Philadelphia 76ers star and reigning MVP Joel Embiid is a huge football fan, a loyal Arsenal supporter who has stuck with the club through thick and thin. The Gunners' play in recent times has surely only served to endear them to Embiid even further, especially when manager Mikel Arteta has adapted the 76ers' rallying cry in the mid-2010s: “Trust the Process”.

For Arteta, he has overseen so many low points ever since he took over the Arsenal managerial job in late 2019. The Gunners endured an eighth-place finish for two consecutive seasons, and it looked as though Arteta was going to be on the brink of losing his job after suffering a rough start to the 2021-22 Premier League season. But now, fast forward to 2024, and Arteta's Arsenal remains one of the league's legitimate title challengers, much to the 76ers star's delight.

“Everybody’s got to stay healthy, but I do trust the process, you always have to trust the process, and I’m sure at some point there’s going to be some good ending to it,” Embiid said in an appearance on the Men In Blazers podcast.

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Alas, trusting the process has taken on an entirely different meaning these days, both for Joel Embiid's 76ers and Mikel Arteta's Arsenal. For the 76ers, it's now a matter of getting over the playoff hump; for the Gunners, as the reigning NBA MVP pointed out, they are learning to adjust to the way teams sit deep in a low block and invite pressure instead of letting them run riot in attack the way they did when they nearly won the Premier League in 2023.

“Last year there was no expectations, and this year, especially with how much they spent, there’s a lot of expectations to go out and try to win the league. There’s a reason why The Premier League is so hard and that’s why that’s the best league in the world. It’s not going to be easy, every game is going to be a challenge. You gotta have a deep team, and you’ve got to have some luck too,” Embiid added.

Will luck be on Joel Embiid's 76ers and Arsenal's side as we inch closer into the most important part of the season? Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure: both teams do not lack belief. After all, they trust the process, and they trust it wholeheartedly.