The Philadephia 76ers finally are showing signs of life, causing many NBA fans to buy into “The Process.”
Stephen A. Smith, evidently, is not one of those people.
During Wednesday’s edition of “First Take” on ESPN, Smith was asked for his opinion on the 76ers’ decision to rest Joel Embiid for Tuesday’s game against the Utah Jazz. Instead of addressing the matter at hand, Smith went off on a furious tangent explaining why he’s not a fan of Philly’s “Trust The Process” slogan.
“Hell no,” Smith said, as transcribed by ForTheWin. “And I’m not laughing. I don’t play that game, not even a little bit. I despise it. I can’t stand it. My man Mike Missanelli who does his radio broadcast in Philadelphia, I’ve gotten on him about it. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t even allow him to ask me that question because he knows it’s gonna tick me off … They know I don’t play this mess with this process. And it’s very, very simple because I don’t believe that any franchise should have the right to lose on purpose for years — for years! — while still charging the paying customer. And you’re making no effort to win. I think it’s disgraceful. I think it’s disgusting. I can’t stand it. And I don’t want to hear a damned thing about it. A matter of fact, I’m gonna start cursing people out that ask me about it.”
The 76ers haven’t exactly been gunning for postseason play in the past few seasons, which has resulted in them holding a top-three pick in each of the past four drafts. Philadelphia finally has a solid core of young players, though, so it might not be terribly long before “The Process” is fulfilled.
Thumbnail photo via Tim Fuller/USA TODAY Sports Images
