To Sam Hinkie fans everywhere: Joel is on your side.
If you feel former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie was wrongfully let go by the organization, don’t worry: Joel Embiid agrees.
The evidence? His adopted nickname, obviously.
Making an appearance on the latest episode of Golden State Warrior Draymond Green’s podcast, The Draymond Green Show, Embiid was questioned by Green about his decision to embrace “The Process” as a nickname in his first couple of years in the NBA, with the latter calling it a genius move.
As a Hinkie draft pick back in 2014, Embiid acknowledged the league as a whole not being very receptive to “The Process.”
“I remember I used to get calls about like ‘can you please tell Joel not to mention the process’ name? We’re trying to move on from it,” he recalled.
In typical fashion, he didn’t care.
“I got to the league and my second year, (Hinkie) was basically forced out,” Embiid said. “I don’t wanna say names but you know I’m outspoken so I’ll say it: the NBA. I don’t know who, but I think that’s what it was.
“They basically forced him out and I didn’t like it.”
Irked at the league-wide notion that tanking was going down in Philly, Embiid decided to take a dig at the NBA and show the association that the players have power by paying homage to the man who believed in him when nobody else did.
“Around that time the league did not like The Process because it was a bunch of losing, they’re saying it was tanking, they were losing on purpose, which in the end no one loses on purpose,” he said. “If you’re not talented enough in the NBA, yeah, you’re gonna freaking lose if you’re playing against more talented players.”
“I knew they didn’t like The Process and then I was like ‘you know what? I’m gonna piss some people off’,” Embiid continued, “so that’s why I started pushing the agenda about you know what? I’m gonna support my mans because he drafted me, coming out of college before I got drafted he believed in me.”