The Incredible Irony of Sam Hinkie's Exit from the Philadelphia 76ers

Sam Hinkie gave up because of his own human instincts.

And that's appropriate, because the lesson from his Philadelphia 76ers reign is the overriding importance of treating people like people.

Hinkie's "Process" had been compromised since December—every insider in the NBA knew old-school, no-nonsense Jerry Colangelo's arrival in the Sixers' front office meant the purity of Hinkie's tanking effort for future gain was ending—and Hinkie resigned as 76ers president of basketball operations Wednesday, as the team announced.

He personally couldn't go on if he was going to be treated as just an analytical voice instead of the "CEO: Chief Executive Oppressor" of all present-day hope.

And that's the funny thing about it...

Hinkie gives up because he feels he isn't being treated like the person he deserves to be treated as.

There's the rub: Everyone has human instincts—the young players put in impossible situations where they are expected to grow amid no chance of real success or proper support, the business-asset-believing owner who knows basic concepts such as progress, respectability and morale are true to life.

Yes, Hinkie has feelings, too—if not good communication skills, capped amazingly Wednesday with ESPN.com's release of his cold 13-page resignation letter to the 76ers owners yet no apparent word to his associates or underlings.

There is value in both book smarts and street smarts. As much as we in society can jump to negative assessments when some folks dare to be different and announce they are visionaries, it is dangerous for the smartest guys in the room to go unchecked.

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Sixers managing general partner Josh Harris' feelings about the need to rebuild tactically and ruthlessly to reach a championship destination jibed for years with Hinkie's, but the Sixers owner is hardly a basketball expert.

Bear in mind it was Harris who wholly believed the 2012 trade for bum-kneed Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson was worth Andre Iguodala, Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless and a first-round pick. That disappointment (although quite a showcase of Bynum's hairdos while he didn't play a single game for Philadelphia) was enough to drive Harris to go all-in with Hinkie on trying not to try.

The Sixers dedicated themselves to Hinkie making sure their view was longer than everyone else's, except that meant there was no end ever in sight.

Everyday hopelessness runs directly counter to healthy motivation, which is why no amount of positive demeanor from Sixers coach Brett Brown was ever going to make this an enriching place for Jahlil Okafor to dominate or Nerlens Noel to develop.

Okafor was supposed to be the one sure thing: the solid piece with the polished post play, the high-character kid, the Duke lineage.

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It turns out that going from Mike Krzyzewski's big-time Duke Blue Devils to Hinkie's small-time Philadelphia 76ers feels like a clear demotion. It was too much to expect Okafor to lift up the latter. He got suspended for his misdirected actions when heckled as a loser—the sociology experiment damaging him and his reputation.

This is what Noel told Philly.com's Keith Pompey two weeks ago:

"It has been the toughest year for me this year. I think I've done the best possible [job] just staying uplifted and continuing to play my game no matter what circumstances, whether playing out of position or doing things that I wasn't comfortable with."

There is a middle ground in all this. Of course the NBA is a business, and always has been, where players to some extent are assets. But they are people who have to live day-to-day, and even if the Sixers did land the franchise player Hinkie was always angling for, do we believe that franchise player would instantly change the culture of Hinkie's 76ers or be dragged down by others who lived through previous captivity?

Even if some fans are willing to take the bait and ride it out and optimistically view every loss as a possible draft-position positive, those fans get to turn off the TV or read about the Eagles or Flyers or go watch any number of Rocky movies to feel better.

Hinkie's 76ers were losers, bottom line, in every way—and that's an unhealthy way for people to live.

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.