Sam Hinkie says he is still the person leading the Sixers

What an incredible week that the Philadelphia 76ers just had, even if we still don’t know what all of it really means.

Brett Brown just spoke about his contract extension down at the arena with Sam Hinkie, while the team’s general manager, in a move that is completely out of character, also recently sat down with ESPN’s Zach Lowe to talk about The Process. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised Howard Eskin didn’t get the call.

The whole article is essential reading for Sixers fans. While many people around the league already assume that Colangelo has jumped Hinkie in the basketball operations hierarchy, that isn’t how Hinkie sees it:

Hinkie has no plans to step down, and remains confident in his power. "Our owners made it very clear they want me leading us long-term," Hinkie says. "Adding one more voice will make the conversation richer. Might it be challenging at times? I'm sure it will be. But making big decisions shouldn't be easy -- it shouldn't be that you have an idea, and you get to execute it without anyone questioning it."

To be clear, Lowe didn’t report this was the case (he even mentioned the ol’ Bryan Colangelo possibility). As I wrote the other day, I think we need some time to see how this all plays out before assuming anything. 

There is a lot of other information in that article — An additional veteran (maybe Elton Brand) could be on the team before Christmas, Sixers doctors thought Kendall Marshall would be back by opening night (bad miss, if so) — but again, you should click on it and read.


Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann