Fallout from the resignation of former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie continues, with the team's current head coach, Brett Brown, making some interesting statements in a radio spot this morning.
Appearing on "NBA Weekend" with Brian Geltzeiler & Mitch Lawrence, Brown said that he wasn't surprised by Hinkie's resignation.
Audio – 76ers Head Coach, Brett Brown on Sam Hinkie's resignation "It didn't catch me off guard" – https://t.co/bfa30ZZO1T
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) April 9, 2016
"Trying to grow help in the front office and trying to identify talent in the front-office to help move our program forward had been discussed for the past three months. And so how Sam chose to react to this and have a desire to work with this was always on the table. It was something that didn't catch me off guard, his resignation."
Brown suggesting that the Sixers had been talking about potential options to realign the front-office for three months suggests that fairly soon after Jerry Colangelo joined the organization — he came in December, talk began of potentially bringing in someone to serve as a co-general manager or changing Hinkie's role altogether. So for as much of a rash decision as Hinkie's resignation seemed like, it may have actually been fairly well thought out.
Brown did note that what caught him off guard is the 'manner' in which his resignation became public.
"I think that the manner that it was delivered caught me off guard. I did not know it was going to be delivered that evening, but we had talked about it."
Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical reported Thursday that Hinkie may too have been caught off guard with how quickly news of his resignation became public. Wojnarowski reported that Hinkie resigned Wednesday afternoon, expecting that the team would be in touch with him to help make the news public. Instead, per the report, Hinkie believes that Colangelo leaked the letter, with ESPN's Marc Stein breaking the story and eventually publishing his now infamous 13-page resignation letter in its entirety.
As for Brown's future with the team, the coach signed a two-year extension after Colangelo joined the organization, and the Sixers have him signed through the 2018-19 campaign. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported after Hinkie's resignation that Brown's future with the team is still considered 'safe'.
Various reports have indicated that the Sixers will hold some sort of press conference Sunday, though exact details of who will be present at the press conference and what the main topic discussed will be are unknown.
Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) is an Editorial Assistant for Sixerdelphia.com.
