December 08, 2015
More than one national basketball writer is reporting that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver helped bring Jerry Colangelo and the Philadelphia 76ers together. First, it was Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today:
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had a significant hand in Philadelphia’s decision to hire Colangelo and placed a call to Colangelo to gauge his interest, two people familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.
Don’t mistake this as a PR move or a consultation role. The 76ers hired Colangelo to rebuild the team faster than Hinkie.
Over at ESPN.com, Brian Windhorst writes that NBA owners have been petitioning the league to step in for over a year:
Since the summer of 2014, NBA owners have been lobbying the league's front office to step in with regard to the direction of the Philadelphia 76ers, sources told ESPN.com on Monday night. It was that effort that helped lead to the hiring of Jerry Colangelo to a senior position earlier Monday, the sources said.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver was instrumental in forming the partnership between Colangelo and 76ers owner Joshua Harris, according to the sources.
Windhorst reported that the owners “complained about the economic drag the 76ers were inflicting on the league.” Like Zillgitt, Windhorst believes (or more accurately, has sources that believe) Colangelo will have more power than was initially let on during Monday’s press conference.
If that does turn out to be true (and remember, I'm not saying will), Hinkie’s future with the organization seems tenuous at best. With Colangelo being 76-years old, Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski floated a name you will probably hear more than once in the next few days as a potential Hinkie replacement if he does get let go:
It is immediately unclear how long Hinkie will want to stay on the job with reduced power in the organization, and several league executives were already wondering on Monday if Colangelo would eventually persuade ownership to hire his son, Bryan, a former general manager with the Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns, into a high-ranking team position.
While these are certainly some of the most respected newsbreakers in the game, it should be noted that the Sixers were able to keep the Colangelo news under wraps until he walked up to the podium next to Harris and Hinkie.
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