He was still learning everyone’s names. Then he landed Jaylen Brown and LeBron. Now Mike Gansey faces an even bigger challenge: making it all work. The best way to understand how the Philadelphia 76ers’ new boss plans to run the team is through a story that has nothing to do with them. In the summer of 2024, Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell launched a basketball camp in conjunction with Adidas. They called it “Spida Elite.” The idea was to coach and mentor high school guards. It has since become an annual event, and one Mitchell has made clear he cares deeply about. This year’s camp took place in Los Angeles in August, and one GM (or, if we’re using official terms, president of basketball operations) made the time to swing through the gym. It wasn’t as if Mike Gansey had nothing better to do. He was just a few months into his new job with the Sixers, one he had jumped into by trading for Jaylen Brownandrecruiting LeBron James. And having left the Cavaliers, where he’d spent the previous 15 years, he had no professional obligation to be there, either. But none of that mattered to Gansey. What did matter to him was how much the camp meant to Mitchell, someone he had grown close with. And so for Gansey, it wasn’t a question of whether he could attend but rather how. That, people who know him well say, is his default setting. “Everybody likes Mike Gansey,” said an NBA agent who also attended Mitchell’s camp. “And stories like that are why.”
Mike Gansey's ability to navigate the complexities of managing superstar talent in Philadelphia is a testament to his executive skill. His success will ultimately depend on his ability to foster chemistry in a high-pressure, high-expectation environment.
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