The Sixer Sense
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Will a Losing Culture Doom the Philadelphia 76ers?

By Michael Bronson

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Is the Philadelphia 76ers losing culture hurting their future?

Do the Philadelphia 76ers have a losing culture that will make it impossible for Sam Hinkie’s plan to work? I personally believe this is a vastly overrated talking point, but I’m willing to seriously consider it. If losing culture is a real thing that affects players, how does it work?

I imagine a player like Jahlil Okafor that was raised in a winning culture and has been known as a winner his whole life, had an extreme culture shock when he was drafted by the Sixers. Okafor was now forced to conform to the win-a-phobic environment Hinkie has created. The pressure of having to live the “Trust the Process” lie, is causing Okafor to act in ways he wouldn’t if he was allowed to be part of the winning culture he known his entire life.

Using this interpretation of losing culture, I assume every player that is part of the Sixers during Hinkie’s regime will eventually suffer from Post Dramatic Stress. Outside of this sounding ridiculous, the Warriors prove that players spending several seasons in a losing environment doesn’t destroy their NBA careers.

The Golden State Warriors had a 29-53 record in the 2008-2009 season. This lead to them drafting Stephen Curry with the 7th pick in the 2009 NBA draft. After drafting Curry, the Warriors went 26-56 in the 2009-2010 season, 36-46 the 2010-2011 season, and 23-43 in the 2011-2012 season. It wasn’t until the 2012-2013 season that the Warriors had a winning record going 47-35. It is a fact that the Warriors established a losing culture one year before Curry arrived and Curry spent three seasons learning the ways of failure, so how is it possible that the Warriors became the great team they are today? Shouldn’t Curry intentionally miss shots to stay true to the culture he was drafted into? If the Warriors can overcome their losing culture, why can’t the Sixers?

The biggest difference between the Warriors team Curry went to and the Sixers, is veteran players. Maybe losing culture can only become an insurmountable problem, if the team lacks veteran leadership. When Curry was drafted by the Warriors, he joined a team with 11 year veteran Mikki Moore and 10 year veterans Devean George and Corey Maggette. Using this line of thinking, Hinkie’s biggest mistake this offseason was trading Jason Thompson to the Warriors.

Thompson was born and raised in Philly, and in this article from CSN, the seven year veteran seemed to like getting traded to the Sixers in their trade with the Kings that included Nik Stauskas, pick swaps, Carl Landry, and a future first round pick. “With the Sixers, they’re a young, upcoming team. You’re expected to go through your ups and downs with young teams. When you’re at a certain level, you can only go up, so that’s definitely the positive way. With the direction they’re trying to go, it’s very positive,” he said. As a veteran that embraces being a role model, Thompson would be able to cheer up his young teammates with “back in the day stories” when they’re down 20 points in what is about to be their tenth loss in a row. None of Okafor’s off-court issues would have happened, if Thompson was around to chaperone him at night.

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The issue with the veteran leadership idea is that current Sixer Joel Embiid proves how little difference it can make. After drafting Embiid, the Sixers traded for Luc Mbah a Moute. Mbah a Moute was an eight-year veteran at the time, but was also Embiid’s mentor. Mbah a Moute inspired a young Embiid to leave Cameroon to purse a career in basketball after attending Mbah a Moute’s basketball camp, and years laters Mbah a Moute convinced Embiid to enter the NBA draft after one season of college. Embiid had no major off-court issues in college and having the man that has been mentoring him for years on the team should ensure Embiid’s rehab from a broken navicular bone goes smoothly, but as we all know that didn’t happen.

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Embiid had issues with weight, work effort, and might have recklessly re-injured himself dunking. Whether it was bad luck or Embiid not taking rehab seriously, he will miss his second NBA season in a row to the same injury and having Mbah a Moute on the team did nothing to change this. This report from October 30, 2015, indicates that Embiid’s rehab is going better this time around and that is with his mentor Mbah a Moute on a different team. If Embiid is taking his rehab more seriously, it is because he decided to do everything possible to have a successful NBA career. I believe several stories calling him a bust and questioning his character is stronger motivation than a veteran he respects giving him advice. I also believe Okafor’s new bad boy image can force him to look in the mirror and do everything possible to be the great player many believe he can be on and off the court.

The popular talking point about the current Sixers not having a single veteran player isn’t true. “We do have Carl Landry and he has provided a solid layer of leadership to a fellow interior player,” Brett Brown said on December 2, before the Lakers game report in this article from Randy Miller. Below is a tweet from the eight-year veteran on the Sixers first win.

Whether the Sixers become the championship contenders we fans hope they will be or an embarrassing failure many non-Sixers fans are wishing for, it won’t be due to the franchise creating a losing culture.