Rumors have surfaced the NBA commissioner Adam Silver had an integral role in the Philadelphia 76ers' hiring of chairman of USA Basketball Jerry Colangelo. 

According to sbnation.com, there were reports that indicated Silver was pressured by other NBA owners to change the "tanking" methods the 76ers have been highly criticized for.

Brian Windhorst of espn.com reported "Owners routinely complained about the economic drag the 76ers were inflicting on the league as the revenues of one of the largest-market teams -- a franchise expected to contribute more robustly to league revenue-sharing -- sagged. For many teams, games featuring the starless and woeful 76ers as the visiting team have been the lowest-attended of the season."

He then continued "Last year, the 76ers fought a proposal against reforming the NBA lottery rules because it would've disrupted their rebuilding plan, which is a transparent attempt to gain the highest draft picks possible by maximizing lottery odds over several seasons while developing young players."

Based on a report by Yahoo! Sports, the struggling Philadelphia 76ers hired Colangelo as an adviser to the team's owner Josh Harris.

''He was reaching out for help,'' Colangelo said, ''and I responded.''

As per usatoday.com, Harris said the hiring was made to help their losing situation. "This season has not been easy for us and even more difficult than we anticipated," Harris said. "Our situation needed a review to make our situation better."

Experts believe this could be the team's first step in moving away from Sam Hinkie's highly-criticized rebuilding plan. Based on a report by philly.com, Colangelo's hiring will eventually grab all of Hinkie's power and decision-making capabilities which would then please most of the NBA team owners.

However, despite these reports of Adam Silver's involvement, the NBA commissioner strongly denied all allegations and insists he only helped facilitate the meeting between Colangelo and the 76ers owner.