To me, the most underachieving teams in the NBA this season are ironically my favorite two NBA teams… the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Philadelphia 76’ers. What makes it even more fascinating is both teams were shaped by the two basketball Sams… Presti and Hinkie.
My son once had a group lunch meeting with Hinkie at an OU School of Business gathering with all these little MBAs grouped together. Hinkie was an OU business major undergrad then went on to get his MBA at Stanford.
My son was floored by the guy. Claims he was one of the smartest people he’s ever talked to in a business setting.
Philly is coming to Oklahoma City tomorrow night with a streak of losing 19 straight times to the Thunder.
The Sixer starting five of Embiid, Simmons, Butler, Reddick and Tobias Harris is probably the best starting five in the NBA minus the Warriors.
Yet, we’ve still to see The Process completely validated with a deep playoff run in the post Hinkie era.
Did it work?
I would say it did although the fans in Philly went thru three brutal seasons of losing from 2013-2015.
Such an interesting matchup tomorrow night as you’ll see the trail of players affected in both Philadelphia and Oklahoma City by Sam Hinkie’s process with the Sixers in this video.
You have to watch closely to understand how both teams got to where they are in the back side of the process.