Eddie Jordan, the former Sacramento and Washington head coach, will be the next head coach of the 76ers, the team announced late Friday night.
Details of the hiring have not been released, but Comcast Sportsnet is reporting that the deal is for three years.
Jordan will be introduced at a press conference on Monday.
“I saw first-hand the immense impact Eddie Jordan had in helping the Nets reach two NBA Finals and as the head coach in Washington, he consistently put his teams in a position to win on a nightly basis," Sixers president Ed Stefanski said in a release. "He embodies all the qualities I was looking for in the next head coach of the Sixers and we are very excited to have him in Philadelphia."
With his background with Stefanski the hire should come as no surprise. Jordan was the lead assistant coach in New Jersey when the Nets went to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. At the same time, Stefanski was working his way up in the front office of the New Jersey organization.
Neither Eddie Jordan nor his agent returned calls Friday night, and a phone call and e-mail to Stefanski were not returned.
“He needs a coach and I’m a coach that’s looking for a job,” Jordan told the Associated Press shortly before he interviewed with the Sixers for the first time on May 15. Sometime this past week he interviewed a second time.
Jordan was coach of the Wizards from 2003 until this past November when he was fired after the team’s 1-10 start. In five full seasons with the Wizards, Jordan took them to the playoffs four straight years.
Jordan also was head coach in Sacramento for the final 15 games of the 1996-97 season then all of 97-98 and finished with a 33-64 record.
His overall record as a head coach is 230-288.
In his junior year of college, Jordan led Rutgers University to the Final Four. As a senior he was an honorable mention All America and set school records for asssistas and steals.
Drafted in the second round by Cleveland in the 1977 draft, Jordan went on to play for the Cavs, New Jersey and Los Angeles in his seven-year career.
The Sixers job opened up on May 11 when Tony DiLeo declined to be a considered for the post after coaching the team from Dec. 13, 2008 through the end of the season compiling a 32-27 record after Maurice Cheeks was fired.
Stefanski also looked at Dallas assistant and former Minnesota coach Dwane Casey, whom he interviewed twice, Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau, Los Angeles assistant Kurt Rambis, and former Boston and Sixers coach Chris Ford as well as Villanova coach Jay Wright. Wright backed out of consideration almost immediately and the Sixers informed Rambis earlier this week that he was out of the running.

The 76ers will play a preseason game in Monterrey, Mexico on Oct. 18, the NBA announced Tuesday.

The Sixers will face the Phoenix Suns, who feature Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa.

This is the second time an NBA preseason game will be played in Monterrey and the 18th game in Mexico overall.

Should you feel the need to see this game, tickets go on sale June 1 at www.arenamonterrey.com.

The 76ers confirmed that Boston Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau interviewed with the team Thursday.
Thibodeau, who just finished his second season as a Celtics assistant, isn’t as well known as the team’s other interview candidates. Eddie Jordan and Dwane Casey have been head coaches and Kurt Rambis was a player in the NBA.
But Thibodeau, who has been an NBA assistant for 18 years, is well known as a defensive specialist and his teams have ranked in the NBA’s top 10 in defense 15 times, most recently this season in Boston.
In 2007-2008, his first in Boston, the Celtics were the best team in the league in points allowed, field-goal percentage allowed and 3-point field-goal percentage allowed. They finished in the top five in all three categories again this season.

The 76ers confirmed Tuesday that in addition to Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau they will also be interviewing Dallas assistant Dwane Casey for the team's head coaching position.

Before joining Rick Carlisle's staff in Dallas, Casey last NBA position was as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves for one and a half year. In his first season he was 33-49 and was fired on Jan. 25 of 2007 with the team's record at 20-21.

According to his bio on NBA.com, Casey traveled through Europe in 2008, attending Euroleague games, practices and studying various basketball concepts. Casey began his NBA coaching career as an assistant for the Sonics, where he served for 11 seasons (starting in 1994-95). He joined the Sonics for the 1994-95 season after spending five years as a head coach in Japan. During his time abroad, Casey coached Japan’s National Team with basketball legend Pete Newell. In the summer of 1998, Casey coached the team to its first World Championship appearance in 31 years.

To date, the Sixers have confirmed interviews with Casey, Eddie Jordan and Celtics Associate Head Coach Tom Thibodeau.

Per team policy, the Sixers had no further comment on the pending interview with Casey.

The Sixers are in the market for a new head coach.

After a meeting Monday afternoon, team president Ed Stefanski said that Tony DiLeo, who coached the team from Dec. 13, 2008, through the end of the season, had withdrawn his name from consideration to return as head coach next season. DiLeo will return to the team’s front office as senior vice president and assistant general manager.

“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. “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 had a 32-27 record as head coach, but the team went out in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight year in an embarrassing loss to the Orlando Magic.

Ed Stefanski is meeting with Tony DiLeo this afternoon to discuss, one assumes, his future with the organization. Will he remain as head coach or move back to the front office? That’s one of the topics to go over.
DiLeo took over as head coach from Maurice Cheeks on Dec. 13 and the team went 32-27. But DiLeo never really had to try to incorporate Elton Brand into the lineup, as Cheeks had tried, because Brand injured his shoulder just four days later.

Should Tony DiLeo be back as coach of the 76ers?
There are good reasons he should not. Sure, his record was 32-27 after taking over from Mo Cheeks. But that record also reflects the fact that Elton Brand went down a couple of games into DiLeo’s tenure so we don’t really know if he’d have been able to incorporate Brand into the lineup any better than Cheeks.
Then there’s the reactions of the players themselves when asked about DiLeo. Veteran Theo Ratliff was the first and harshest critic, saying after the debacle of Game 6 that the coach didn’t hold players accountable and that the lackadaisical approach led to basketball of the same sort.
The next day, Andre Iguodala gave a lukewarm endorsement, but didn’t dismiss the idea that the Sixers might need a coach who was tougher than DiLeo is perceived to be.
Donyell Marshall damned with faint praise, saying DiLeo did the best he could under the circumstances and called him the best interim coach this season.
DiLeo, who is an organization wonk, might know the game as well as anyone, but the question for Ed Stefanski now is can he inspire and/or drive the players to be better. Judging from the players words the answer to that is no.
If DiLeo is out, who is in. There are reports, starting Monday from long-time Chicago columnist Sam Smith, that Doug Collins, the former Sixers All-Star, would be interested in the job. Collins, a fomer player and current broadcaster, has coached three teams in the NBA – Chicago, Detroit and Washington. He has an overall winning percentage above .500, but in the playoffs his teams have gone 15-23.
There are other possibilities. Everyone throws around Avery Johnson, Eddie Jordan and Jeff Van Gundy. And in Philadelphia Villanova coach Jay Wright gets mentioned. There are drawbacks to the first three and Wright would have to be foolish to take on the NBA, a place where successful college coaches so often go to fail. here’s a reason only one coach has ever won the NCAA and NBA titles. It’s a players league and coaches used to having everything their way soon lose their teams.
Maybe, for once, the Sixers could think outside the box and hire someone who’s not a retread. One possibility they should explore if they decide to send DiLeo back to the front office is Tom Thibodeau. The longtime NBA assistant, currently in Boston, is known as a defensive whiz and the Sixers surely could use that.
Whatever happens, Stefanski would do well to take his time on this one and get the right guy, at least for now. I don’t buy the sizzle factor. I don’t think fans go to see the coach. But the Sixers need to get this right.