Tanking to the Top

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports

By: Yaron Weitzman

Narrated by: Yaron Weitzman

Enter the City of Brotherly Love and see how the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers trusted The Process – using a bold plan to get to first by becoming the worst.

When a group of private equity bigwigs purchased the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, the team was both bad and boring. Attendance was down. So were ratings. The Sixers had an aging coach, an antiquated front office, and a group of players that could best be described as mediocre.

Enter Sam Hinkie - a man with a plan straight out of the PE playbook, one that violated professional sports' Golden Rule: You play to win the game. In Hinkie's view, the best way to reach first was to embrace becoming the worst - to sacrifice wins in the present in order to capture championships in the future. And to those dubious, Hinkie had a response: Trust The Process, and the results will follow.

The plan, dubbed "The Process", seems to have worked. More than six years after handing Hinkie the keys, the Sixers have transformed into one of the most exciting teams in the NBA. They've emerged as a championship contender with a roster full of stars, none bigger than Joel Embiid, a captivating seven-footer known for both brutalizing opponents on the court and taunting them off of it.

Beneath the surface, though, lies a different story, one of infighting, dueling egos, and competing agendas. Hinkie, pushed out less than three years into his reign by a demoralized owner, a jealous CEO, and an embarrassed NBA, was the first casualty of The Process. He'd be far from the last.

Drawing from interviews with nearly 175 people, Tanking to the Top brings to life the palace intrigue incited by Hinkie's proposal, taking listeners into the boardroom where the Sixers laid out their plans, and onto the courts where those plans met reality. Full of uplifting, rags-to-riches stories, backroom dealings, mysterious injuries, and burner Twitter accounts, Tanking to the Top is the definitive, inside story of the Sixers' Process and a fun and lively behind-the-scenes look at one of America's most transgressive teams.

Including exclusive interviews with Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Coach Brett Brown, Sam Hinkie, and more.

©2020 Yaron Weitzman (P)2020 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"There are layers to the brilliance of this book: The reporting is generally way deeper than what's come before. Much of the writing about "The Process" only muddies the waters, adds noise where we are desperate for signal. Here, for the first time, is an account that will confuse no one: Yes, this is what Sam Hinkie was trying to do; yes, it failed in some ways, and succeeded in others. The lucky readers of TANKING TO THE TOP will gain the insight to judge what was what. And finally, even with all of this new information to impart...it's still sexy and fun to read. How in the hell did he do that?" (Henry Abbott, founder and CEO, TrueHoop)

"[A] dishy, punchy debut...Weitzman wildly entertains in this backroom NBA history." (Publishers Weekly)

"'The Process' was the boldest, brashest, diciest, most controversial roster-building exercise we've seen in the NBA. Sam Hinkie's gambit alarmed fans and outraged NBA executives - and it worked. But the Sixers' rise from laughingstock to contender was so much more complex and layered than a two-word catch phrase. In TANKING TO THE TOP, Yaron Weitzman unearths new details and fresh insights, with an insider's expertise and a deft touch, providing the definitive account of this fascinating saga." (Howard Beck, senior NBA writer, The Bleacher Report)

Great presentation of the facts without bias

This book does a great job giving the audience a necessary chronology for how the 76ers bridge the Iverson era to Post-Process era. Weitzman gives the reader/listener a better understanding for Sam Hinkie, the shortcomings that led to the series of of events culminating in his resignation, along with some clarity on the players, executives, coaches, and ownership involved in the Sixers for the last several years. the more open minded you are, the more you will truly appreciate this book.

good book

Obviously if you have any interest in the 6ers and/ or The Process this book will appeal to you. As far as I know its the only book available about the topic, so by default its the best.

Oh my gosh

This is a great break down of “ the process” I really hope this team wins a least one championship to make this worth the tanking.

Good Book Needed Better Narration

A comprehensive look inside the ‘Process’ 76ers. The voice narration from the author the weakest part of listening to this on audio. Wish they would’ve sprung for a professional.

Great history of tanking by Sixers

Great history.it's a shame story ended there as the last two moves by Brand were terrible. Holford and trade for HARRIS. THEY SHOULD HAVE STUCK WITH Hinke.

Fantastic for a basketball junkie like me

Everything about this book was great from the details of the early struggles of the Hinkie days, the quick detailed summary of each player and the behind the scenes stories! Fantastic book. Great job narrating as well, I love it when the author narrates.

Great story!

A comprehensive history of the recent, since drafting Iverson, Sixers.. general managers, presidents, coaches, players, the sam hinkie saga, told pretty dispassionately, I don't think the guy took sides but tried to tell the story, from all sides, as fact based as possible. up to the reader to draw their own conclusions.. hinkie dealt in guerrilla tactics, he was ruthless in some ways, but his philosophy was data driven, unfortunately, Sam pissed off too many people in the end, other GM's, agents, league brass... his use of 2nd round draft pics, his philosophy, from a financial perspective, it was revolutionary what he did... he exposed a weakness in the NBA drafting system, and used it with amazing one-pointedness and steadfastness....he wasn't really trying to hide anything... some of the line-ups he put out there in those years, starting two players on 10 day contracts... etc... really awful... but MAN, DID HE HAVE A STRATEGY! so that's the deal, I think any Sixer fan, even non-Sixer fans, a lot of people would find this book interesting, but especially Sixer fans will love this book.

Great listen

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Great listen. Highly recommended. Anyone who has followed the nba over the last decade or so will love this.

The Process - makes a great story

Fans of professional basketball, especially those of the Philadelphia 76ers, are familiar with "The Process." In a nutshell, it was the accepting of a few seasons of losing basketball in order to stockpile high draft choices to build a championship team. Add in a GM who not only used this strategy but also to accumulate second round picks from other teams that usually view them as expendable and you have the basic story of this book by Yaron Weitzman.

One must give credit to Weitzman for being able to put together a complete book when the main subject, the 76ers and their former general manager Sam Hinkle, refused to cooperate or allow Weitzman to interview personnel for the book. Nonetheless, he crafted a fun-to-read accounting of the team and how it went from the days of Allen Iverson to the current team led by Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.

Two slight criticisms I have about the book are minor, but should be noted. One is that Weitzman makes this strategy of "tanking" and stockpiling draft choices as something that was revolutionary, mainly because of the way that Hinkle and the team sold it. It really isn't anything new – in fact, that is how the Iverson-lead teams in the 2000's were built. The other one is how one measures that the Process is successful. If one believes that making it to the second round of the playoffs makes the Process worthwhile, then so be it but many would believe that only a championship can be the crowning achievement. An achievement the 76ers have yet to accomplish with its current players.

But those are minor compared the wonderfully entertaining stories about the people who played key roles in building this team. The main subject would certainly be Hinkle and some of the crazy situations in which he found himself. He also was a polarizing figure, with some saying he had no idea what he was doing, while others were so supportive of his methods that they would go to the NBA draft when the 76ers would have a high draft choice chanting "Process." Weitzman's descript of Hinkle's reign as the 76ers general manger was engaging, especially on the audio version. His narrative led credibility to his writing, something I usually find when listening to an audio book that is narrated by the author.


The great stories are not limited to Hinkle. The adventure of Joel Embiid from a middle-class life in Cameroon to the NBA is a fascinating adventure. The ups and downs of Jimmy Butler are also great, from his demands to leave Minnesota to his leadership in his one 76ers season to when he too was shown the exit door, leaving as a free agent to sign with the Miami Heat. Information on Ben Simmons is also very good. That was the best part of this book – the human stories behind the Process.

Overall, this book is best read by those who are not familiar with the history of the team or this "new" method of building the team as there isn't any new or groundbreaking material, mainly due to the limits mentioned earlier. But still a good read or listen.

Great content, terrible performance.

If you love basketball, you will have no problem listening to this book. If you're a little on the fence or not fully interested in the Sixers's tanking story, this performance can make it very difficult to finish. No enthusiasm and often sounds like first takes.