Jerry Colangelo brings instant credibility to the 76ers while also being the new point man for the team’s efforts to land free agents.
Under general manager Sam Hinkie, the Sixers' total emphasis has been on the draft and using the “Oklahoma City model” to rebuild the team — not that Hinkie has come close to duplicating what GM Sam Presti has done with the Thunder.
The painfully glacial pace of Hinkie’s efforts and the continued losing due to a roster lacking in talent hasn’t made the league or several owners happy. But prize rookie Jahlil Okafor’s recent off-court troubles, alarmingly captured on video, proved to be the tipping point that prompted the league to have Sixers owner Josh Harris call Colangelo and bring him on as chairman of basketball operations, people in the NBA industry told Sporting News.
MORE: The deeper movite for NBA owners pushing for Colangelo
For the league to step in when a team becomes the source of embarrassment is nothing new. It acted similarly in 2008 when Isiah Thomas was running the Knicks into the ground. David Stern hated the losing going on right down the street from the NBA headquarters, but he didn’t feel the need to step in and take action until Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan and Thomas became embroiled in a high-profile sex harassment lawsuit that ended with a federal jury ruling against Thomas, with Dolan having to pay $11.6 million in punitive damages to former team exec Anucha Browne Sanders. In the aftermath, Stern used his clout to coerce Dolan to bring on Donnie Walsh, the former Indiana GM, and, like Colangelo, another accomplished basketball executive with strong league ties, to clean up Thomas’ mess.
As Suns founder and owner for close to 40 years, Colangelo never built his teams using the Oklahoma City method. He liked to wheel and deal and sign free agents, as he did in rebuilding the Suns into title contenders several times.
“One year, we really backed up the truck when we traded our star player, Larry Nance, to Cleveland,” Colangelo said on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “That’s when we got Kevin Johnson, Mark West, Ty Corbin and then we went out and made a big free-agent signing with Tom Chambers, who was an all-star and MVP of the All-Star Game. We went right from 28 to 55 wins and got to the Western Conference Finals right away. So I have to admit, this way is a little different for me. My nature is that I’m a competitor and I want to win, today. That’s how I’ve always been.”
MORE: NBA scout breaks down the best rookies in this class
League officials believe that Colangelo will bring a much-needed sense of urgency, with the Sixers probably becoming more aggressive in acquiring a proven point guard and veterans to teach their young players like Okafor how to be professionals.
“This is a major change in course,” one long-time NBA executive said.
Colangelo knows he can help attract free agents. “I’ve got a lot of connections throughout the league from my four-plus decades in the NBA as an owner," he said. "I have great relationships with many agents. So I think that will help because there’s been something of a void in that regard with the team. That’s one of the areas I can help.”
Whether it was running the Suns or Team USA, Colangelo has always operated as the lone decision-maker. He demanded full autonomy when he agreed to head Team USA, famously telling his superiors, “there will be no committees, there will be no politics.” No one can argue with the results. Under Colangelo, playing for the U.S. once again became very attractive for superstars like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant. Because of Colangelo, they caught Team USA fever. Behind his unwavering efforts, the U.S. recovered from the bronze-medal fiasco of 2004 in Athens and will enter the 2016 Summer Games as the two-time defending gold medal champs.
Based on his history, several league observers believe that Colangelo will ultimately wield the power in Philly when all is said and done. For now, he’s the new face of the franchise and a welcome one at that.
Slam dunks ...
• Sources close to Kevin McHale say he told James Harden last summer that he wanted the 2015 MVP runner-up to come back this season and start taking the defensive end more seriously. Harden told McHale that he needed to conserve his energy for the offensive end and voiced those same sentiments to owner Les Alexander, who had no problem with Harden’s stance. No wonder McHale lasted only 11 games.
• Sixers owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer recently became major investors in the Crystal Palace Football Club in London, in part to get to know the market for their plan to buy an NFL team that will be based in London, according to industry sources. Harris and Blitzer now are two of the soccer team’s largest shareholders. The NFL has no timetable to place a team in London, but the two Sixers owners are expected to be in competition with the Jacksonvile Jaguars, who play in London regularly.
• It’s not a good look for the NBA when LeBron James takes the night off in Miami for rest, albeit on the back end of a back-to-back, then spends the game on the bench yukking it up and hardly looking like he needs the game off. Then to top it off, he’s later seen gallivanting around at some South Beach hotspots. The easiest way for the league to put an end to the rest nonsense? If a player sits out a game on the road explicitly to get rest, he then would be required to miss the next home game, too. If you notice, almost nobody ever rests for home games.
• You know who misses Tom Thibodeau’s detailed preparation for games and overall coaching acumen? More than a few of the same Bulls players he supposedly wore out by playing too many minutes through the years. They’re saying it very quietly, though, in deference to rookie coach Fred Hoiberg.
