basketball.

It’s not just Colangelo. We can also point to CEO Scott O’Neil who mistakenly tweeted out an article that included a statement comparing the fans who trusted The Process to deniers of the Penn State child abuse scandal. A Draymond Green kick isn’t enough to explain the type of hurt some of the fanbase felt.

The tweet was since deleted and Scott O’Neil quickly apologized.

The issue was smartly resolved by O’Neil but even without the insensitive lede, the main topic of the article was meant to bash those who believed in the process and were still upset about Hinkie allegedly being ousted. He even used the hashtag #processtoprogress, which was yet another slap in the face.

Scott O’Neil’s decisions may have hurt more than Colangelo’s. O’Neil was a main figure in The Process movement and always shined a beacon of hope towards fans who often doubted the results. O’Neil’s connection with the fans should have been enough to be more understanding of the team’s most passionate fanbase being upset, since Colangelo currently lacks such connectivity.

Moving away from The Process is the right decision, but it seems like the Philadelphia 76ers front office have counteracted their own distancing and our now keeping the culture of The Process alive. The way to move from The Process isn’t to continuously bash it in an attempt to compare it to the new regime. The way to move away from it is through basketball moves.

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Fans don’t want a new quirky hashtag, they now want results. If “The Process” is truly dead, then the front office must show the league it’s dead by producing improving results, not through radio interviews and tweeted articles bashing the movement that so many fans dedicated seasons too.