10 most impactful moments from the 2017-18 NBA season
By Luke Askew
3. Trusting the Process pays off
Remember when the 76ers won 10 games back in the 2015-16 season? Or how their previous three seasons before 2017-18, they won a combined 56 games?
Well this season, they went 52-30 and finished in third place in the Eastern Conference. Heck, they even won a playoff series!
What happened to the 76ers, you ask? Their trust in the Process finally paid off.
https://twitter.com/Philly__Nation/status/1004096376245022721
Joel Embiid finally had a (relatively) injury-free year, playing in a career-high 63 games. In those 63 games, he averaged a monstrous 22.9 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 blocks per game. He also had Ben Simmons as his right-hand man.
Simmons averaged 15.8 points, 8.2 assists, and 8.1 rebounds in 81 games this season. Combine those two superstars with quality role players like J.J. Redick, Dario Saric, Robert Covington, Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova, and you have an incredible roster loaded with talent.
The Sixers are a perfect example of how tanking can help an organization. Granted, it won’t work for everyone, but going from 10 wins two seasons ago to 52 wins this season is flat out incredible — hard to believe, actually.
The 76ers even managed to bring the old Celtics rivalry back to life before losing in five games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Plus, they did most of that without the 2017 first overall pick, Markelle Fultz. If they get him back to how he was expected to be and/or sign LeBron James this summer? Sheesh — look out, NBA.