The Sixers decided to kick off their hump day with some fairly substantial news. CEO Scott O’Neil is stepping down after eight years to pursue new opportunities.
His tenure as CEO has been an eventful one. O’Neil has been in the middle of plenty of controversial debates. From the firing of Sam Hinkie to the beginning and end of the Colangelo era, Harris has at the very least played a part in turning the Sixers franchise around and will leave his position with the team being firm contenders in the Eastern Conference.
The Sixers released the following statement:
“I would like to thank Josh Harris and David Blitzer for inspiring, engaging and empowering me to bring together the most talented executive team in sports and entertainment,” O’Neil said via the team’s official press release. “Josh and David are extraordinary leaders, partners and friends. Their commitment to our teams, brands, employees – and most importantly – their commitment to serving the City of Philadelphia, Newark and Camden – made our success together possible. To be trusted with the opportunity to steward epic brands – as well as buy, build, integrate, acquire, and grow complimentary businesses to create HBSE as it is today – has been the ride of a lifetime, one for which I am humbled and grateful.”
“HBSE is the best organization I have ever been a part of, with the highest degree of difficulty I have ever encountered, and the most fun I have ever had, because every day brought a new opportunity to learn and develop. This company has grown through a culture of extraordinary teammates willing to be innovative, having the discipline to do the work, and a courage to lead from the front. While I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my time here, I am even more excited to build, grow, and drive my next platform.”
“Scott has accomplished so much on behalf of the organization in a relatively short amount of time, driving our growth, culture, and commitment to strengthening the communities in which we live, work, play, and win,” said HBSE Co-Founder Josh Harris. “I cannot overstate how much we value Scott’s enormous contributions to the company and how grateful I am for his leadership and partnership in creating a best-in-class culture at HBSE. We know he will find great success in whatever he chooses to accomplish in the future, and we will always be among his biggest advocates.”
“We are immensely grateful to Scott for his partnership over these past eight years of unprecedented growth,” said HBSE Co-Founder David Blitzer. “His ambition, strategic outlook, and innovative mindset have been and will continue to be instrumental to the long-term success of our business. On behalf of everyone at HBSE, we thank Scott for his transformational leadership, drive and passion, and we look forward to celebrating his future successes.”
O’Neil helped the Sixers become a pioneer on the esports front and aided the construction of the team’s new training complex on top of his duties and whether or not he’ll go down as an owner that was loved by fans or not, his work in Philadelphia absolutely has to be respected. It will be very interesting to see how the franchise will look to fill a role that was previously incredibly stable, especially considering how important this offseason projects to be.
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