The conversation didn’t last long. One of the men was working, but they visited for a little while -- maybe five or 10 minutes. They chatted and wished each other well. There was some advice handed out, too. It is what coaches do, even with other coaches.
Before the Sixers faced the Brooklyn Nets at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday, Chip Kelly walked into the locker room, past the players getting dressed and toward a back office where Doug Collins was waiting to greet him. It was the first meeting between the Eagles’ head coach and the Sixers’ head coach. One reporter teased Collins and asked whether he had any “words of warning” for Kelly.
“I told him just the opposite, what an incredible city this is and how much they love their Eagles, the fan base here and stuff,” Collins said shortly before the Sixers surprised the Nets with a 106-97 victory. It was Collins' 100th win as Sixers head coach. “It was just the opposite. I said he couldn’t find a better place to be a coach.”
The symbolism of their meeting was obvious but striking. One of them just arrived in town; the other might decamp before long.
Collins is a sincere fellow. If he told Kelly he likes coaching in Philly, he meant it. And yet, given how the Sixers’ season has unfolded (Monday marked just the second win for them in the last 14 games), it’s no surprise that more and more people have begun wondering whether Collins will be back next year.
Everyone knows the history. Collins coached three other teams (the Bulls, Pistons and Wizards) before landing with the Sixers. He didn’t last more than three seasons with any of those organizations. This is his third year in Philadelphia. You look at the backstory and then you look at this squad and suddenly you can envision a scenario in which Collins thanks everyone before retreating to the comfortable confines of an NBA television booth.
He is good at that, by the way. Collins is articulate and smart and excellent as an analyst. He’ll be fine no matter what he does. The Sixers would not be so fine. They need Collins a lot more than Collins needs them. The question is whether he cares to grab a mop and some solvent and help clean up what has become an incredible mess. No one knows the answer to that. No one but Collins.
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Sixers CEO Adam Aron recently said there’s “no coaching controversy” in town. What he meant is that the Sixers won’t say goodbye to Collins, but shouldn’t the Sixers be worried that Collins might say goodbye to them?
“I hope he’s not back for one year,” Aron said, “I hope he’s back for years and years and years. Having said all that, this isn’t about our coach. This is about an entire organization working together to produce a winning, contending, elite team for Philadelphia and Philadelphia sports fans.”
Aron tried to divide those thoughts, tried to draw a line between Collins and making the organization better for the fans. Despite Aron’s attempt to separate the issues, they are very much intertwined. It is about this coach, because this coach is one of the few positives right now.
Let’s take inventory of the Sixers’ assets: There is Jrue Holiday. There is Collins. There is not much else. If one of those assets extricates himself from an increasingly grim situation, quick math reveals that the organization will suddenly have 50 percent fewer things going for it.
Jerry Stackhouse, who’s now with the Nets but played for Collins back in the day, told Sixers beat writer Tom Moore from Calkins media that “Doug has unbelievable passion for the game. It can be borderline manic.” At times, that passion can work for or against Collins -- just as it might work for or against the Sixers in trying to convince the head coach to stick around. Will Collins stay because he loves the game so deeply, or will the stress and strain he places on himself force him to once again walk away?
The Sixers should hope he returns. They broke their compass this year and got lost in the NBA wilderness. Collins had a hand in that. Still, it’s hard to imagine the Sixers finding their way without him.