There is an annoying tendency in the hyperreactive sports fan ecosystem, and within the chattering class that caters to it, to catastrophize every bump in the road a team might experience during the course of a season. Any unexpected playoff loss emerges as the worst defeat in history, and the calls to fire the coaching staff, or to trade away star players on the roster, can begin in earnest.

In the wake of the 76ers’ shocking collapse in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against a good-but-not-great Atlanta Hawks team, it might be fashionable for the more level-headed among us to counsel patience. Continue to Trust the Process, the apostles of Sam Hinkie might tell us. Perhaps the diehards who place an unshakable faith in the talents of Ben Simmons will continue to label as “casuals” those of us who dare question the skill of the Sixers’ enigmatic point guard. The series isn’t over, others will rightly note.

Nevertheless, the superlatives and hyperbole feel justified after the Sixers squandered a 62-40 halftime lead that expanded to 26 points early in the third quarter. At that point in the game, ESPN had the 76ers pegged at a 99.5% win probability.

In hindsight, there were signs that something might be amiss. The 76ers’ reserves proved incapable of preserving or expanding the lead. In the second half particularly, the offense produced a number of sloppy, empty sets marred by carelessness with the basketball. Both Tobias Harris and Simmons seemed unwilling to shoot, particularly when the game improbably tightened late in the 4th quarter.

For his part, Simmons found a way to regress at the free throw line, which seemed impossible. His 4-14 performance from the charity stripe will only encourage Hawks coach Nate McMillan to continue the “Hack-A-Ben” scheme, and should forever shame the Simmons apologists who condescendingly lecture anyone who criticizes the development of the Sixers’ putative star player.

Chief among those Simmons apologists is head coach Doc Rivers, who brushed aside a completely fair question from Crossing Broad’s Kevin Kinkead during the Sixers-Wizards series, scoffing at the notion that he might put Ben on the bench to counter the intentional fouling strategy that puts him on the free throw line.

The problem at that time, according to Rivers, was that we just don’t “celebrate” Simmons enough in Philadelphia. As if the real issue here is the enthusiasm level of the sellout crowds encouraging Ben as he makes another fruitless visit to the charity stripe!

“You guys keep the Ben narrative going. We’re just gonna keep playing,” Rivers proclaimed that night in Washington. It was easy for Rivers to be haughty in that moment, facing a woefully overmatched Wizards squad that had little interest in playing defense.

Of course, the person directly responsible for preserving the “Ben narrative” is Ben Simmons himself. Simmons entered the NBA with a reputation for being an elite defender and distributor. His ability to run the point on offense while potentially guarding anyone on the court had folks wondering if the Sixers’ multi-season tanking project would yield the next Magic Johnson.

Now, as he wraps up his fourth professional season, Simmons remains essentially the same player he was when he entered the league: a defensive menace and a peerless passer who is allergic to jump shots. His refusal to even present the threat of a three-point shot allows teams to collapse the lane and stifle his path to the bucket. And his inability to make free throws at a consistent clip has seriously hampered the Sixers’ chances to advance in the postseason.

It may be a new era in the NBA, but fundamentals still matter. And a good player who convinces himself he is good enough will never find himself in the ranks of the elite. It’s quite a problem for a franchise that made a max investment in Simmons.

However, it would be unfair to pick on Ben Simmons alone when superstar Tobias Harris pulled his own playoff vanishing act. Harris contributed a grand total of 4 points to the cause, and the nadir of his evening was his complete passiveness in crunch time, handing the ball off instead of looking to create a scoring opportunity. It was an unwelcome return of the 2019-20 version of Harris, who otherwise has enjoyed a very productive playoffs for the Sixers.

Nearly 70 percent of the 76ers’ offensive output last night came courtesy of Seth Curry and Joel Embiid, who deserved a better fate than to be affiliated with the embarrassing product that left the floor of the Wells Fargo Center.

Overall, the Hawks were the better playoff team. Though relatively young and inexperienced, they demonstrated more resolve in the face of adversity, overcoming a hostile road environment and a seemingly insurmountable deficit while sharpshooters Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter were relegated to the bench due to foul trouble. Whereas the Sixers reserves were more or less missing in action, Hawks super sub Lou Williams torched his former team to the tune of 15 points, most of which came during the 4th quarter comeback. Danilo Gallinari added 16 to the cause. The Sixers, on the other hand, received a grand total of 13 points from their bench players.

And yet…

As I watched the bitter end of Game 5, I thought back to a quote Brett Favre offered to Sports Illustrated, which had named him their 2007 Sportsman of the Year. In the accompanying piece, Favre asserted:

“Those times when I’ve been down, when I’ve been kicked around, I hold on to those. In a way those are the best times I’ve ever had, because that’s when I’ve found out who I am. And what I want to be.”

The Hawks held up a mirror to the Sixers last night, and the reflection was one of a soft team that enjoyed the ride of the regular season, but lacks the mettle to make a deep postseason run.

Narratives in the sports world, however, are as permanent as a sand castle built along the water’s edge at low tide. The fate of the Philadelphia 76ers’ 2020-21 season is not sealed, no matter what the doomsayers and the hot take artists might say. They are more than capable of winning the final two games of the series and advancing to the next challenge.

Champions endure. Paper tigers fold at the first moment of crisis.

The time for trusting the process is over, and now is the time for choosing.

What do the 76ers want to be?