Archive: May, 2009
Let the record show that Eddie Jordan owns a home in Princeton, N.J.
All the best maps and computer links indicate a drive from there to the Wachovia Center in reasonable traffic should take about 55 minutes.
Jordan will be making that trip on a regular basis.
Mike Kern reporting ...
Former Sixers forward Charles Barkley said he thinks the team should hire Eddie Jordan as its next coach.
Speaking on a conference call to promote the American Century Championship of celebrity golf, Barkley said, "I think Eddie Jordan would be a fine choice. They’re going to have a good, solid team. They’re pretty much stuck with the team they’ve got for the next few years, because they’re paying guys so much money. I think he’s a helluva coach. He did a good job with Washington. That team probably overachieved. Him getting to the playoffs every year, people thought they deserved to go further, but they weren’t that good. And Tony DiLeo, he did a good job. This year, you’ve got to give him credit. But he wanted to go back upstairs.”
UPDATE: As we reported in Wednesday's Daily News, former Dallas coach Avery Johnson was not interested in being part of a wide-ranging coaching search. In a statement released by ESPN tonight, Johnson confirmed that he had been contacted by the Sixers, "but I have decided to stay in my role with ESPN."
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Dwane Casey, who has just completed his first season as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks, has had a second interview for the 76ers' vacant coaching job, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Count Kurt Rambis out of the running for the vacant 76ers' coaching job.
A source in Los Angeles tonight confirmed that the Sixers have informed the longtime Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach that they are going in another direction in their search. Rambis was in the first wave of prospective candidates to meet with Sixers president/general manager Ed Stefanski, that session taking place last week in Santa Monica, Ca.
Rambis, though, remains in the running for the Sacramento job, but the same source indicated that he would not meet with the Kings until after the NBA's Western Conference finals series against the Denver Nuggets that continues tonight in Los Angeles. The Kings have also let it be known that they intend to meet with Boston Celtics' associate head coach Tom Thibodeau--anogther Sixers interviewee--later this week.
Now we can officially add Boston Celtics assistant coach to the list of coaching candidates who have gone through the interview process.
The Sixers confirmed that they met today with Thibodeau, who has been with the Celtics for two seasons, directly in charge of their defense. He has spent the bulk of his caeer on the staffs of the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets, and spent two seasons with the Sixers during the John Lucas era. He is also expected to interview with the Sacramento Kings.
It's hard to know a lot about his personality because, as a Celtics assistant, he was not permitted to speak with the media.
Tom Thibodeau has spent 19 years as an assistant coach in the NBA, but has yet to be a head coach.
The 76ers plan to find out why, and what type of candidate he is to become their next coach. They probably already know a lot about him, but the public might not, in part because Celtics' assistants are not free to speak with the media during the NBA season.
Thibodeau appears to be next in line after president/general manager Ed Stefanski's sessions with Eddie Jordan, Dwane Casey and Kurt Rambis.
The 76ers interviewed Dallas Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey today and spoke to Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis yesterday. Both interviews took place in Santa Monica, Calif.
Casey, a former head coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves, confirmed the meeting to the Daily News.
“It went well,” he said.
Eddie Jordan, the former coach of the Sacramento Kings and the Washington Wizards, interviewed for the Kings job Tuesday in Las Vegas and said Philadelphia could be his next stop.
In an interview that was broadcast by Comcast SportsNet, Jordan said he he has had ''minimal contact'' with the Sixers and "I'm expecting to go back tomorrow and maybe have some conversation with them before the end of the week.''
Jordan, a former Rutgers star who won a championship as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers, has a history with Ed Stefanski, the Sixers' president/general manager. Jordan was an assistant coach and Stefanski was an executive with New Jersey as the Nets made two trips to the NBA Finals.
Former Sixers coach Tony DiLeo addressed the media today in his first public comments since withdrawing his name from consideration for the job Monday. DiLeo, who took over for the fired Maurice Cheeks in December, will return to his front office role as assistant general manager and vice president.
“It was a tough decision,” DiLeo said. “When you are a head coach in the NBA, it’s so demanding, 24 hours a day you’re either preparing, watching film, practicing, coaching or thinking about the team and what you can do better. If I decided to be a candidate, I would have to look at it for next 3, 4 years, this is what I wanted to do. That was a situation, that right now in my professional and personal life, I did not want to make that decision. Family has a lot to do with it. When you’re a head coach, you’re looking at the short term day to day. In management, you’re looking more how to build a team, for the long term, to winning a championship. Now to I will cherish returning to that role.”
DiLeo said he would consider a return to coaching in the future, but this "was the best decision for me at this time.”
UPDATED: Tony DiLeo will not return as Sixers coach and he will return to the front office as senior vice president/assistant general manager the team announced today after a meeting between DiLeo and 76ers president/general manager Ed Stefanski.
“Tony and I had a meeting scheduled for this afternoon, during which time he informed me of his decision that he would not return as head coach next season,” Stefanski said in a statement. “I want to thank Tony for the commendable job he did this season under some unique and difficult circumstances, including leading us to the playoffs.”
DiLeo was named coach on Dec. 13 and he led the Sixers to a 32-27 (.542) record and the No. 6 seed in the playoffs. The Sixers weer eliminated in six games by Orlando.
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
