Andrew Bynum, Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons are all lottery picks who wound up playing for the Philadelphia 76ers. They have also all suffered a season-long or season-ending injury for the 76ers, with the result that every year since 2012, the 76ers have unexpectedly lost a key player. (This year it was #1 overall pick Simmons’ turn.)
In what is hardly a coincidence, they are also locked in one of the bleakest stretches in NBA history. The 76ers have seen their win total plummet from 34 to 19 to 18 to 10. This year, they are again contending for the worst record in league.
How did this happen? Much of the “credit” must go to former GM Sam Hinkie. Hinkie controversially embraced a “Process” that argued it was better for a team to bottom out rather than be perpetually mediocre. (As those declining records prove, he ably achieved this part of his mission.) He was willing to take risky draft picks, including overseas players who might never join the team and, yes, guys with talent but also health concerns.
The result is a team that always has essential players injured because it chose to build around brittle athletes. (And didn’t particularly care if they couldn’t play, since they were tanking anyway.)
Yet the fact remains, the 76ers have now gone five straight seasons with a key player lost. The four previous seasons ended in the lottery. This one surely will too, with the result that Philadelphia will add yet another hotly touted talent and pray that they get to see him play occasionally.
To read more on the injury bug (and learn why some true believers still insist it’s part of Hinkie’s masterplan), click here. Oh, and below is what Simmons looks like when he’s healthy.
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