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Fansided

Sixers: Newly Trusting the Process

By Ricky Zellefrow

Jan 11, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (1) celebrates with center Joel Embiid (21) after his game winning shot against the New York Knicks at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 98-97. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 11, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (1) celebrates with center Joel Embiid (21) after his game winning shot against the New York Knicks at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 98-97. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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A testament from a reborn Sixers follower, and how Trusting The Process regained a love for Philadelphia 76ers basketball.

I will admit that I had not watched a Sixers game since the NBA Finals in 2001. Over an almost 16-year period I had grown to hate the NBA as stars like Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James seemed more and more like money was more of a driving factor than being good.

Tween me hated that professional basketball was more about personalities and less about the actual games themselves. Honestly I did not miss it much as the Philadelphia Flyers, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cincinnati Bengals and later the Philadelphia Union filled all of my time.

But to be honest until recently was there much reason to even consider watching a 76ers basketball team. Besides the time that 76ers knocked the Bulls out as a low seed there has not been much of a reason to watch the team.

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Sure Allen Iverson was one of the coolest professional stars for me, but I could not care less about the NBA. Recently the only sporting things I have really cared about are the Bengals, the Union, and the USMNT and whichever underdog I had picked to go far in that year’s NCAA tournament.

To be fair I continued to watch the Philadelphia Flyers, especially in the playoffs, but when I got around to joining this site last year my main hope was to write about the Philadelphia Union and my beloved sport of soccer. Occasionally I have dipped into the Flyers writing and talking about the other teams in the city that honestly I do not care about as I once did. Yes, I used to even be an Eagles fan, but I was young and stupid.

My point is that having watched the Philadelphia 76ers twice in the last week after months and months of hearing about the team, and years and years of hearing about Trusting the Process I must say I am back in on the 76ers. I trust the process.

Joel Embiid is fun to watch, and he is almost more fun to see what other people will say about him. With Ben Simmons coming back soon I am actually excited again to watch the 76ers and I have not really even payed attention to that team in almost a decade and a half.

What is more impressive is that a team that has been bad for almost half a decade still has so many people that care about it. Sam Hinkie may have killed hopes for a few years of actually being competitive and winning, but through shrewd trades and incredibly apt drafting the team is competitive well before it should have been and honestly will only get better.

With two likely high draft picks in the next season, and maybe an actual playoff possibility in this season this team is well on the way to being the next super team.

The Heat built through free agency, the Cavs built through the draft and rebuilt through the return of LeBron, and the Warriors built through good and perhaps lucky draft picks. What the 76ers have done is far different and could see them competitive for the next decade, and likely will add to the three NBA trophies the team has.

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When a team clicks halfway through a season and starts winning out of nowhere and preempts the hopes of all of their fans that is something to look out for. They may not be ready to compete this year, but if you continue to trust the process they will be soon. The bad meme that was once the process, has turned into the dream that Sam Hinkie had.