With the NBA world on hold due to COVID-19, now is the time to take a look at other ways for us to consume our basketball content. One way is by opening up and reading a book that Philadelphia 76ers fans should indulge themselves in.
Bleacher Report’s Yaron Weitzman authors an excellent inside look at the infamous “Process” that has described the Sixers for the past decade and will forever be a part of their history. The book is called “Tanking to the Top” and it’s a must-read for all NBA fans, not just Sixers fans.
There is one excerpt in his book that describes the draft process for superstar big man Joel Embiid. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who held the number 1 pick, welcomed him in for a draft workout and he crushed it while yelling at general manager David Griffin to draft him.
Weitzman wrote:
The Cavs moved Embiid to the mid-range. His jumper was fluid and smooth. He finished the workout by stepping out behind the three-point line. He splashed his first shot from behind the arc.
“How could you not draft me No. 1?” he shouted at Griffin.
He swished another.
“Look how good I am!”
Another ripped through the net.
“You need me, Griff!”
A fourth make.
“Come on, Griff, you gotta draft me!”
A fifth.
“I’m so good!”
A sixth.
“I gotta be No. 1!”
A seventh.
“How can you not take me?”
Smiles swept across the faces of Griffin and the rest of the Cavaliers brain trust. Griffin would later tell people that it was the best workout he’d ever seen. “He was like the second coming of Hakeem,” he’d say. His mind was made. “He told us there he was taking Joel No. 1,” said Francois Nyam, one of Embiid’s agents at the time.
Then, of course, Embiid was injured. He could not move his feet as he suffered a thin stress fracture in his right foot. That offered the Sixers a chance to swoop in at 3 to grab him. Weitzman detailed that the Milwaukee Bucks were sold on Jabari Parker at 2 so that opened up with Embiid being available for the Sixers and that was all Sam Hinkie needed at the time.
The doctor who performed his surgery did express confidence that he could return again and play at en elite level, but Griffin was not convinced.
Weitzman detailed:
That wasn’t good enough for the Cavaliers. Griffin had a mandate from ownership to win and needed a player who could immediately help the team. Even if he wanted to take Embiid, the Cavaliers’ doctors wouldn’t give him the green light. The Bucks, meanwhile, had locked in on Parker, another Tellem client, at No. 2, and anyway, Embiid had no interest in playing there. “That place is corny,” he told Nyam. What he really wanted was to fall to the Lakers at No. 7. He’d been living in Los Angeles and grown comfortable in the city. “Work your magic,” he told Tellem. Tellem knew there was no chance of Embiid plunging that far, so instead he and Nyam sold Embiid on Philadelphia. Tellem had grown up there. Nyam had moved there to play high school basketball. It took a bit, but Embiid bought in.
If the Sixers wanted him, he was theirs.
The Cavs ended up taking Andrew Wiggins who was then sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire Kevin Love. The Sixers, obviously, did end up drafting Embiid and after missing his first two full seasons with the foot issues, he has blossomed into one of the best players in the league. He is averaging 24.1 points and 11.5 rebounds in his career and he has made the All-Star team three times. He also has the Sixers squarely in the title race–whenever the NBA does return.
In the meantime, look into reading Weitzman’s book, it is absolutely terrific. [lawrence-related id=27710,27703,27699]