Tag: bryan colangelo

Former 76ers No. 3 pick Jahlil Okafor opens up about Colangelo scandal, bid to return to NBA

Playing for the G League’s Mexico City Capitanes, Okafor reflected on his time in Philly.

The evolution of the game away from bigs who feasted in the paint and toward small ball taking off at almost exactly the moment former Philadelphia 76ers No. 3 pick Jahlil Okafor came into the league did the Duke alumnus no favors.

But it probably did not help Okafor’s career that his team’s general manager at the time, Bryan Colangelo, found himself embroiled in scandal once it was revealed Colangelo had been using a secret Twitter account to attack him, fellow Sixers big man Joel Embiid, and the prior Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie, either. After the scandal fallout created an untenable situation, the 76ers dealt him to the Brooklyn Nets.

While it might not have seemed like it at the time, it helped set in motion the path that ultimately saw Okafor’s opportunities diminish as the league’s style of play underwent a tectonic shift.

Report: Alex Rucker not expected to return to Sixers front office in 2021

Alex Rucker is not expected to be a part of the front office of the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2020-21 season.

The Philadelphia 76ers are coming off a really tough 2019-20 season where they did not come anywhere close to the expectations they set out for themselves. A season such as this one brings a lot of changes to an organization that is starved for a championship.

The first domino to fall was coach Brett Brown who was fired on August 24 after seven seasons in Philadelphia. However, the team did not want to stop just there as general manager Elton Brand signaled a front office adjustment saying that he would like more basketball minds in the organization.

Brand said in his press conference:

“Since I’ve taken a deep dive on where we failed, what went wrong, and how we get better, I felt like we need to strengthen our organization from top to bottom and that starts with the front office,” explained Brand on Tuesday. “Balancing our strengths with analytics and strategy with more basketball minds.”

Now, according to a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, the Sixers will not be bringing back Alex Rucker who is the Executive VP of Basketball Operations.

Pompey:

Multiple league sources don’t expect executive vice president of basketball operations Alex Rucker to be back next season. Brand has received a lot of criticism for the Sixers’ shortcomings and poor decisions. However, Rucker has been heavily involved behind the scenes in a lot of the decision-making, according to sources. Philly originally hired him as VP of analytics and strategy in October 2016 after seven years as the Toronto Raptors’ senior analytics consultant.

The Sixers are a team that does a lot of focusing on analytics, however, there comes a time where pure basketball instinct needs to take over. Rucker is also a holdover from the Bryan Colangelo era so Brand could be making a move to get more of his guys in the front office and have everybody on the same page. [lawrence-related id=37519,37516,37513]

I knew little about Johnson when I …

I knew little about Johnson when I first saw him in Ottawa. He was sporting a very tame fauxhawk — shaved on the sides and back, a shortish patch of hair running through the middle of his dome. At the time, Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo traditionally held a dinner at training camp for the travelling media. At The Keg in ByWard Market, I told Colangelo that I thought Johnson’s haircut was interesting. Colangelo suggested that it would be a good look for me.

At the time, I had an unfortunate …

And so it was at the Raven’s Nest Gym …

And so it was at the Raven’s Nest Gym at Carleton — capacity, 1,500 people — Johnson came up to me snipping scissors in the air, before giving way to an actual barber. (Johnson donated some money. He was, and remains, a proper mensch.) I was nervous, sure, but my main memory is one of awkwardness. None of the fans who attended the scrimmage seemed to have any idea why this was happening. It was just very quiet. I think they would have preferred seeing The Raptor do some dunks off a trampoline. The haircut took longer than expected, and I could not see most of the second half, as they moved the proceedings from centre court to a corner of the arena once play re-started. Man, if something interesting happened in an intrasquad scrimmage for the first time, I would have been in trouble.

During his time in Philadelphia, …

During his time in Philadelphia, Colangelo was caught up in a bizarre Twitter “burner” account scandal. It led to his resignation. Almost simultaneously, he disappeared from the public eye. At the time, an investigation by American sports and pop culture website The Ringer revealed five Twitter accounts that were critical of 76ers players, other NBA executives and released sensitive team information. Colangelo’s wife admitted to running three of the accounts.

“I haven’t addressed it very much over …

“I haven’t addressed it very much over the course of the last two years. I have stayed very much under the radar on the topic because it’s a sensitive topic, for a lot of reasons,” Colangelo said. “Family, personal, professional, or otherwise. I have to say I was dealt a pretty big blow, personally and professionally. And it’s been a difficult time dealing with the fallout. I was completely blindsided by the accusation and the storyline of the controversy.”

Bryan Colangelo: “Once that …

Bryan Colangelo: “Once that investigation was completed and I was absolved, I felt the appropriate thing to do – in conjunction with ownership there in Philly – was to mutually walk away. It was a difficult decision and a difficult time for me. But I have to say, it was a very, very difficult time for my family. Because of some of the reasons that came to light, it was something I thought was important not to talk about, quite frankly. And we’re still dealing with that. But the No.1 thing I thought needed to happen was trying to stay positive; preserve and love my family, protect their interests, emotionally or otherwise. And frankly, two years on, it’s gone. It’s in the past and I’m ready to move on.”

NBL passes on LaMelo Ball, sells Illawarra Hawks to Bryan Colangelo

After extended discussions with LaMelo Ball, the NBL opted to sell the Illawarra Hawks to a group featuring former Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo.

The long-lasting tale of the sale of the Illawarra Hawks finally came to an end on Tuesday as the NBL announced the franchise would be sold to an ownership group featuring former Philadelphia 76ers GM Bryan Colangelo. A consortium led by LaMelo Ball was long considered the front-runner to purchase the franchise.

A statement from Colangelo was included in the league’s press release on the announcement.

“We are thrilled to be selected as new partners with the league and pledge to outperform the expectations placed on us and deliver for Hawks fans. Australian basketball with its great history has been on a significant rise for many years now and the NBL has played a significant role in growing the sport’s awareness and participation levels, while developing some of the best athlete and coaching talent the world has to offer.”

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Ball’s group and the league had “serious discussions” about the sale of the team but a deal “never materialized.” Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, the last report indicated that Ball’s group was closing in on a deal.

The saga as to whether Ball’s group would be able to buy the franchise dates back to early April when Jermaine Jackson, Ball’s manager, jumped the gun and told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony that they had completed a deal to buy the Hawks. Both sides then walked back the claims and were never able to come to an agreement on a deal after that point.

Interestingly, the new ownership group intends to remove the name Illawarra from the name of the team. The team will be known simply as the Hawks moving forward.

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