Neil Olshey, fired as president of basketball operations and general manager of the Trail Blazers, was GM for the team since 2012.<\/b>
\nPORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 The Portland Trail Blazers fired Neil Olshey, the team\u2019s president of basketball operations and general manager, on Friday after an investigation into workplace conduct. The Blazers promoted director of player personnel Joe Cronin to interim GM. The team said in a statement that Olshey was dismissed for violating its code of conduct. The Blazers had hired an outside firm last month to investigate workplace environment concerns stemming from allegations of misconduct involving Olshey. The dismissal is effective immediately. \u201cOut of respect for those who candidly participated in that privileged investigation, we will not release or discuss it. We are confident that these changes will help build a more positive and respectful working environment,\u201d the Blazers said in a statement. Olshey,56, had been general manager of the Blazers since 2012. He was promoted to president of basketball operations in 2015. Olshey came to the Blazers after nine years with the Los Angeles Clippers, which included stints as director of player development, assistant coach, director of player personnel and assistant GM. Under Olshey, the Trail Blazers have made the NBA playoffs for the past eight seasons, the longest active streak in the league. The team\u2019s best finish came in 2018-19, when Portland went to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2000. But the team hasn\u2019t advanced out of the first round in four of the last five years. Less than a month after hiring Olshey, the Blazers selected Damian Lillard with the sixth overall pick in the NBA draft and built the franchise around him. Lillard, a six-time All-Star, won Rookie of the Year honors in his first season. Last season, he averaged 30 points and eight assists. Portland\u2019s investigation into workplace environment, announced on Nov.6, was conducted by the law firm O\u2019Melveny & Myers. Johnson and Payne sparked a stellar effort from the Suns bench, which finished with 48 points. Deandre Ayton had 17 points and 12 rebounds as Phoenix improved to 19-3 for the season. Phoenix won despite not having leading scorer Devin Booker for the first time this season. The two-time All-Star suffered a left hamstring injury in the second quarter of Tuesday\u2019s game against the Golden State Warriors. The Suns have not lost since Oct.27, when Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes hit a 3-pointer as time ran out for a 110-107 victory. Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page. Enter your email and password to access comments. Forgot Password? Don’t have a Talk profile? Create one. Invalid username\/password. Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration. Create a commenting profile by providing an email address, password and display name. You will receive an email to complete the registration. Please note the display name will appear on screen when you participate. Already registered? Log in to join the discussion. Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login to participate in the conversation. Here\u2019s why. Use the form below to reset your password. When you’ve submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code. Send questions\/comments to the editors. \u00ab Previous Next\u00bb<\/p>\n