When the Philadelphia 76ers hired Jerry Colangelo in a senior position as president of basketball operations, it was immediately assumed that then general manager Sam Hinkie would be fired, and Colangelo’s son, Bryan Colangelo, would soon follow to replace Hinkie. Instead, Hinkie stepped down from his position, making room for Bryan Colangelo to step in and be officially hired just four days later.
The way it all looks and sounds, you might start to think that Jerry Colangelo somehow premeditated and plotted he and his son’s insertion into the Philadelphia 76ers front office in Frank Underwood fashion. As a response to the conspirator’s perception, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made a point to remind the public that he was the one who initiated the idea to Colangelo about getting involved with Philly, not the other way around.
From Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer:
“His getting directly involved with the 76ers was in part due to my reaching out to Jerry,” Silver said. “Not because it was necessarily my idea that the 76ers needed an adviser. But once Josh Harris, the principal governor of the 76ers, said he would like to have a sounding board, someone with league experience, I was the one who connected him with Jerry Colangelo.
“I would say I feel a little bit of an obligation to defend Jerry here, because he was not looking for that opportunity.”
Colangelo could have only started thinking about his son joining him once he got into Philly. That’s not to accuse him of deliberately pushing Hinkie out, but Colangelo’s presence was something of an indicator that Hinkie’s publicized “process” was losing time to pan out. That could have been the case, as Silver did note that 76ers ownership came to him about adding someone with tenured league experience to their front office. Whether it was the intent or not, there had to be added pressure on Hinkie upon Colangelo’s arrival.
The opportunity presented itself for Jerry Colangelo to work with his son, and it somehow happened, but Adam Silver is trying to enforce that Jerry Colangelo did not Frank Underwood this thing.
