PHL Anon
The Sixers are a steaming pile of dog shit right now, they lost control of they players, agents hate our GM, and we’ve had to hire two new outside basketball minds in the last two weeks, and are looking into hiring ex-players to be mentors to our roster. So, what does Adam Silver think about everything going on in Philly? The NBA commissioner joined the podcast, “Hot Takedown”, for a conversation about the state of the NBA. Of course that means the Sixers were brought up, as everyone has an opinion on our mess.
Silver spoke about how the marketplace is providing the biggest pressure on teams like Philadelphia, because “losing comes at an enormous cost.” Silver said that he sees a “resetting of sorts” with the our team. He also continued to deny that he had any “intervening role” with the Sixers hiring Jerry Colangelo.
Here are his exact thoughts on what the Sixers are doing courtesy of FiveThirtyEight.com
Neil Paine: Are you personally, as the commissioner, OK with the way that the 76ers have run their franchise the past three seasons?
Adam Silver: I don’t want to answer that directly. As I said, there’s a marketplace of ideas and approaches that go into managing a franchise.
Am I fan of that strategy? Put it this way: No. But does that mean that it’s not acceptable under the league rules? It doesn’t.
What’re his thoughts on someone stepping in to stop the tanking?
Chadwick Matlin: I’m interested about when you do step in as a commissioner. You’re basically the CEO of a big multibillion-dollar corporation. At what point is it your responsibility to intervene if one of your franchises is not performing in a way that represents the league?
Adam Silver: Well, I would say that there’s lots of different ways of so-called “stepping in.” There’s also cajoling and ongoing conversations that I have with owners, with team presidents, with general managers, where I’m expressing my opinion.
Did he step in on behalf of the NBA to council the Sixers?
Chadwick Matlin: Anonymous reports suggested that you stepped in and pushed for the hiring of Jerry Colangelo] due to owners who wanted the situation in Philadelphia changed. Are those reports correct?
Adam Silver: Those reports are not correct. Josh Harris, who’s the principal owner of the 76ers, decided on his own that he needed to change course. He and I had many conversations along the way about the utility of the strategy that he was following. And he came to the conclusion once this season began, and he saw how his team was performing on the floor, that he needed to change his strategy.
What do you think about all of this? Let us know in the comments.