By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
One of the most important questions thus far of the Bryan Colangelo era has been answered: namely, who the Sixers will send to New York as the team’s representative for next Tuesday night’s NBA draft lottery. While many figured Hall-of-Fame class of 2016 member Allen Iverson to be a likely candidate, perhaps the organization felt he’d been trotted out enough over the past few months. Joel Embiid had a grass-roots movement for his selection, but it’s probably for the best that he sticks to rehabbing and staying out of the public eye until he can play in an actual game.
Instead, head coach Brett Brown will take the dais, the first time the Sixers are sending their coach since John Lucas just over 10 years ago. His selection represents a very savvy bit of public relations work from the front office following the Hinkie departure and blowback from a section of the fanbase. Sending Brown seals the front office’s commitment to him as the head coach for the foreseeable future, whether or not Mike D’Antoni takes another job this offseason. Even those Sixers fans who were anti-Process would have been upset with Brown getting the heave-ho after serving (with a smile) as the external spokesman for the front office over the past three years of losing.
Brett will be taking his son Sam with him, another cool family bonding experience for a kid who Brett takes to playgrounds in Philadelphia to cut his teeth on the court. It’s just like Jerry Colangelo bringing his kid with him to Philadelphia (sorry)! After keeping spirits (mostly) high on the roster in the midst of an extremely difficult situation these past few years, Brett deserves to have a front-row seat for the Sixers finally getting some ping pong ball luck. Hopefully, we’ll all get to see him celebrate a top-two pick.
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