The Process has been a long-winded joke in Philadelphia. For the past 11 years, 76ers fans have had to deal with the false promises from the organization. It started with Joel Embiid. They nicknamed him “the Process,” pretty much cementing that all the losing they did before was to secure him. And it seemed worth it, at least for a while.
But this season the 76ers are 2-11, the worst start of the Embiid era, and Embiid looks like a shell of himself. It’s about time the Philadelphia 76ers cut bait with Embiid and end The Process.
When the youth on the team are more mature than the veteran superstar, there is without a doubt a leadership problem. On Nov. 19, it came out that the 76ers had a player-only meeting, and the former MVP, Embiid, was called out by their young fourth-year star Tyrese Maxey. Maxey told Embiid, “You have to stop showing up late; it affects the entire team.” Reports indicate that Embiid received the message well, but the real question is, why is he receiving it at all? Why is the leader of the team, the resident superstar, the seven-time All-Star and the 2023 NBA MVP, being late? And why does it take a 23-year-old to call out a 30-year-old on tardiness?
Embiid has always had questionable basketball character. We just chose to ignore it because for the past few seasons, the 76ers have been great, and Embiid has been the reason why. For instance, let’s look at the Nikola Jokic rivalry. One of the most shameless displays of character was when Embiid ducked Jokic multiple times in Denver. Embiid had not played a game in Denver since 2019. For one reason or another, he is always healthy enough to play Jokic in Philadelphia but somehow never “healthy” when it’s time to play in Denver. He secured his 2023 MVP because he embarrassed Jokic in Philly to the tune of a 43-piece, and Jokic never got his opportunity to respond. Ducking competition, especially from your primary rival at your position, is utterly shameless. Everything is good with Embiid until he’s losing. We’ve seen that against Jokic; we’ve seen it in the playoffs, and now that the season is nearly over already, he’s showing his true colors, and we shouldn’t ignore it.
The most impressive thing about Maxey, and another reason the 76ers should be ready to end The Process, is because they already have an actual leader ready to step up. It wasn’t easy to call out Embiid, I’m sure. He’s an MVP, one of the faces of the league. And obviously, he’s never been called out before, yet still Maxey had the guts to do it. Not only did it wake up Embiid, even if he refuses to admit it, it woke up the rest of the team as well. If Embiid can get called out publicly, then who on this team can’t? Everybody has to hold themselves accountable now or be checked for it, and that’s what a real leader brings to a team. Not to mention Maxey is a budding superstar, made his first All-Star last year, and will be without a doubt one of the future faces of the league, and that was before we knew about his leadership qualities.
Embiid is a star in this league, but it won’t be for long. We see the chink in his superstar armor, and Philadelphia better wake up and see it too before the chink spreads to a hole. Embiid isn’t getting younger or healthier. He also has bad character and a losing mentality. The 76ers already have a future superstar in Maxey and potentially another in Jared McCain. Why would they want to poison a young locker room with this type of influence? Embiid isn’t worth the hassle already, and it would be best for the 76ers to trade him and get as much as they can today. There are championship contenders who believe they are superstars away from a championship; send Embiid there to one of them. Whether it’s LeBron James and the Lakers or even his best buddy Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat, I’m advising the Sixers to get him out of town. The market for Embiid is still burning hot, but that market is one more injury or one more display of character from being ice cold.
End The Process before you are stuck with its remains.
