The Philadelphia Sixers (1-28) are the NBA’s biggest embarrassment, and commissioner Adam Silver says he’s less-than thrilled with the years-long tanking strategy ownership and management have adopted.
The Sixers appear at last ready to start trying to win basketball games again.
Silver helped introduce the recently-hired Jerry Colangelo to team owner Josh Harris.
Per FiveThirtyEight:
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.”
Adam Silver: “There’s a resetting of sorts going on with the 76ers right now. And I think that ultimately may speak louder in the marketplace of teams than any tinkering we do to the draft lottery.”
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. Other owners were not pressuring him at all. In fact, it’s a weird dynamic in the league that while all the owners would like to see teams well operated, other owners just want to win (laughter). And so nobody was calling me and saying go call the 76ers and tell them how to beat us.”
