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Joel Embiid asked to be called “The Process” in pre-game introductions

By Bobby Hallinan

Apr 8, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Injured Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) practices prior to a game against the New York Knicks at Wells Fargo Center. The New York Knicks won 109-102. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 8, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Injured Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) practices prior to a game against the New York Knicks at Wells Fargo Center. The New York Knicks won 109-102. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Joel Embiid has immense talent and an immense sense of humor.

During former GM Sam Hinkie’s run as the head basketball decision-maker for the Philadelphia 76ers, the team’s hardcore fans adopted a mantra/war cry (popularized by the Rights to Ricky Sanchez Podcast): Trust the Process. It served as a reminder that all the losing during those years was in service of a greater goal, that things would eventually turn around, that bad breaks don’t mean the choices that lead to them were also bad.

There was no decision made during the Hinkie era more emblematic of the Trust the Process spirit than the selection of Kansas University-by-way-of-Cameroon center Joel Embiid. The scouts consensus was that, even in a class with Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, Embiid was the most talented. Some made comparisons to Hakeem Olojuwon because of his potential as a destructive, athletic two-way force; no one really refuted them. The only issue was health, but it was a big issue.

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Embiid was unable to play for Kansas in the 2014 NCAA tournament due to a stress fracture in his back, but the more troubling injury was a broken navicular bone in his right foot. Despite the history of people his size with broken feet (Bill Walton and Yao Ming come to mind), the Sixers chose to draft Embiid with the third overall pick, ahead of prospects like Aaron Gordan, Dante Exum, and Julius Randle. Setbacks would cause Embiid to miss the first two full years of his career, and Hinkie’s April 2016 resignation meant that he won’t get to see whether his faith in Embiid will be rewarded (at least not from the inside).

Embiid, though, has shown continued support of Hinkie and the Process, calling him “THE GOAT” and saying “he died for our sins” on Instagram and Twitter, and dropping not one but two “Trust the Process”es on Sixers Media Day. Now, he’s asked Sixers public address announcer Matt Cord to refer to him as Joel “The Process” Embiid during pre-game introductions, a moniker he has already adopted on his Instagram page.

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It’s an apt nickname, and shows greater awareness than even the Sixers front-office of the connection die-hard fans had to Hinkie and his way of thinking after over a decade of mediocrity. If Embiid can fulfill his enormous potential and prove that Hinkie made the right choice in drafting him, Sixers fans will be able to continue Trusting the Process for years to come.

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