Eddie Jordan On The Horizon
Eddie Jordan, the former Sacramento and Washington coach, could be speaking shortly with the 76ers.
Eddie Jordan On The Horizon
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.
Stefanski began his coaching search Monday after Tony DiLeo--the in-season replacement for the fired Maurice Cheeks--withdrew his name from consideration for the permanent job, resuming his duties as senior vice-president/assistant general manager.
After meeting with the Kings, Jordan said "People have to feel good about you, so I'm hoping that Joe and Gavin (owners Joe and Gavin Maloof) felt good about our conversation and my personality and my leadership qualities and the fact that I'll be going back and most likely speaking with Philadelphia unless the Kings just won't let me leave, they make me an offer I can't refuse and I would love to come back.''
The Kings were scheduled to interview former NBA coach Paul Westphal Wednesday in Las Vegas.
At the same time, TNT analyst Doug Collins, who has expressed interest in the Sixers' job through agent John Langel, denied a published report that he had spoken to the Sixers.
"I have not spoken to the Sixers, and they have not called me,'' Collins said. "It's good that we can get that clarified. If there was a little misinformation in the way it was reported or the way I said it to make it look like I had spoken to them--I have not spoken to them.''
He also said "I apologize to Ed Stefanski if they felt like I was putting something out there that was not true.''
Stefanski, in an email response to the Daily News, said he had not spoken to Collins.
Comment removed.
Eddie Jordan.........NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!— wingslax35- Avery Johnson..dah dah dah dah dah....Avery Johnson..— beerisgood
- 230-288. Yep, he will fit in perfectly with the Sixers plans to have 7 coaches in 8 years.— AreaMan
- If Jordan gets this job I'm done with Sixers. This smells like an Ed hiring his cronies. Fans will stay away in droves if gets hired.— Drew777
- Ed Stefanski, please do not bring in Eddie Jordan. He is not what we need and if you think he is then you need to go. I am not impressed with your first year as GM and if you continue to make huge mistakes, you will put our sixers down for the count.— yescadog
- @drew777....fans are already staying away for one reason or another, i think the sixers finished the season ranked 25th in attendance. its embarrassing. so hiring a coach like eddie jordan wont push or pull fans at all. hell, if they got doug collins, it wouldnt make fans come out of the woodwork either.— pistolabus1
- Comment removed.
- Oh god no. I had hoped the rumors had no wings. This guy is a loser coach and people will hate him.— Nico Lange
- Mark Jackson— bigphilly12
- Chris Ford is solid choice and he's already under contract. I guess he's not a sexy enough choice.— 76er
- Chris Ford is not a sexy choice, but he can coach. He did well with Boston. When the team starts winning, the fans will come back. A winner will draw fans.— 76er
- Jeff Van Gundy has coached big games....stars....dealt with the NY spotlight and Had success. Mike Fratello has been railroaded and screwed over in his last 2 jobs despite being an excellent coach. I hate the NBA coaching carousel, but I like these two— JEngels
- A lot of interesting names have been thrown out there over the last week or so...but Eddie Jordan is not one of them.— K,M
- A lot of interesting names have been thrown out there over the last week or so...but Eddie Jordan is not one of them.— K,M
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.
