April 07, 2016
Thinking back on the past three years with the guy who gave him an NBA head coaching job, Brett Brown will mostly remember the late nights at Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers head coach and Sam Hinkie closed down the building time and again, talking hoops and trying to figure out how they could one day become contenders. Together.
Make no mistake, there were arguments and disagreements. With the glaring lack of talent and experience that Hinkie left Brown to coach on a nightly basis, how could there not be? According to Brown, though, the mutual respect never went out the window.
Hinkie’s relationship with the rest of the restructured front office recently became untenable. And while Brown is disappointed to see Hinkie go so early in The Process, he’s also appreciative for the position that he left the Sixers in.
“I think all of us wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t say the hangover, the remnants left from the Sam Hinkie era, haven’t put the club as we see it with that left at the end of the year in very good shape to move us forward,” Brown said.
Brett Brown reacts the departure of Sam Hinkie pic.twitter.com/kwMVtggVnY
— Marc Narducci (@sjnard) April 7, 2016
Brown was caught off-guard by the timing of the news on Wednesday night when Sixers PR director Mike Preston informed him of Hinkie’s resignation while he was having dinner with his parents. Still, he said that the subject of Hinkie possibly leaving had come up in conversations since Colangelo was brought on.
Basically, Brown knew that Hinkie still a decision to make. He understood this outcome was a possibility.
“I knew that this was something he was weighing up,” Brown said. “We’ve talked freely for months about the whole thing.”
“Was Sam going to be collaborative? Was this something he was going to want to be a part of? That was always on the table. He never said yes I will, or no I won’t. It was always something he was weighing up.”
Brown has heard about the negotiations with Bryan Colangelo, and although he doesn’t know the former Raptors and Suns general well, he is aware that a lot of NBA people respect him. With the news not yet official, he didn’t want to say any more than that.
Regardless of who joins Jerry Colangelo in steering the ship, Brown doesn’t foresee a drastic change in plans. He believes that the Sixers are going to exercise some level of patience.
“It doesn’t mean things have been blown up,” Brown said. “It would be reckless for all of us to think, ‘Oh, here we go.’ It’s not going to be it. We’re committed to the path that we said we’re going to be on three years ago. We’re committed to that.”
It remains to be seen if that is the case, and the Sixers don’t appear like an organization hell-bent on patience at the moment. Brown believes his job is safe, but as for the direction of the team, what the Colangelos do with the “optionality” Hinkie has given them remains a mystery.
As for Hinkie’s decision, Brown understands. That doesn’t mean he isn't disappointed, though.
“I respect it, I understand it, but it doesn’t diminish my personal disappointment of not seeing this through with him,” Brown said.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
