I don't think most of us had a particular name in mind when the Sixers' head coaching vacancy opened this off-season. It's not like any of the candidates were notably sexy, and in fact, most of the names mentioned were at least slightly eye-roll inducing. Still, if nothing else, I think we all wanted something a little bit different--not just another retread who was making his next stop on the coaching carousel after compiling a couple losing seasons too many.
Well, no one ever accused Sixers GM Ed Stefanski of thinking outside of the box too much. After interviewing everyone from Dan Majerle and Elston Turner to a couple of the slobbering drunks outside the AT&T Pavilion, it appears that the pack has a leader: Doug Collins, one-time Bulls/Pistons/Wizards head coach and former Sixers #1 draft pick. According to Kate Fagan of the Inquirer, sources say that the Sixers might offer him the job before the end of the week.
Collins does have a career coaching winning percentage of .536%, although getting Michael Jordan and Grant Hill in their playing primes probably has a little something to do with that. He's 58 years old and has been out of the league for seven years, calling games on TNT (such as last night's Lakers-Suns conference final) instead. If the team is looking for a competent guiding hand to help clean up last season's mess, they could probably do worse. If they're looking for someone to grow into the next great coach of the franchise...well, they probably weren't really looking that hard to begin with.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.