“Trust the Process” began as a simple quote, yet turned into the rallying cry for a city as well as invaluable life advice. The year was 2013 and the Philadelphia Sixers basketball organization was about to enter into the roughest times in living memory. The head coach, Doug Collins, was sacked and replaced by a man who seemed like Boston and Australia got together and gave birth to a child: Brett Brown. This was also the year that Sam Hinkie stepped into the position of general manager. New faces were surfacing across the organization, and looming over the city and its basketball fans was an understanding that the Sixers were going to struggle. Hinkie had an audacious plan: perform terrible now intentionally, so that we can reap rewards later in the form of draft picks and young talent.

The Story of “The Process”

In the 2013-2014 season, the Sixers finished with a record of 19-63. The second worst record in the NBA. During one stretch, they lost 26 games in a row. Some fans groaned at the sheer enormity of the loss totals, but Hinkie stayed true to his plan. In August of 2013 he gave birth to the beginning of a rallying cry for the city.

“I was pretty candid with Brett throughout the process, about the challenges ahead. There has to be trust.” Sam Hinkie

2014 began with an 18 game losing streak. It was to be another year of agonizing struggle. They finished the year with an 18-64 record, tied for the third worst in franchise history. With year two of complete failure in the books, many fans began to question the resolve of Sam Hinkie and his grand plan. He began to receive significant backlash, but through this adversity he remained true to his plan.

“They tell us every game, every day, ‘Trust the Process.’ Just continue to build.” Sixers guard Tony Wroten in an interview with Howard Eskin

Rock Bottom

Sam Hinkie sits pondering at courtside

The 2015-2016 season saw the low point of the tanking era. The Sixers achieved an abysmal record of 10-72. Another highlight of the season was an astonishing 28 game losing streak. For many in the city of Philadelphia, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Sam Hinkie, who has stated that he lost over 20 pounds from sheer stress, would end up resigning at the end of the year, never getting to fully see his master plan through to success. Yet despite the Sixers’ darkest hour being upon them, the seed has been planted. Success was coming to the Sixers organization, and it took years of agony to get there.

Since their low point in 2016, the Philadelphia 76ers have seen a remarkable turnaround to success. This can be credited in part to the return of a healthy Joel Embiid, as well as the drafting of young star Ben Simmons to complement him. Over the last two years the Sixers have made consecutive deep playoff runs. Despite exiting both runs in the second round, it’s still immensely impressive to have seen the team go from winning 10 games in a season to having the potential to advance to a title run in just a few years. Sam Hinkie may no longer be around, but his vision for the Sixers was a long con that paid off. His rallying cry, “Trust the Process” is still today a motto of the Sixers and its fandom. “The Process” has even been picked by star Joel Embiid to be his self assigned nickname.

The Sixers promise that even though success has finally graced the organization, The Process isn’t finished yet. There’s still work to do, there’s still a Larry O’Brien trophy to bring home. After years of suffering, they are now on the upswing.

The Process comes to fruition

Applying “Trust the Process” to Life

We all go through times in our lives that are like the 2015-2016 Sixers season. We endure dark days where we feel as though we just can’t win. Be it in our relationships, our jobs, or our own personal endeavors, life can be an extremely difficult test. What’s more is that life most certainly isn’t fair. The Sixers lost 28 games in a row, and on that 29th game the opposing team wasn’t going to just let them win because they felt bad for them. Life is the same way. It’s never going to relent. It will never stop trying to beat you down. The will to rise above and succeed comes from within, and sometimes you have to be torn down to the very bottom in order to rebuild.

Life is a journey. Life is a process. And the beauty of life lies within the process. Learn to appreciate the process. Embrace the process. Trust the process. Each one of us has our own journey to take, and the road is far from straight and paved. Alexis Carrell once said, “Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.” When you are in a period of your life where you simply can’t seem to get ahead or pull yourself up, keep your head up and embrace the daily grind. Stay focused on what’s in front of you, and do what you have to do one day at a time. It sucks, but every action you do helps bring you one millimeter closer to your goals. Start stringing together those little actions every day, and you can start your own Process.

In the end, the satisfaction of knowing that you put in all the hard work it took to get to where you want to be is just as fulfilling as the end result.

Often times, things get worse before they get better. Stay strong, and trust the process.