The NBA has instituted the play-in tournament, much to the disapproval of many NBA stars including LeBron James and Luka Doncic, among others. However, the real reason the NBA had decided to push forth with the play-in was in an effort to limit tanking, with the Philadelphia 76ers being one of the key contributors in the decision.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on the latest edition of The Woj Pod, the Sixers “spooked the league”, which in turn caused the league office to examine a way to change the system and prevent teams from tanking.

Of course, who can ever forget Philly's infamous tanking regime? It even garnered a nickname known as “The Process”, a move that was wildly heralded as a blatant tanking procedure to further improve their draft stock. As it turns out, the philosophy worked out pretty well for the Sixers.

They were able to walk away with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, who have become key players and led the Sixers to a top seed in the Eastern Conference.

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Albeit, the league's decision to roll out the play-in tournament was done to limit tanking. However, teams still tanked down the stretch. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Detroit Pistons are the most notable teams to do so, especially considering the pure youth on their roster as they are in a full rebuild.

So, the Sixers could be a big part of the decision for the play-in tournament, although the matchups between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers might be one of the best games in the entirety of the playoffs. Nonetheless, it doesn't appear that Philly regrets the decision, nor should they.

The Sixers are in the eye of an Eastern Conference title and a trip to the NBA Finals, all this after they went 47-199 from 2013 to 2016. It was obvious, and it paid off for the Sixers in the long run.

It turns out former general manager Sam Hinkie knew what he was up to.