“The first thing we had to determine, and we think we have a pretty good feel for this, is who’s really committed,” Colangelo said during a conference call. “Who’s really interested in moving forward with us. There are a lot of candidates on the Warriors who have indicated they wish to be part of it. So as we kind of watch this season, and this is not the secret sauce, but basically we have to monitor what’s happening during the course of the regular season in the NBA as it relates to injuries, as it relates to other circumstances that come up before we get down to really inviting the number of individuals that we plan to, to come to our camp next summer in preparation for the World Cup.”
Jerry Colangelo Rumors
It will be Colangelo and Gregg Popovich, who officially took over for Krzyzewski after the 2016 Rio Olympics, to choose those guys. Colangelo said there was initially an expectation on his part to step away from the program in 2016 along with Krzyzewski. But after Popovich said he would be willing to coach the team on one condition — that Colangelo stay at the helm — those plans changed. “So, in my mind, that gets me through 2020,” Colangelo said. “And then, we’ll see.”
In discussing the situation, Colangelo termed his own tenure in Philadelphia — with which he served as a special adviser — as over, before clarifying that it is “over at the end of the year.” A league source confirmed that account. While Colangelo is under contract through the end of this calendar year, and the 76ers will be honoring that contract, it won’t be renewed. It is an awkward ending to what was one of the stranger stories in recent NBA memory.
But U.S.A. Basketball officials are bracing for Leonard to invoke his right to pass on the non-mandatory sessions, as LeBron James and Stephen Curry have done, as he continues his recovery from the mysterious quadriceps injury that led to the unraveling of his relationship with the Spurs. Leonard, after all, might dread the glare of the spotlight more than Popovich. “He’s a maybe,” Colangelo said of Leonard’s attending the camp.
David Aldridge: Josh Harris doesn’t give a definitive answer about Chairman of BaskOps Jerry Colangelo’s future, (under contact through the end of 2018): “we’re going to be talking about it. But that’s not today’s issue…my respect for him is certainly not colored by this unfortunate situation.”
