The last few seasons have brought plenty of regular season success to the Philadelphia 76ers. That infamous 5-year window of tanking and “trusting the process,” has been followed with a degree of success: A handful of 50-win seasons, the rise of an MVP-caliber player and perennial All NBA candidate in Joel Embiid, and the return of playoff NBA basketball in the City of Brotherly Love.
Playoff success, however, has largely eluded them, as the 76ers have bowed out in the Conference Semifinals 4 out of the last 5 years. In a town with some of the most die-hard and serious fans on the planet, they’re clamoring for at LEAST a return to the Eastern Conference Finals, which the Sixers haven’t made since their trip to the 2001 NBA Finals and have made a grand total of 2 trips that deep into the playoffs since 1984.