Thoughts on Sixers CEO Adam Aron

When the new ownership group took over during the Lockout months, there was a lot of talk about how Josh Harris has made his billion(s) by buying crappy things, shining them up real nice, and selling them for more money after a few profitable years. That seemed fine, but after cutting ticket prices in half, granting Thaddeus Young a new, slightly less-terrible-than-expected contract, and the team surprising everybody with a .679 winning percentage, there really isn't much to critique thus far.

But if you'll recall, Ed Stefanski used to be known as the Greatest GM on Earth, and after the Eddie Jordan traveshamockerphe, we can all agree that times change fast and public opinions even faster. One thing that I haven't quite come to a decision about is the role of CEO Adam Aron. Aron, an Abington High grad from 1972, graduated from Harvard, natch, before CEOing at a few hotels, resorts, and cruise lines. The basketball industry, to my knowledge, is a completely new territory for him. An interesting jump in, to be sure.

If you're not on Twitter, you probably don't really know or care about Aron. But he's been pressing the "send" button quite a bit on Tweets, especially in-game, under the handle @SixersCEOAdam. It's new media, I get it, everyone's trying to catch up with the 13-year-olds who know how to use everything. But some of his just read as so....I don't know. He comes from that travel background so it's all about excitement and whatnot, but all of the Rah Rah stuff on Twitter from the CEO just seems corny.

Some people like the accessibility. He claims he reads everything sent to him - that's cool. Good of him to have the time. But when he retweets things like (paraphrasing): "dude you brougt 6ers basketbal back to philly thx u finally #showyaluv" it just makes me feel really awkward. For a dude in his late 50's to be patting himself on the back every time one of LouWilliams4MVP's friends looks for an RT - gives me too much of a self-congratulatory "look how good we're doing!" feel, and it makes me itch.

I guess I don't really know what I'd want him to do. It's not like he's going to trash his players for taking terrible shots or not getting to the line enough or simply not being talented enough when things go wrong. There's just a disconnect in my mind from the dude on his resume and the cheerleader that pops up on my twitter feed. Especially because he's not nearly as personable in front of cameras as he is behind his keyboard - so he can't pull off Pat Croce, either.

Good for him for taking the time and making the effort but for me, I'd prefer a Board of Shadowy Figures that can take accountability and pop in for press conferences then go back to counting their money. Now that the Sixers are legitimately good, the gimmick is unnecessary. I'm accustomed to being in the minority though so let's hear what you think about Aron's Tweet-happiness.

Post-script: I'm fully aware of two things. 1) Adam will likely come across this article at some point in time and hopefully he takes it okay - we're all appreciative of the newfound efforts of this ownership compared to the last one; and 2) This comments section will devolve into a conversation about mascots.