Philadelphia 76ers Locker Room Not All Fun Games
By Bret Stuter
Business is Business
Whether you side with a player in his contract year trying to showcase his stuff, or side with a team trying to be fair to all of the players, it’s an eroding situation and it’s only getting worse. The problem is, this should not be happening. Part of the reason ownership wanted a change of direction was to improve communication.
But communication is the last thing coming out of the Philadelphia 76ers front office now.
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The NBA is a business, and has always been such. Perhaps Philadelphia forgot that. It was easy to do with the way that Sam Hinkie conducted the business, making it “feel” like a chess game. It certainly was not a business decision which compelled the Philadelphia 76ers invested two years, the world’s best expertise, and international trips to rehab Joel Embiid’s foot. It was an understanding that getting ahead meant an occasional step backwards.
But not everyone saw it that way. The “unspoken rules” of the NBA dictate that players go for the ring, the money, the chance to play quality minutes, and the opportunity to mentor rookies.
Likewise, the front office plays by it’s own set of rules. Deals must yield results in the present tense. Transactions must yield a higher risk to one team, but the higher risk alternates on the next transaction. But Sam Hinkie dealt to win 100 percent of the time, but took years to realize value.
In the end, the NBA wanted the 76ers to change. Bryan Colangelo was that change.