Morey after leaving the Rockets got both a clean slate with the 76ers and eventually G James HardenGetty Images
76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey “might be the most polarizing decision-maker in the NBA, if not all of sports,” whether because of his "data-driven philosophy or his outspokenness on social media," according to Kevin O’Connor of THE RINGER. Morey “accelerated the use of analytics in basketball with the Rockets," and other teams “followed suit.” Morey is “objectively one of the winningest general managers” in NBA history, but has yet to win a championship. Morey got “his foot in the door” of the NBA when Celtics Managing Partner & CEO Wyc Grousbeck hired him in 2002 as SVP/Operations. He came in as a “problem-solver -- assessing ticket sales, item pricing in the arena, and anything else to do with data.” After Morey stepped away from the Rockets in 2020, there were “rumblings around the NBA” that he “might dabble in sports media, or focus entirely on the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference that he cofounded.” Morey got “both a clean slate in Philadelphia and, eventually, his man” in G James Harden. Morey has been “losing more and more of his trusted advisers,” with Sam Hinkie “becoming the first major hire from his tree” when the 76ers named him GM in 2013. Rockets GM Rafael Stone, former T'Wolves President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas, T’Wolves Exec VP/Basketball Operations Sachin Gupta, Kings GM Monte McNair and Bulls EVP/Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas have all worked under Morey. Other "disciples have loud voices across the league," and young execs “hope they’ll someday be next in line after spending time in Morey’s front offices” (THE RINGER, 10/17).
BROTHERLY LOVE: In Philadelphia, Gina Mizell notes superstars’ performances “overwhelmingly determine who wins NBA championships,” meaning the 2022-23 Sixers will go as far as the first full season of C Joel Embiid and Harden can take them in “a vaunted top of the Eastern Conference.” It has been “less than nine months” since the Sixers pulled off the blockbuster deadline trade for Harden to “become the new running mate for Embiid” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/18).
