Sep 27, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers general manger Sam Hinkie answers questions during media day at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
A Day in the Life of Sam Hinkie: Theory I
8:30 am – Arrive at Wells Fargo office to start tanking some more. Just what does this guy do all day? He can’t be terribly busy right?
8:35 am – Thinks about ways to disrupt the fan base. It’s not hard work to upset relics from the era of Chamberlain and Robertson right? I mean tanking takes no effort and so does piling up picks while clearing cap space, correct?
8:40 am – Projects a nightmare free agent scenario. How hard is it to lose on purpose by turning off free agents and their inclination to come to Philly? Is it incredibly difficult to wreck a basketball franchise and drive it into the ground?
8:45 am – Noon – Plans lunch while willy-nilly grabbing centers. Shedding the team of players that cannot get a playoff berth to grab a legit 7 footer or three must be easy. Saving the team money can’t be that difficult either. Turning over an All-Star and Rookie of the Year to get lottery slots while attaining Europe’s best player is again, easy.
1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Plays darts or trash can basketball. No research went into evaluating Robert Covington and Jerami Grant right? Isn’t cap flexibility something that all GM’s have?
3:35 pm – 5:00 pm – Contemplates a discussion with genius media or select fans that miss the ABA. When was the last 76ers title? How many have the Phillies won since 1883? Eagles? Have the Flyers been good since the 70’s?
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Leaving alone the rhetorical questions and flourishes found in the first three paragraphs let us now consider what Sam Hinkie might actually do all day and what he has accomplished so far in his current state of non-accomplishment.
Also love how they refuse to give Sam Hinkie credit for turning over a roster that was full of garbage when he took over.
— drew (@sixersruinedme) June 15, 2015
A Day in the Life of Sam Hinkie: Theory II
6:00 am – arrives in South Philly office, makes calls, checks messages, eats
6:30 am – plans the day with front office members to discuss everything from business matters to personnel issues
6:45 am – discusses state of the team’s approach and game plan whether it be practice day, game day, draft day, workout day, summer league
7:30 am – checks email and phone messages, makes more calls
8:00 am – talks with players and or coaches and the trainer
8:30 am – speaks with team owner about the status of the franchise
9:00 am – discusses matters with media relations coordinators
9:30 am – has a meeting about upcoming community events
10:00 am – follows up with coaches about the day’s events
Noon – by lunch have all the mandatory NBA player items and team updates emailed and sent to league officials for daily record and press outlets
1:00 pm – researches and plans salary structure, devise ways to ensure that 24 teams continue outspend the 76ers for the time being
1:30 pm – discusses roster management
2:00 pm – oversees scouting department and schedules the entire season while accounting for flexibility, becomes familiar with basketball landscape in all regions at all levels
2:30 pm – schedules flights and travel time, sees and discusses matters with doctors and league personnel
3:00 pm – oversees process of workouts and observes strength and conditioning
3:30 pm – makes deals and looks at contracts and sets up transactions
4:00 pm – takes a break and recharges for the rest of the day that involves refining the details from the aforementioned list, day could last until 1:00 am
This is course is my own speculation and I would venture to say that Hinkie’s day is much more complicated than even this.
The basic point is that I think if we stopped to think about the mad genius – instead of the just plain mad persona – we all might have more trust and faith in the process.
Like you, I hope it works.