Revitalized Sixers
a tribute to Cheeks

Off the Dribble
By Ryan Smith

Just like many people who’ve followed the 76ers this season, I became fairly sure that coach Maurice Cheeks had become a lame duck the day Larry Brown relocated to his Main Line mansion and subsequently became involved once more with the organization during the Allen Iverson trade.
Then, when Brown officially returned to the organization in January as executive vice president, the rampant rumors were inevitable.
It just made too much sense.
The prodigal son — the Hall of Fame prodigal son, in this case — returns home to resurrect the franchise and win that oh-so-sought-after championship for the city that has become his adopted home.
Today, I’m very happy to say I was wrong.
Before last Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Sixers general manager Billy King absolutely did the right thing when he announced that Cheeks will return as the head coach next season.
This ends months of speculation about Brown returning to coach the team he led to the 2000-01 NBA finals. (Well, it should end the speculation, anyway.)
Mo hasn’t commented one way or the other, but you know he has to be breathing a major sigh of relief.
And the bottom line is, Cheeks deserves to come back next year.
In actuality, King told Cheeks, who has compiled a mediocre 63-82 record in his time as head coach with the Sixers, earlier this week that he would return to the team.
"I almost didn’t really feel like I needed to, because we were always talking about this summer and planning like we normally have, but I thought with all the things being written, I probably should tell him, ‘Hey, you are going to be the coach,’" King told reporters before the Lakers game.
The revamped Sixers squad, which has just five of the 13 players who were on the roster when Cheeks began last season, were happy to find out that their leader would be returning for a third season.
Since Iverson was traded to the Denver Nuggets in December, the Sixers have undergone a transformation, going 20-19, including a current seven-game winning streak. (The Sixers hosted the Atlanta Hawks as the Times went to press on Wednesday.) One game over the .500 mark may not seem like much, but anyone who has followed the Sixers over the past few seasons will attest that things are looking up for the first time in a long time.
According to King, the Sixers brass believes that Cheeks is a major reason for the turnaround.
"A lot of people have written that the bottom was going to fall out with everything that happened, and he kept this group playing hard, focused and upbeat," King said. "Really, it’s a joy watching us play now."
The players seem to share that assessment.
"(It’s) another year with a coach who has let me become the player who I am, who has really given me the team, who has trusted me, so far, this season as everything has gone on," said forward Andre Iguodala, the team’s leading scorer and acknowledged team leader. "That is just going to make me work harder this summer and come back and give him all I’ve got."
Sixers guard Kyle Korver’s comments were even more demonstrative.
"I’m very happy," Korver said about word of Cheeks’ return. "All the stuff that went down early in the season, all the stuff that’s turned around — if you’re going to dish out credit, you’ve got to start with him. This team could have easily put their heads down and been like, ‘Well, let’s get a good draft pick and build for next year.’ He didn’t let us. I’m happy, and I think everyone in this locker room is happy. He’s had our back, and we’ve got his back — it’s a good thing."
As usual, Cheeks deflects the praise, chalking up his return next season to the improved play of the team — and acting almost as if he has nothing to do with it.
"I thought the reason we are at this place now is because the players believe in what we are doing," he said after the Lakers game, which the Sixers won, 108-92. "At one point, when we lost twelve straight games, we still had players going out on the floor and playing hard."
You can certainly thank yourself for that, Mo. ••
Columnist Ryan Smith can be reached at 215-354-3114 or smithry@phillynews.com