A hot-button issue surrounding the NBA for the last several years revolves around tanking. The controversial strategy helps teams acquire high draft picks from purposely losing games.
Front offices manipulate their rosters to increase the chances of extensive losing streaks throughout the season.
The argument against tanking essentially boils down to how it’s an unethical approach to professional sports. Avoiding competition and embracing losing for draft picks is viewed as a taboo topic from some corners around the league.
The most notorious example of this is the Process Sixers.
Under Sam Hinkie, the Philadelphia 76ers went 47-199 (.191 winning percentage) in three seasons from 2013-2016 before he resigned. The losses resulted in the Sixers acquiring four consecutive top-three draft picks. The most successful of those picks landed them reigning MVP Joel Embiid.
Fair or not, the Oklahoma City Thunder often gets compared to the Sixers by national pundits. They usually cite OKC’s strategic losing from 2020-2022 as an apple-to-apple comparison.
The comparison is a bit disingenuous though. The Thunder never reached the lows of the Process Sixers; during their two-year run as one of the worst teams in the league, OKC had a 46-108 record (.299 winning percentage). OKC’s highest draft pick in its rebuild was the 2022 No. 2 pick as well; the next highest pick was the No. 6 pick in 2021.
Don’t get it wrong — the early 2020s Thunder were bad for a couple of seasons, but they weren’t historically bad like the mid-2010s Sixers were.
The Thunder also rostered several promising NBA players led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander during their down years. During the Process Sixers years, actual NBA talent was scarce.
It seems like Chet Holmgren — the crown jewel of the Thunder’s rebuild — agrees with this sentiment. On a TikTok video posted by JJ Redick’s “Old Man and The Three” podcast, several former Sixers discussed the toxic culture that surrounded The Process at the time.
Andre Iguodala — who was traded from the Sixers in 2012 — said: “I didn’t realize until I left that the organization wasn’t trying to win. So what do you do in that scenario? You got to be selfish, right? Because now you said it’s a survival. I got to eat. I’m going into my contract year… They’re mad at the players for going out there and trying to get their numbers.”
Evan Turner — who was drafted No. 2 in the 2010 NBA draft and spent four years in Philly — added: “You go up to Sam Hinkie and it’s like, I’ve been working my whole career to battle to get here. I give a f–k about winning… I didn’t know what to do. I can’t go and we’re not trying to win. I was at home crying.”
Turner also spoke about how insensitive Hinkie was towards him about his future, referencing how the former GM only gave him ‘five minutes’ of his time to talk about his career.
In the comment section, Holmgren chimed in and spoke glowingly of the Thunder about their ability to connect to the players on a human level when they don’t necessarily have to in a cut-and-dried industry like professional sports.
“Seeing this makes me appreciate the Thunder front office even more,” Holmgren said.
Interesting comment from Chet Holmgren reacting to Andre Iguadala and Evan Turner discussing their experience with the 76ers front office on @OldManAndThree pic.twitter.com/qUq1LCgsAL
— Andrew Schlecht (@AndrewKSchlecht) September 21, 2023
It seems like all three former NBA players understand why teams tank to acquire elite talent for the long term. Their beef with Hinkie’s Sixers seems to revolve around their cold and calculated demeanor during their losing seasons about the players currently on the roster.
While the Thunder had a similar strategy to acquire high draft picks, that didn’t prevent them from also humanizing the players on the roster at the time.
There are several examples of this. Whether it’s giving a long-time G League player a chance to return to the NBA like Scotty Hopson or converting a two-way player to a standard NBA deal before releasing them like Lindy Waters III and Eugene Omouryi, Sam Presti puts effort into his relationship with all 18 players on the roster.
The Thunder have done an excellent job of balancing both things. The front office has done a masterful job of rebuilding and creating one of the most intriguing young cores in the league while also not burning relationships with players.
That’s the biggest difference between what the Thunder and Sixers did. And it sounds like the crown jewel of OKC’s rebuild thinks the same as well.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
