Getty Head coach Mark Jackson calls out a play for the Golden State Warriors.
This summer, Brett Brown was fired from the Sixers after coaching from 2013 to 2020.
Philly’s next head coach leaves much to be desired with Philly’s tandem of big man Joel Embiid and point guard Ben Simmons.
Simmons averaged 16.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, eight assists and 2.1 steals for a Sixers team that finished 43-30 and in sixth place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference standings. Embiid averaged 23 points, 11.6 rebounds, three assists, and 1.3 blocks for the Sixers who were eventually eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the first round of this years NBA Playoffs.
Ex-Rockets head coach, Mike D’Antoni and current Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach, Ty Lue have been names that have floated around quite a bit.
D’Antoni guided the Rockets to a 44-28 record and a fourth place finish in the NBA’s Western Conference behind the play of James Harden, and Russell Westbrook. Houston lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals.
D’Antoni informed Houston that he wasn’t looking to re-sign with the team and that he’d take his talents else where.
The Sixers need a strong voice in that locker room. “I don’t think there was much accountability this season,” Sixers guard, Josh Richardson said following the 76ers’ exit in Round 1.
“And I think that was part of our problem.”
Mark Jackson coaching 76ers? – t.co/P7A4bCw9Gp
“Mark Jackson checks the boxes. I think he checks the boxes for Philly,” says Chris Broussard.
Mark with a young team that’s what he did with Golden State he’d be fine there, but I’d love to see him in Philly.”
Appearing on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show on Monday, Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard named someone who could be an asset in that regard. “Mark Jackson checks the boxes,” he told me.
“I think he checks the boxes for Philly.”
Jackson was one of the greatest point guards in NBA history. A one-time NBA All-Star, Jackson was the 18th pick in the 1987 NBA Draft by way of his hometown New York Knicks. A Brooklyn, New York native, Jackson averaged 9.6 points and eight rebounds in two stints with the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets.
In three seasons, Jackson, 55, went 121-109 and developed All Stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
Jackson was fired by the Warriors in 2014, despite leading the dubs to consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in over 20 years.
Since Jackson’s firing, the Warriors have won multiple championships and Jackson has been named a coaching candidate but nothing has materialized.
Jackson has the desire to become an NBA coach once again. “I look forward to the day I’m coaching again,” he told ex-Indiana Pacers teammate, Reggie Miller during a chat on Instagram Live this summer.
“I don’t know why he isn’t [coaching],” hip hop legend, Silkk The Shocker, a friend of Jackson told me on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
“He did everything right and I was around him when, he developed Steph Curry and had all the players, like Draymond [Green]… He is a players coach.”
“Mark was in the kitchen getting those ingredients together, making the orders, finding the places that had the right ingredients,” former Warriors staffer, Otis Hughley told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast a couple of years ago.
“He got them in there when they drafted Klay, Draymond, when they traded for Iguodala, he got got Bogut. He put all that together. He got all the necessary ingredients together to make a great meal and it started to germinate and grow. And now, the results of what he did and the foundation that he laid, look what’s happening, it’s unbelievable.”