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Joel Embiid And The Philadelphia 76ers Are Beefing Over ‘Trust The Process’ Trademark

The draft was thought and created to be a system that would transmit the league some evenness amidst teams. As the game became more analytical itself with journalists and coaches analyzing every single detail, every touch, every rotation, percentages and efficiencies, the General Managers and Owners started being more pragmatic and started to pursue championships with their minds instead of their instincts or feelings.

No one ever thought… ok, maybe someone did think about it… but no one ever really thought that a franchise would have the courage, and permission by the owners, to implode a team and keep imploding it for 3 straight years, so they would be able to be Top 3 draft pickers constantly. The fans wouldn’t allow it, right? The TV deals wouldn’t allow it, right? The players are too competitive and their careers are too short for them to waste few years in an assumed losing team like that, right? Well, I know, logic has no logic in this case.

The Philadelphia 76ers, house of Doctor J, Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson, and Darryl Dawkins indeed became a team mastering themselves in losing. Can you imagine one of those four names being a top pick landing in Philadelphia and having to buy into the tanking thing? Heads would roll, that’s my guess. But that’s the part of the process, they say.

Now we can say that said process has paid out. The mastermind of the operation, Sam Hinkie may not be there anymore (unfortunately), but he must have a satisfied smile on his face whenever he’s watching a Sixers game. Without him, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, two of the league’s best young starts, would likely not be in the city of brotherly love.

Embiid always stood by Hinkie and told everyone to trust the process. He even nicknamed himself ‘The Process’ and can be seen as a personified process for the franchise.

But the ‘trust the process’ slogan is now causing trouble between Embiid and the team as, according to attorney Josh Gerben, Embiid and the Sixers are currently in a fierce competition over who gets to own the trademark for the phrase.

Joel Embiid has filed 8 new trademark applications for trust the process, but the Sixers filed a trademark two months ago.

This could get interesting.

Joel Embiid has filed 8 new trademark applications for TRUST THE PROCESS.

The filings claim that Embiid plans to sell everything from non-alcoholic beverages to toys using the phrase.

The 76ers just filed a TRUST THE PROCESS trademark 2 months ago.

Is this Embiid v. 76ers? pic.twitter.com/7khouaUdL2

— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) December 1, 2018