The Inevitable Martyrdom Of Sam Hinkie
By Bret Stuter
Just Don’t Screw it Up!
In the end, the decision to impeach President Sam Hinkie happened back in December. From the moment the ownership reached out to one or both of the Colangelo’s, the deal was struck. Hinkie as truly on his way out, but accepted the “more voices” narrative at face value. However, the mechanics of reluctant saboteurs delayed “the Process” of Sam Hinkie’s removal as much as the mechanics of Hinkie’s “Process” had delayed the eventual translation into the team’s win column. To make the change, they needed time to understand the team, the strategy, and be ready to move in instantly. A particularly difficult matter to arrange when all principals were so reluctant to be involved.
As cozy of a positive situation that awaits new President Bryan Colangelo at the Philadelphia 76ers, the credit to the situation belongs entirely to Hinkie – the guy just removed. Most of the time, a bad general manager fights to improve the team in the short term to keep their job at the expense of the long term benefit of the team – much like the team’s situation when Hinkie arrived. But Hinkie played the hand dealt to him in the opposite direction. He sacrificed the short term for the long term benefit for the team.
And so, Bryan Colangelo’s role is a highly paid autopilot.
If he attempts to rework the roster into “his” roster, any negative results will be met with blood curdling outcries. If he attempts to change the head coach, the fan base will martyr Brett Brown and he will be cast into the villain role. If he tries to trade players, any mistake will be historically accounted for by his ineptness. And any success met in the NBA draft will be a direct result of Hinkie’s draft picks, while any miss will be taken as his ineptness.
Colangelo has one option – steady as she goes!
And why not? The team is sitting on a stockpile of draft picks, two former first round prospects who will likely join the team this season, and virtually everything Sam Hinkie began comes online this year. In short, Hinkie built this cruise ship but was fired before he could pilot her on the maiden voyage.
History is written from the memories, and it’s a fact that positive memories will outlast any negative ones. The folks that love to rant and hate? Eventually there will be some new head coach or NBA general manager to hate. The folks that supported Hinkie throughout the process? They will remember him fondly.
Eventually, some NBA team will be painted into the corner once more. Some ownership will eventually give Sam Hinkie the impossible task of rebuilding a franchise, only to balk at retaining him just as that ship is about to sail. But until then, his popularity will only grow now.
The NBA fixed the Sixers, and martyred Sam Hinkie in “The Process.”