Former Philadelphia 76ers president and general manager Sam Hinkie might be more associated with the NBA draft lottery than anyone else, thanks to his building the team to lose and get high draft picks (there’s a good read on life after “The Process” from SI’s Chris Ballard here). So it seems thoroughly appropriate that ahead of the 2017 draft lottery Tuesday night, Sixer fans raised a banner honoring Hinkie at a watch party:
Sam Hinkie goes into the rafters. Thank you Sam. pic.twitter.com/O2zMTxyj9F
— Jake Pavorsky (@JakePavorsky) May 16, 2017
According to SB Nation’s 76ers’ blog Liberty Ballers (Pavorsky is their managing editor), it was the crew from the Rights To Ricky Sanchez podcast that organized this party and did the banner-raising. It was also just part of a rowdy lottery party overall:
Crowd getting real worked up here. pic.twitter.com/WE97zo0nJu
— Jake Pavorsky (@JakePavorsky) May 16, 2017
And they chanted “Trust The Process”:
I think we have some process trustees in the house today @RTRSPodcast @SpikeEskin pic.twitter.com/dGsVX6aDI5
— Xfinity Live! (@XfinityLive) May 17, 2017
That’s quite the enthusiasm for Hinkie and his strategy. And for his part, he told Ballard he’s doing just fine, hanging out in Silicon Valley where the criticism is a little less harsh:
Besides the obvious reasons—weather, culture, networking, anonymity—Hinkie came here to be among what he calls “my people,” the quants, dreamers, AI geeks and visionaries. As opposed to the sports world, which can range from socialist to dictatorial but is often slow to embrace change, in Silicon Valley disruption is expected. Here no one tries to replicate the status quo or embrace average. Here companies operate for years without showing a profit, for better or worse. “When I meet someone out here, I’ll say, ‘I’m kind of between gigs,’ ” Hinkie says. “Or, if I’m being cute, sometimes I’ll say, ‘Oh, I’m like a founder that got pushed out for professional management,’ and they’re like, ‘Oh, first time? That happened to me in ’85 and ’93 and ’02.’ ” He pauses. “There’s not the sense of shame for failure here that there is some other places.”
There are plenty who embraced Hinkie and his strategy, though, and there’s far from a consensus that he actually failed. And even though Hinkie stepped down in April 2016, the team is still carrying on his legacy. They finished with the third pick at this year’s draft lottery. That’s not bad at all, and something that may well be worth celebrating.
[Liberty Ballers on Twitter]
