I understand what the Philadelphia 76ers are trying to do.

Let’s get that out of the way now. There is a knee-jerk reaction among Sixers fans whenever you criticize what the team has been doing over the last few years, where they assume you just don’t “understand the process.” I understand the process. I understand it completely. The NBA is a league where it doesn’t make sense to be middling. Going for the 8-seed is pointless, and can mire you in years of mediocrity.

It’s better to lose a lot, stockpile assets and talented young players, try to land a big star, and then go and win titles for a decade. I understand what the Sixers are doing. I do.

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But Philadelphia lost its 16th straight game of the season on Wednesday night, a heartbreaking result against a Celtics team that somehow managed to win a game it had no business winning. It’s the 26th straight loss overall for the Sixers. On Wednesday night, the team became the sixth team in NBA history to start 0-16.

And at a certain point, this amount of losing, no matter what the process, no matter what the long-term goal, can’t be good for an organization. It can’t be good for young players’ psyches. These guys have been winners their entire lives. Stars. You don’t make the NBA unless you are one.

And now, after a lifetime of winning, to be put on a team and told to work hard and trust the process and lose 16 games in a row, that has to be difficult. You could see it in the Sixers’ faces after Boston managed to force a few turnovers late and win. They looked despondent. Hopeless.

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I know it’s impossible to measure hopelessness with analytics, so some NBA fans will dismiss this entirely. That’s fine. I know what I saw. I know what it looks like to not have fun playing basketball. These players have been asked to lose, and lose and lose, and trust the process.

But at a certain point the process becomes toxic. Losing becomes a part of the team. The thought has always been to amass enough assets to go and get a star, but what star is going to the 76ers? What free agent would ever want to go there, to feel what these guys are feeling? How can you trust a process that looks so miserable?

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe this will be the year. Maybe the Sixers will win four games all season, win the draft lottery, take Ben Simmons, and he’ll come in and save the franchise. Joel Embiid will get healthy and Nerlens Noel will start having fun and Jahlil Okafor will turn into the next dominant post player in the league. Or they’ll trade all of them and convince Kevin Durant that his future is in Philadelphia.

Who knows? But at a certain point, losing stops becoming part of the process and takes over the process. Philadelphia fans have been extraordinarily patient with their GM Sam Hinkie. Beyond patient. They should be commended for it. But I don’t know if trusting the process is right anymore. At some point, you can’t just have assets and work ethic. At some point, these players have to know what it feels like to win, or they’re all going to leave as soon as possible.