Sixers head coach Doug Collins said before Fridays game against New Jersey that he will serve as a game analyst for NBC-TVs coverage of mens basketball at the Summer Olympics in London.
Collins served in the same capacity for NBC at the Summer Games in Beijing in 2008, and during his career has also worked NBA games for several networks, notably TNT.
Collins, who played for the United States ill-fated team in the 72 Olympics in Munich, declined comment when asked about the stance of Miami star Dwyane Wade, who said U.S. Olympic basketball players should be paid. Wade has since retreated from that stance.
All I know is those guys were incredibly committed to winning (in 2008), he said. And the one thing that stood out to me was, I felt like that the USA team winning a gold medal was as important to them as it was to the European countries.When I heard Kobe Bryant say that winning a gold medal would be as important, if not more important than winning a world championship, I knew those guys were going to win. Regardless of whether theyre paid or not, I know theyre going over there for one thing, and thats to win.
Collins is sure hes being paid, though.
And I would do it for free, probably, he said with a laugh.
Collins, Billy C. continue to communicateCollins also said he again reached out last week to Billy Cunningham, his former teammate and coach with the Sixers, to get his read on the current team.
I always like to call in and just see what hes seeing, Colllins said. He watches our team. Hes got a great set of eyes. The one thing he said was, Id like to see your players get that bounce back in their step. I think weve seen that the last couple games. Hopefully we can sustain that tonight.
Cunningham and Collins also discussed outletting the ball more effectively, to trigger the Sixers fast break.
Thats an area we want to work on, Collins said.
Collins said Cunningham is like a big brother to him. They played together in 1974-75 and 75-76, and Collins played under Cunningham for four years, beginning in 77-78, after Cunningham was named head coach.
The two of them had also consulted during this years All-Star break.
E-mail Gordie Jones at gwjones11@gmail.com.