UPDATE: Brian Anderson reached out on Twitter and offered up the following apology for his omission. He didn't have to apologize (at all), and I respect him for doing so. In other words, make sure you take it easy on him, Philly.
FROM EARLIER
During Tuesday night's broadcast of Game 5 between the Sixers and Heat, the crew over on TNT dropped a knowledge bomb that has dramatically altered my perception of the Sixers, their front office and, well, reality itself.
Like, did you know Bryan Colangelo is actually the one who created The Process™ in Philly? It's true, at least according to TNT play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson. And that's impressive considering he didn't arrive here until its third year and is at least partially responsible for ousting the guy who actually started the Sixers on their current path, back when Colangelo was still on his way out in Toronto.
With the Sixers up 15 in the fourth quarter of a close-out game, Anderson and his broadcast partner, Kevin McHale, were talking about the Sixers' impressive turnaround from 10-72 in 2015-16 to 50-32 this season.
Naturally, they began talking about The Process, and well, have a listen for yourself.
You heard that correctly – he said Bryan Colangelo "orchestrated The Process."
Uh, what?
If the NBA has turned Sam Hinkie into a basketball Voldemort and forbids his name from even being spoken out loud, that's one thing. But credit the players who suffered through it. Credit the coaches who didn't give up. Credit the fans who never lost faith – and even the ones who did, but decided to come back anyway. Just don't credit Bryan Colangelo, who was brought in here to save the organization from Hinkie's tanking but instead is taking the credit for it.
It's not that Colangelo has necessarily done anything to totally derail the rebuild – and his in-season additions of Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova are big reasons the Sixers made such quick work of the Heat – but, I mean, seriously? It's one thing to give him credit for sticking with Brown and, at least for the most part, continuing The Process that Hinkie started. But to say he "orchestrated" it? Come on.
Aside from that being just flat out wrong, it's also a straight slap in the face to a guy who, with each milestone the Sixers pass, is looking more and more like a prophetic martyr than the socially awkward nerd he was painted as by many in the media.
And it's going to hurt even more when Colangelo is rewarded by winning his third executive of the year award, all while Sam Hinkie can't even get his name mentioned on a national NBA broadcast, let alone a front office job.
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