Angelo Cataldi: Won't Sam Hinkie Think of the Children?

“Sigh.”

One time just wasn’t enough. So Angelo Cataldi once again dedicated his Philly Voice column to decrying Sam Hinkie and his “plan” or “process” or whatever you want to call it. This time, he took the same point of view that weirdos do when they try to ban curse words in music and boobs on TV: Won’t anyone think of the children?

The little boy with a Michael Carter-Williams jersey will never understand why his favorite player is not a Sixer anymore. How are we supposed to explain to a child what “optionality” is?

Hand him a fucking dictionary. Or, trust that your kid is smart enough to understand this: Michael Carter-Williams was good, but he wasn’t great, and the Sixers are trying to build something great. They saw an opportunity to turn MCW — and his inflated value — into something great. They took it.

But Cataldi continues, misunderstanding even more. “Analytics is theoretical,” he says. “Real life is not.” If anything (and I am honestly so tired of defending analytics against people who just don’t get it and won’t even try), analytics are real life. They are the analysis of statistics for things that actually happened. They do not predict the future or attempt to do so. They analyze what has already happened. These “real life” things like grit and work ethic and potential are, in reality, much more theoretical. Cataldi is basically saying pay not attention to the stats behind the curtain, instead let gut instinct or emotion rule how you run a sports team.

Cataldi complains that Hinkie doesn’t know who he’ll draft this year because he “doesn’t know where he will pick in the lottery this year.” Congratulations, Angelo, you understand what a draft lottery is. Welcome to the NBA. But it all comes back to the children, right?

The father of the little boy with a Michael Carter-Williams jersey called my WIP radio show last Friday. He doesn’t understand at all what Sam Hinkie is trying to do.

“What do I tell my son?” he asked me. “What am I supposed to do now?”

What are you supposed to do now? Tell your son MCW was traded and that shit happens.