Colangelo steps down as 76ers president
76ers GM steps down amid Twitter scandal; Brown installed as interim head of basketball ops
CAMDEN, N.J. » The strengthening of Brett Brown’s stature within the 76ers’ organization continued Thursday when the head coach was assigned, on an interim basis, to direct all basketball operations.
That opening was created when the Sixers accepted the resignation of Bryan Colangelo after a thorough investigation into his reported connection to multiple, anonymous Twitter accounts known to be critical of Sixers players, coaches and decisions.
“It has become clear Bryan’s relationship with our team and his ability to lead the 76ers moving forward,” the Sixers said, in a statement, “has been compromised.”
In another Sixers-released statement, Colangelo expressed understanding that the incident,
“has become a distraction for the team,” though denying any allegation that he was “reckless.”
The study, commissioned by the Sixers, was conducted by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and raced the Twitter accounts to Colangelo’s wife, Barbara Bottini. That connection became too heavy for either side to bear, once the situation broke on the sports website, “The Ringer.”
According to Harris, the investigation concluded that, “Bryan Colangelo failed to safeguard sensitive, non-published, clubrelated information. Ultimately, Bryan offered his resignation realizing the detrimental way that these circumstances impacted our organization and his ability to do the job effectively.”
For that, Colangelo and the Sixers parted ways, and Brown, who recently signed a three-year extension as head coach, took temporary command of Josh Harris’ basketball operation. Harris said the Sixers would seek a permanent general manager, but that he was determined to “make the right choice, not the fast choice.” With the Sixers’ owner not sounding confident that the new hire would be in place by the June 21 NBA Draft, or even by the July 1 opening of the free-agent-signing period, that left Brown in charge of forming the 2018-2019 roster.
Since it was Brown who famously made an end-ofseason plea for the Sixers to add a least one more star, strongly implying but without naming the name that it should be free-agent-tobe LeBron James, his duties as a recruiter will be increased.
“I feel most strongly that when we go into a place with some of my coaches and we start bringing Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons in with me, as an example,” said Brown, at a press conference in the Sixers’ training complex, “that will be sufficient.”
Brown’s greatest task in attracting fresh talent could be to spread assurance that the Sixers’ organization is stable in the aftermath of a situation where the previous general manager was suspected of insulting players on the internet.
“Are we going to have to put out fires along the way?” Brown said. “You would assume that there are teams that could be competitive that would try to take shots. And we feel comfortable. I feel comfortable that we are equipped and we are armed with information and facts that we need to not let it be damaging.
“We all get how competitive the NBA marketplace is and free-agency is. And we’d all be quite naive to think we are just going to sail right through this. But I feel mostly when people study what we have to offer, that we will overcome it.”
The departure of Colangelo could blunt the Sixers’ ability to attract James, who has a deep connection to USA Basketball. Colangelo’s father, Jerry Colangelo, was the USA Basketball director during the 2008 Olympics. Jerry Colangelo briefly replaced Sam Hinkie as the Sixers’ general manager in 2015, before being replaced by his son in 2016. According to Harris, Jerry Colangelo has a consulting contract with the Sixers that runs until the end of this year. “Jerry was very respectful of our process,” Harris said.
With ample cap space and some recognizable young stars returning from a 52-win team that reached the second playoff round, the Sixers are facing an important offseason. They will have the 10th overall pick in the draft. Pressed Thursday, Harris admitted that Brown will have the leading basketball voice in the draft room, though he and fellow owner David Blitzer will maintain some veto power.
“This incredibly sad situation,” Brown said, “is not going to get the best of us as we move this program forward.”
Colangelo was instrumental in helping the Sixers grow to a 52-win team last season by successfully recruiting free-agent J.J. Redick and, around the trade deadline, acquiring veterans Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova. But his maneuver at the last draft to trade up to the top overall pick for the right to select Markelle Fultz has brought him criticism. Fultz played just 14 regular-season games and was benched for the secondround series against the Celtics, who were thriving with rookie Jayson Tatum, whom Colangelo chose not to select.
“Over the last two years, I have worked hard to help build a foundation for what I hope will soon be many championship seasons for the 76ers,” Colangelo said, in his statement. “I am grateful to team owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer for the opportunity they gave me to be part of such a great organization. I am saddened to have to leave under these circumstances.”
Harris did not delay in finding his interim replacement.
Brown already has begun to repair any damage.
“There was a level of uncertainty when it was first declared,” said Brown, of his conversations with his players. “When it first became public, there was certainly confusion. I have had the chance to speak to most of our players. And it was certainly an incredibly unfortunate situation that did confuse people. It confused our players. But we feel strong that the communication with our players has been achieved.”