On Wednesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweeted that the Chicago Bulls had interviewed a certain former Philadelphia 76ers exec. Guess which one?
All we’ve done for weeks is talk about coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemics and a suspended NBA season. One franchise has decided enough is enough, and they’ve injected some comedy into the mix. That’s right, while we sit home and contemplate our mortality and what it all means, the Chicago Bulls are out there doing what needs to be done for our collective sanity.
They are heroes in a dark and dangerous time.
On Wednesday (was it Wednesday? There’s almost no way to tell for sure these days), Shams Charania of The Athletic tweeted the following:
The Bulls interviewed former 76ers president Bryan Colangelo for top basketball operations position, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Colangelo also has been lead executive in Toronto and Phoenix.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 8, 2020
That’s right, the Chicago Bulls have un-blackballed a former Philadelphia 76ers executive. Mind you, they un-blackballed the wrong one (free Sam Hinkie), but it’s noble work they’ve done nonetheless.
For those who don’t recall, Bryan Colangelo was brought in by the Sixers to essentially sideline Sam Hinkie at the height of The Process, the controversial rebuilding strategy that revolved around losing a lot and maximizing draft assets.
Colangelo didn’t have the same acumen for asset maximization and was led like a lamb to the slaughter by the Boston Celtics in the 2017 NBA Draft, flipping the third overall pick and future considerations with the Celtics for the first pick. The Celtics wanted Jayson Tatum, who they were confident they could get at three, and the Sixers wanted Markelle Fultz enough to move mountains.
Both teams got their man. Tatum is a superstar in the making and Fultz has had a troubled journey and now plays for the Orlando Magic.
Asset management aside, it appears Colangelo was a bit too talkative at home and his wife, Barbara Bottini, had talkative fingers and Twitter burner accounts at her disposal. To make a very long story short, he told her too much, she tweeted it out and after internet sleuths got wise, an internal investigation by the Sixers revealed everything.
He was dismissed in 2018 and has been on the sidelines waiting for his next NBA gig. Whether that’s with the Chicago Bulls or not remains to be seen, but Bryan Colangelo being in the first round of interviews is an absolute delight to all of us who enjoyed the chaos and absurdity of the disaster that chapter in Philadelphia 76ers history ended up being.
Good luck to all parties, we’ll be eagerly watching.