Trail Blazers fire general manager Neil Olshey

Neil Olshey (YouTube)

According to the Associated Press on Friday, the Portland Trail Blazers have fired general manager Neil Olshey of Flushing, New York. The firing comes after there was an investigation of Olshey regarding allegations of workplace misconduct.

It is clear that professional sports executives today are not just judged for their winning percentage. They are expected to behave appropriately throughout their entire job setting.

With Olshey gone, Joe Cronin of Denver, Colorado has been named the Trail Blazers interim general manager. He has been with Portland now for 16 seasons and held the roles of a basketball operations intern, professional scout, salary cap analyst, and director of player personnel.

Olshey is best known for drafting six-time all-star Damian Lillard in the first round, sixth overall, in the 2012 NBA Draft. Over the last decade, Lillard has become the face of the Portland franchise and should be considered and one of the top five point guards in the game today. He has averaged 24.6 points per game in 702 regular season games.

It is interesting that Olshey hired Chauncey Billups as the Trail Blazers head coach on June 29, 2021. The hiring came despite the fact that Billups was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Boston in 1997. The matter was settled in a civil suit three years later. The Trail Blazers investigated the incident and determined that Billups should not be disqualified from applying for the head coaching job. It is interesting that Olshey was the person responsible for hiring Billups. Olshey had previously signed Billups as a player while with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2011.

So far in 2021-22, the Trail Blazers are in 10th place in the Western Conference. They have a record of 11 wins and 13 losses.

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