Josh Harris just finished his press conference introducing Bryan “Lil’ Jerry” Colangelo as the President of Basketball Operations. How’d it go?

https://twitter.com/JakePavorsky/status/719235975281512449

Harris’ heart rate had to be through the roof, as he tried to sell the story that the now-stepped-down Jerry Colangelo had nothing to do with the fact that they just hired his son. Nope. Nothing at all. Josh probably didn’t even know they were related. Colangelo IS an incredibly common last name. “The reality is Bryan was head and shoulders above every other candidate,” Harris slithered. “The optics of it are something we’re now managing with you all … This was really my decision … I made the decision it was worth managing those optics.” What a coincidence!

Then, Harris tried to convince everyone that he was just totally surprised that Sam Hinkie resigned. Just shocked.

“We didn’t really lose faith in Sam,” Harris said. “We spent many months chatting with Sam about how to move the franchise to the next level, and I think we all agreed bringing in talent to make the organization better … to allow us to build a winning culture … we couldn’t agree on how to do that specifically and so Sam decided to leave.”

When asked how it was possible that Harris didn’t see Sam’s resignation coming, he deflected: “It’s hard for me to speak for Sam, I think you should talk to him about that.” Bryan Colangelo said it was “always the plan” to have Hinkie stay on when he came on, so at least he knows how to toe the company line.

To Colangelo’s credit, he hit every mark. He mentioned how important Hinkie’s work was. He preached development and analytics. He stressed making Philadelphia a destination for elite free agents. How this was all done is super slimy, but at least Colangelo was prepped for this presser and seemed in control. Harris was not.

For all of Sam Hinkie’s shortcomings, perhaps the biggest was that he didn’t know how to relate to people. But it’s beautifully rich that Josh Harris, who was sweating in his suit so much a migrant worker might have to craft him another one, didn’t seem prepared for people to have opinions – any opinions really – on what the Sixers have done.