On paper, the Union playing five preseason games in three weeks might seem like a lot. But it’s also a reflection of how short the preseason is after an offseason that also didn’t last long.
The club’s stretch in Spain is made even more important because of the team’s new signings. Ezekiel Alladoh has to build chemistry with Bruno Damiani up top, and the same goes for Japhet Sery Larsen and Olwethu Makhanya at centerback.
That has to happen in a hurry, too, with the Union opening their campaign in the Concacaf Champions Cup before the regular season starts.
“We’re grateful that we have three games on this leg now, just to get some games and minutes and relationship — building with all the different players, with the new guys coming in, and working on a couple of new concepts,” manager Bradley Carnell said in a news conference Thursday from the team’s camp abroad. “Just trying to get the base loads, build up the fitness, get slowly, progressively, more intense and deliberate with our actions in the game model, and then start dialing it in.”
The Union will play their last scrimmage in Europe on Thursday, against Montenegro’s FK Budućnost at 8 a.m. Philadelphia time. (There’s no word on a broadcast yet.) As with the previous contest against Denmark’s FC Nordsjælland, it will be played with three 45-minute periods.
“Obviously, we bought ‘Japh’ [Sery Larsen] in here with a distinct reason, to hit the ground running,” Carnell said. “And I think he’s showing just that, and he can adapt and settle into our way and style of play. There’s a lot of onboarding within the game model, so there’s still a ton of that going on with all the different players and group meetings, and the coaches doing some individual clips and meetings from training and game footage.”
Carnell revealed that Larsen and Makhanya will start Thursday, with Nathan Harriel at left back and Frankie Westfield at right back. Harriel going to the left side was the biggest news there, as the Union ponder Kai Wagner’s successor.
The Union are shopping for a signing, but aren’t close to getting one over the line. So they might need to have other plans in place for their first games next month. Ben Bender had his audition in the first two preseason contests, and now a player with more defensive experience will get a turn.
Nathan Harriel in action during the Union’s preseason game against FC Nordsjælland last Friday.
“We’ve given Nate a bunch of looks at right back, center back; tomorrow, we’ll try and put him in at left back,” Carnell said. “And we’re going through a whole bunch of scenarios in order to for us to hit the ground running on the 18th and the 21st [of February]. … We still have a couple more games here, of I don’t want to say trial and error, but just testing combinations, testing different relationships.”
And he did not shy away from saying, “there’s a void at left back.”
At least the starting four are known commodities. Alladoh, for as much as the Union spent on the 20-year-old, doesn’t have a long track record yet. But with a big gap on the depth chart after him and Damiani, Alladoh will face some pressure to deliver quickly.
“He needs to get up to speed with the game model, I think that’s first and foremost,” Carnell said. “We have to do him a favor by investing time and energy into him, and making sure that we know what asset we have on our hands. He’s still very young, though — I don’t want to put too much pressure on him right now.”
Ezekiel Alladoh is still getting used to life with the Union.
But the manager sees the promise in the striker, and hopes it will be fulfilled.
“Speed in behind, I mean, he’s a real weapon,” Carnell said. “He and his body, he holds up play, so just think of Bruno and him, how they can work off each other with Milan [Iloski] or whoever else plays in the 10s [attacking midfielders].”
He also made a point of saying he doesn’t just see Alladoh as a target man.
“I wouldn’t say it’s too dissimilar from Mikael Uhre, how we utilized him as well,” Carnell said. “Very clean with his feet, can finish, he’s got a left foot which is incredibly valuable when it comes to going up against opponents. And it’s been pretty fun.”
Eight area organizations have been named as host city supporters for the six matches in Philadelphia ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup, beginning June 14.
Comcast, Independence Blue Cross, PECO, Penn Medicine, the Eagles, and tourism board Visit PA were named, along with Conshohocken-based pharmaceutical giant Cencora, and the William Penn Foundation, a philanthropic organization.
According to a release from Philadelphia Soccer 2026, the organization tasked with the planning and execution of events, “these organizations will play a vital role in ensuring the success of the tournament while creating a powerful and lasting legacy of this generational event for the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Perhaps more importantly for these companies, the designation approves them to advertise and have branded signage in-stadium at Lincoln Financial Field (which will be renamed to Philadelphia Stadium for the matches), offer rights to host activations at FIFA’s fan fest at Lemon Hill Mansion, and, according to a release, offers “exclusive hospitality and ticketing opportunities, and visibility through local marketing and promotional campaigns.”
Renderings provided last year of what Philadelphia’s version of FIFA’s fan fest site on the grounds at Lemon Hill will look like.
Historically, FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, has kept stringent rules around who can advertise or align. But in the last several years, it has granted host cities the ability to look for businesses willing to put up a financial commitment to aid in offsetting the cost of putting on the tournament — and add its name to FIFA’s list of global supporters.
The designation for host city supporters was afforded through a minimum financial commitment of $5 million, according to a report from the Philadelphia Business Journal.
The deal would also appear to grant specific naming rights. In Wednesday’s announcement, Penn Medicine referred to itself as the host city’s “official medical services provider,” in reference to the games coming to Philadelphia.
“We’re all extremely excited to see the World Cup come to Philadelphia,” said Dr. Patrick J. Brennan, chief medical officer for the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “Being the official medical services provider for the Philadelphia World Cup 2026 host city, in what will be the largest sporting event Pennsylvania has ever seen, is a great responsibility that we’re ready and excited for.”
Philadelphia Soccer 2026 projects an economic infusion of nearly $770 million into the city, as half a million visitors are expected to come to Philly for the five group-stage matches and a Round of 16 knockout game on July 4.
Being front and center as a host city supporter is an immense opportunity for exposure for these organizations, many of which have been tasked with, or have taken on, legacy projects long after the tournament passes through.
“The William Penn Foundation is interested in helping to ensure that this global moment delivers meaningful, lasting benefits for Philadelphians,” said Shawn McCaney, the organization’s executive director. “We’ve focused our investment on strengthening community soccer programs and facilities, as well as improving Lemon Hill so that it can serve as a vital park space for residents and visitors to the city for years to come. These investments strongly align with our commitment to improve public spaces for the people of Philadelphia.”
Evonn Wadkins, 88, formerly of Philadelphia, retired Philadelphia Mounted Police Officer, basketball and football star at Simon Gratz High School, builder, carpenter, plumber, bus driver, and volunteer, died Sunday, Jan. 11, of complications from a stroke at Bryn Mawr Extended Care Center.
A gifted athlete with an innate desire to help others and be part of a team, Mr. Wadkins played basketball and football on Philadelphia playgrounds, in youth leagues and high school, and later with adults in semipro leagues and the Charles Baker Memorial Basketball League. He usually scored in double digits for the Gratz basketball team and went head-to-head against the legendary Sonny Hill and Wilt Chamberlain.
He overcame a severe ankle injury when he was young and retired from the Baker League years later only after age and ailments forced him off the court. He was a “speedy end” on the football team at Gratz, the Daily Journal in Vineland said in 1955.
His name appeared often in The Inquirer and other local newspapers in 1955 and ‘56, and they noted his 55-yard touchdown catch against Dobbins, 25-yard scoring reception against Vineland, and 44-yard scoring catch-and-run against Northeast in 1955.
Mr. Wadkins (right) drives with the ball in this photo that was published in The Inquirer in 1956.
Mr. Wadkins graduated from the Philadelphia Police Training Center in 1963 and spent 11 years patrolling Fairmount Park and elsewhere in the Traffic Division. He transferred to the Mounted Unit — and met Cracker Jack — in 1974, and officer and horse rode the Philly streets together until they both retired in 1988.
“When he went on vacation, nobody could ride Cracker Jack,” said Mr. Wadkins’ wife, Elaine. “They could groom him. But Cracker Jack wouldn’t let anyone else ride him.”
He also worked construction side jobs with neighbors and friends, and learned plumbing, heating, and carpentry skills. “Family and friends are still sleeping comfortably on his one-of-a-kind beds more than 40 years later,” his family said in a tribute.
He drove a school bus for the School District of Philadelphia for 10 years in the 1980s and ’90s, and made friends with many of the students. He moved with his wife to Goochland, Va., 35 miles northwest of Richmond, in 1998.
Mr. Wadkins and his wife, Elaine, married in 1959.
He joined the Goochland chapter of the NAACP and volunteered at the Second Union Rosenwald School Museum. At the Second Union Baptist Church, he mentored boys and young men, and supervised the media ministry.
He was serious about community service. “He never met a stranger,” his wife said.
Evonn LeFrancis Wadkins was born June 4, 1937, in Philadelphia. He was the fifth of six children and earned his high school degree at night school after leaving Gratz early.
He met Flora Elaine Poole at Gratz in 1954, and they married in 1959. They set up house in West Philadelphia a few years later and had daughters Evette and Elise, and a son, Evonn.
This photo of Mr. Wadkins on his horse appeared in the Daily News in 1987.
Mr. Wadkins, familiar with Fairmount Park from his time on police patrol, liked to share historical tidbits when the family drove through. He loved cars and traveled to Canada with his wife and to Germany with his brother to shop for several that caught his eye.
He and his family traveled to Florida for a New Year’s party and to South Dakota to fly over Mount Rushmore. He and his wife cruised the Caribbean and toured the United States and Europe.
He even flew with a friend to two Super Bowls. “He was a man on the go,” his family said.
Mr. Wadkins liked McDonald’s pancakes and coached a few youth league basketball teams, one to a championship. When asked how he was doing, his usual response was: “Livin’ slow.”
Mr. Wadkins enjoyed time with his family.
His wife said: “He was a good provider. He was a great husband.”
In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Wadkins is survived by five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, a brother, and other relatives. Two brothers and two sisters died earlier.
Sixers guards Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe have landed on the latest cover of SLAM Magazine, marking the second time both players have been featured on the cover page, but the first time together.
Maxey was first featured on the cover of SLAM’s February/March 2024 issue. Meanwhile, Edgecombe made his cover debut as part of SLAM’s 2024 high school all-American team. Now, the young guards share the stage as members of the Sixers.
The Sixers “box office” backcourt has ignited a new hope within the Philadelphia fan base, with the team already surpassing its win total from all of last season. Edgecombe, the team’s third-overall pick, made a historic debut — finishing the night with 34 points, the most in a Sixers rookie’s first game in franchise history, and the most scored in any NBA debut since Wilt Chamberlain.
Maxey will also be at All-Star Weekend. The sixth-year pro was named a starter for the NBA All-Star game, making him the first Sixers guard to be named a starter since Allen Iverson in 2010. Maxey’s second All-Star nod comes after averaging 29.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 6.8 assists.
Maxey and Edgecombe, who have been having fun together on and off the court, are part of a long list of current and former Sixers who have graced the cover, including Allen Iverson, Joel Embiid, Jerry Stackhouse, James Harden, and Ben Simmons.
Six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick didn’t get voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, according to a report from ESPN.
Citing four unidentified sources, ESPN reported Tuesday that Belichick didn’t receive the necessary 40 votes from the 50-person panel of media members and other Hall of Famers. ESPN said Belichick received a call from the Hall of Fame last Friday with the news.
The Hall of Fame declined to comment before its class of 2026 is announced at NFL Honors in San Francisco on Feb. 5.
The report of Belichick’s snub was met with significant criticism, including from Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who posted on social media: “Insane … don’t even understand how this could be possible.”
Belichick was hired by New England in 2000 and led the franchise to six Super Bowl wins and three other appearances in the title game during an 18-year span from 2001-18. Belichick’s 333 wins in the regular season and playoffs with New England and Cleveland are the second most to Don Shula’s 347. He won AP NFL Coach of the Year three times.
Belichick also was one of the game’s top defensive assistants before taking over in New England, winning two earlier Super Bowls as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants.
Belichick’s career did have blemishes. He was implicated in a sign-stealing scandal dubbed “Spygate” in the 2007 season and was fined $500,000 after the team was caught filming defensive signals from the New York Jets during a game.
Belichick’s tenure in New England ended following the 2023 season. He just finished his first year coaching in college at North Carolina.
Belichick was one of five finalists among coaches, contributors and senior players who last appeared in a game in 2000 or earlier. Patriots owner Robert Kraft was the contributor finalist, with Roger Craig, Ken Anderson and L.C. Greenwood the players.
Between one and three of those finalists will be inducted into the Hall along with between three and five modern-era players from a group of 15 finalists.
It’s well-known by now that the Union have a big reputation for player development, perhaps the best of any American soccer club at the moment.
So it shouldn’t be too surprising that a lot of people in that world would like to know how they’ve done it.
At the United Soccer Coaches convention earlier this month in Philadelphia, a presentation by Jon Scheer, the Union’s head of academy and professional development, drew a healthy crowd that hoped to learn the club’s secret sauce.
Scheer didn’t give up all the recipes, but he was happy to take the attendees into the kitchen.
Union director of academy and professional development Jon Scheer speaking at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia earlier this month.
He claimed that the Union “invests more in our academy than any MLS club in the country.” That hasn’t been independently confirmed for a few years, but there’s no question that the Union spend a lot.
Along with youth teams in many age groups, there’s a full-time high school, YSC Academy, across the parking lot from the training facilities in Chester. Those facilities were expanded significantly last year, to much acclaim.
“The value of the young players being able to see the stadium every day, but also being able to look through the fence at the grass on Field One where the first team trains — they can feel it every single day,” Scheer said.
The Union’s training fields in Chester. The grass one on the left is where the first team trains.
There’s high tech all over the campus, from the “Striker Lab” that tracks a player’s kicking technique to a medical scanner called SonicBone that measures a person’s biological age.
“If they’re two years advanced [compared] to their peers and having success only because of their physique, that gives us information,” Scheer said. “Potential for our academy is more important than performance level.”
Scheer echoed a longtime Union talking point when he spoke of “looking for marginal gains that will allow us to have sustainable success in MLS.”
“We think that if we invest in data, we’re not going to have to try to outcompete and outspend the LAFCs, the Torontos, the Atlanta Uniteds of the world,” he said.
Those words did not prompt the kinds of boos from this crowd that they would have from the River End stands. But Scheer, who has become the public face of the front office with sporting director Ernst Tanner on administrative leave, isn’t ignorant of that, either. He’s a West Windsor, N.J., native who played and coached at the University of Delaware, and scouted for U.S. Soccer before joining the Union’s staff eight years ago.
Jon Scheer spoke for more than an hour about the inner workings of the Union’s academy.
Trophies count most for measuring the club, of course, but below that is another way to measure success. The Union now aren’t just viewed as the top American club for developing U.S. national team talent; they can put numbers behind it.
Last year, a total of 57 Union players and prospects were called up to U.S. youth national teams. That is easily the best of any MLS club, with the Los Angeles Galaxy second at 52 and the Chicago Fire third at 40. It’s also a long way past the league’s former standard-bearers, FC Dallas (32) and the New York Red Bulls (24).
“We want to use that as a recruitment tool for the next wave of kids to say if you come here, we’ll be able to push you on to a higher level — whether that be for the national team or beyond,” Scheer said.
“Ultimately, if we have a bunch of kids in youth national teams and nobody in the senior national team, then that’s good, but our goal is to get them into the senior squad,” he said.
Medford native Brenden Aaronson (11) is the best example of a Union product who has made it big on the world stage. Aaronson plays for Leeds United in the English Premier League and the U.S. national team.
‘Everybody has a plan’
It’s also, of course, a goal to have them play for the Union. And yes, it’s another goal to sell players on to European clubs, ideally for big sums.
“If our goal was just for our academy teams to win [youth tournament] championships, that would shape how we would build our rosters week after week,” Scheer said. “But [we’re] knowing that we need to, for our strategy, develop players, place them in the first team, showcase them to the world, transition them on to bigger clubs, and then use those resources to reinvest.
“Not just in the academy, also into player scouting and recruitment for the first team.”
Scheer went deep on how the high school works. He talked about the philosophy of the place, the teachers, and how they educate kids on a combination of soccer and serious academics. Some of the graduates who haven’t turned pro have gone on to major colleges, including Ivy League ones.
He showed a slide with the students’ typical daily schedule, with blocks of training and blocks of classes. He also detailed the residency aspect, for which the Union bought a house in South Jersey not far from the Commodore Barry Bridge. Twelve players and two adults who oversee them now live there.
“About 80% of our academy is from the Greater Philadelphia region,” Scheer said. “We never see it becoming 50-50.”
Union forward prospect Sal Olivas is an example of a player who came to the team’s youth academy from afar — in his case El Paso, Texas.
Later in the presentation, he posted a detailed slide showing an example of an Individual Development Plan. The player on the slide happened to be 16-year-old striker Malik Jakupovic, the team’s second-most-hyped prospect right now after Cavan Sullivan.
“Yes, our top talents have a little bit more of an advanced plan, and a little bit more focus — of course, because that’s our goal, to push players into the first team,” Scheer said. “But everybody has a plan, and this is something we’re trying to improve.”
He talked about Sullivan, too, after an audience member asked.
“At the end of the day, Cavan has to do well here in order to play, in order to maximize his opportunity to try to play in the Premier League for Manchester City, and that’s what we all want,” Scheer said, a rare instance of the Union directly mentioning the future move.
“There’s things that we do, that we talk about, that they’ve taken; and there’s things that they do that selfishly we can take and maybe apply to our environment.”
Cavan Sullivan (left) in action for the Union last year.
And for as much as the Union “want to develop him individually really, really well,” Scheer also made a clear point about the present.
“Cavan’s got to focus on every day,” he said, “and be a good teammate, and be competitive, and play in a great way, to be playing in MLS.”
Some of the coaches in the room surely wanted insight on the Union’s tactics and playing style. Scheer gave it to them, with slide headlines like Active vs. Reactive, Forward First, and Synchronized Sprinting.
Another slide listed six key qualities for a prospect, aligned in a circle: Comfort On The Ball, Psychosocial Characteristics, Game Understanding & Decision Making, Ball Recovery, and Physical Qualities.
Then, over in the corner, there was another: Special Weapon. Scheer stopped there for a moment.
Jon Scheer’s slide detailing much-touted Union striker prospect Malik Jakupovic.
“We value a special skill set [with] talent that might be innate — something that differentiates a player from their peers,” he said. “We think that might give them a better chance to get them through the door of MLS.”
And if that one skill comes with deficiencies elsewhere?
“We’d rather invest time in that player, because that one characteristic is so unique, to then see how they develop in the other areas,” Scheer said. “And we approach our scouting overseas for our first team in the same way as well.”
‘There’s no magic pill’
Those words might have turned on a light in some Union fans’ heads, because they seemed to match the fates of Jack McGlynn and David Vazquez. Both are wonderfully skilled players, but their tenures in Chester were cut short for not ultimately fitting what the first team’s manager wanted.
The Union sold Jack McGlynn to Houston afer deciding he wasn’t going to be a long-term fit in their playing style.
“It doesn’t mean that special weapon is just going to guarantee playing time,” Scheer said. “But a lot of times we’ll interact with the first team manager, they’ll see the player, they’ll provide opinion on the player for years to come, and then they’ll work with the player.”
He added that the coaching staff and front office are doing their best “to try and maximize and make sure we’re aligned on the player pool. If things aren’t working, “it’s about just evaluating each individual and trying to make the best decision.”
At every level of the Union, there’s a balance to strike between the system and the individual. It’s Scheer’s job to find it every day.
“You don’t want the individual to feel like they’re always dispensable, and it’s only the game model that’s valuable,” he said. “You also want players that have personality and that can make mistakes. If we’re going to play forward first, you have to be brave in order to be able to do that.”
Malik Jakupovic has been training with the Union’s first team during this preseason.
The same goes for coaches.
“If we’re screaming at our kids every session and game, or we’re always being deliberate and explicit in terms of the information we give them, that is going to stifle creativity and decision-making, that will affect development,” Scheer said.
“So how we go about teaching, how we go about running our sessions, how we can carry ourselves on the sideline, how we educate ourselves in the ages and stages of development, that’s really, really important.”
He concluded his point on a philosophical note, one that might make sense well beyond soccer.
“There’s no magic pill,” he said. “There’s no magic answer.”
Joel Embiid and Paul George, once again, showed why their presence is vital to the 76ers’ success.
Jared McCain appears to have regained his shooting touch.
And in his third season as the Milwaukee Bucks coach, Doc Rivers still thinks back fondly on his time leading the Sixers.
These things stood out in Tuesday’s 139-122 victory over the Bucks at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
The Embiid and George impact
If we learned anything over the past two days, it’s that the Sixers (25-21) are a better team when Embiid and George are in the lineup.
Without them Monday, the Sixers suffered an embarrassing 130-93 road loss to the Eastern Conference’s 11th-place Charlotte Hornets. It was a game where they trailed by as many as 50 points.
With Embiid and George back Tuesday, the Sixers led wire-to-wire in a blowout victory over the 12th-place Bucks (18-27). The duo combined to score 61 points.
George finished with a game-high 32 points while making nine three-pointers, tying Tyrese Maxey (Oct. 28, 2022), Danny Green (Jan. 9, 2021), and Dana Barros (Jan. 27, 1995) for the franchise record.
“I got a little thirsty late in the game, trying to get to 10,” George said. “Kyle [Lowry] was in my ear the whole fourth quarter to get a couple more. But you know, those things happen when everything aligns. I thought we played great offensively as a unit. And, you know, the ball just found me in those moments and knocked shots down.”
So did Embiid, who finished with 29 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Embiid dominated from the start, scoring 18 of his points while playing the entire first quarter.
He did that in a variety of ways: jumpers, tip-ins, and even a reverse layup. But his highlight came on a second-quarter alley-oop dunk off a pass from Maxey.
“I don’t know if that was a wise decision, but it felt good,” said Embiid, who has been dealing with knee injuries. “That was the first one in probably four, five years …”
He said it wasn’t a wise decision because he doesn’t usually go for dunks and alley-oops.
“But it’s fun,” Embiid said. “Everybody gets happy, so that makes me happy.”
Tyrese Maxey (right) looks on after sending an alley-oop to Joel Embiid, who dunked in the second quarter of Tuesday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
“I was telling a very, very, very Hall of Fame player that I coached, ‘Joel is the most talented player that I ever coached,’ “ Rivers said before the game. “He was like, ‘What?’ I was like, ‘He is.’ The things that you guys see and then the things you actually don’t see in practice, sometimes, that he can do, it’s incredible. It really is.
“Unfortunately for me, I never had him healthy once in the playoffs. He wasn’t healthy last year. He wasn’t healthy the year before. That’s five years straight, I think. If he ever gets to the playoffs healthy, especially if they added some big pieces here, they are going to be a dangerous team. But it’s always going to come down to that.”
After intermission, Embiid was content with setting teammates up for quality shots. He passed out of double-teams. And when Embiid didn’t have the ball, he instructed teammates where passes should go.
George made 11 of 21 from the field, including 16 in the third quarter while making 4 of 6 threes.
“I think coach [Nick Nurse] called my number early, and just go off from there,” George said of taking over the third quarter.
Tyrese Maxey (left) and Joel Embiid share a laugh in Tuesday’s win over the Bucks at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
But what enabled him to have his best shooting performance of the season? Was this a matchup that he liked?
“I just know Doc,” said George, who played for Rivers during the 2019-20 season with the Los Angeles Clippers. “I know his coverages. I know his play calling. I know what he’s looking at, what he’s looking for, how he’s going to guard me.
“… These days just feel like some of my best days, as far as my body responds and, you know. But if anything, it’s how today felt.”
The duo’s presence also opened up the floor for Maxey, who was voted an All-Star starter. The point guard finished with 22 points one night after finishing with a season-low six points on 3-for-12 shooting.
The Sixers shot 52.5 %, including 22 of 42 three-pointers, after shooting just 38.9% while hitting 9 of 31 three-pointers against the Hornets (19-28).
Milwaukee played without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. And this was just the Sixers’ fourth victory in 10 games. But the way George and Embiid are now playing after getting healthy, George thinks the Sixers can contend for the Eastern Conference title.
“I think we’re right there with the New York Knicks, with the Clevelands,” he said. “I think we are right in the mix. When things are clicking, and we’re playing the right way, and we’re firing on all cylinders, we still have the one unguardable player [in Embiid], and that’s the trump card.
“So yeah, absolutely, we got a chance.”
Sixers guard Jared McCain finished with 17 points, shooting 5 of 6 from three in the win over the Bucks.
Sharpshooting McCain
Based on his last two performances, McCain’s slump is definitely over. And judging by the applause he received Tuesday night, Sixers fans appear to be back on board with the former Duke standout.
McCain, who shot just 31.3% from the field in a recent 10-game stretch, had 17 points while shooting 6-for-8 — including making 5 of 6 three-pointers — to go with three assists. This came after he made 4 of 8 threes while scoring 16 points against the Hornets on Monday.
Before that game, McCain racked up a did-not-play coach’s decision in four of the Sixers’ last five games. In the one game he played, he only played the last 47 seconds in a comfortable victory over the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 19.
With Quentin Grimes sidelined with a sprained right ankle, McCain was the first player off the bench against the Bucks, and he took full advantage.
The Sixers fired Rivers on May 16, 2023, two days after he received a lot of the blame for their 112-88 Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals at TD Garden. It marked the third consecutive season that Rivers’ squad has suffered a second-round postseason exit.
The Sixers lost in seven games to the Atlanta Hawks in 2021 before losing in six games to the Miami Heat the following season.
The 2022-23 team looked like it had a chance to compete for an NBA title. Yet the Sixers looked like a team that quit in the second half during their Game 7 loss to Boston.
Tyrese Maxey leaps toward Joel Embiid after Maxey sent an alley-oop to Embiid, who dunked the ball in the second quarter.
Those factors, along with an inability to get out of the second round, were the reasons the Sixers fired Brett Brown as coach in August 2020.
Under Rivers, the Sixers clinched the 2021 Eastern Conference regular-season title. Their 54-28 record in 2022-23 was their best mark since going 56-26 in 2000-01. And Embiid’s game improved each year under Rivers, leading to his becoming the 2023 MVP.
But the Sixers hired Rivers to get them at least beyond the second round. And that never happened.
“I love my time here,” he said before Tuesday’s game. “I say it all the time, I took a job where the year before they lost in the first round as the eighth seed. And the first year, we won the East in the regular season. We were one game away twice from getting in the Eastern finals, which was never my goal. My goal was to get to the finals. I get the history that the team hasn’t gone [since 2001], but your goal has to be higher than that.
“I was only here for three years. But the three years, I think my winning record was as good as any coach that has been here. So I loved it.”
Rivers compiled a 154-82 record over his three seasons in Philly. The 64-year-old talked about the “unbelievable relationships” he developed while coaching the Sixers. He said he probably gained 15 pounds while living in Philly because of the restaurants he frequented.
“I don’t know if you guys know there’s a lot of restaurants here,” Rivers said. “And then Philly Cricket [Club], I’m still a member. I come back in the summer, and I play it. If I had not ever coached here, I would not still be doing those things.
“So it’s nice when you get friendships and stuff like that.”
As Jared McCain’s transition three-pointer splashed through the net, VJ Edgecombe yelled “Yeah, ‘Mac!’” in his face.
And on the opposite end of the floor, the 76ers’ bench was going nuts for the second-year guard.
“That’s all you want as a player,” McCain said. “Making shots, you want your team to be excited for you. When I looked over at the bench and they were all jumping up and down, it was a fun time.”
They were celebrating one of the four three-pointers that McCain buried during Tuesday’s fourth quarter as part of a 17-point night on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. It was the scoring punch the Sixers needed in a 139-122 bounce-back home victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, with sixth man Quentin Grimes out with a sprained ankle.
More importantly, it was a long-awaited breakout performance for McCain, who has struggled to rediscover his offensive rhythm since returning from knee and thumb surgeries.
“What I’m most grateful for,” McCain said, “is just being able to stay mentally ready and know it’s going to come.”
McCain entered Tuesday averaging 6.4 points on 36.1% shooting from the floor in 32 games. It felt far removed from last season, when the former first-round draft pick averaged 15.3 points — and connected on 38.3% of his 5.8 three-point attempts — in his first 23 NBA games, making him an early Rookie of the Year front-runner before a torn meniscus and thumb ligament sidelined him for nearly 11 months.
Yet Tuesday’s welcomed upswing also could be viewed as a continuation of perhaps the only silver lining of the Sixers’ dreadful 130-93 loss Monday afternoon in Charlotte, N.C. With the starters removed in the fourth quarter, McCain, who played one season at nearby Duke, scored 12 of his 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep.
There was no such thing as garbage time, McCain insisted. The cliche that simply seeing the ball drop through the net builds confidence is accurate, he added. And when Grimes was ruled out of Tuesday’s matchup about an hour before tipoff, McCain knew he would get rotation minutes.
Those came even quicker when Edgecombe picked up two early fouls. McCain got his first two buckets — stepping into a three-pointer from the left wing, then driving to the bucket for a crafty layup — while playing in the two-man game with star center Joel Embiid. Nurse also appreciated McCain’s “really good decisions” with the ball in his hands, with three assists in 24 minutes, 10 seconds and using attacks to ignite the “chain-reaction ball movement” as the Sixers shot 52.5% from the floor.
Then came McCain’s fourth-quarter shooting flurry.
He opened the period by taking a dribble handoff from Paul George for a pull-up from the right wing to give the Sixers a 109-95 advantage. Then he spotted up for another less than three minutes later, pushing the Sixers’ lead to 16 points. And 20 seconds after taking the feed from Edgecombe for that fastbreak launch, McCain received a pass off an offensive rebound by Justin Edwards for the corner shot.
“Maybe I’m starting to predict the future,” All-Star teammate Tyrese Maxey said after the game, “I [told McCain], ‘Man you’re going to hit four threes tonight.’ And he hit five.’”
The Sixers hope Jared McCain is reclaiming the form that had him billed as an early Rookie of the Year candidate last season.
Before this week, McCain had been navigating a challenging path back to the court.
He dealt with a clunky knee brace that made him feel unbalanced, along with protection on his shooting hand. Though Nurse said McCain needed to log more minutes to work through rust and mistakes, Edgecombe and Grimes had passed him on the depth chart. McCain was assigned to the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats for a second time less than two weeks ago, going 5-of-18 from the floor and committing six turnovers in his only game at the Noblesville Boom on Jan. 18. He traveled from Indiana back to the Sixers less than 48 hours later, but still had slipped completely out of the rotation.
During that stretch as an observer, McCain said he paid close attention to where he would get shots in the Sixers’ offense and visualized those attempts going in. He also rededicated himself to the practice of staying present. During Tuesday’s morning meditation, he said, he focused on feeling his breath in through his nostrils, then the heat of the exhale on his upper lip.
“That just sets you into the present moment,” McCain said, “and I think that’s what I carried over.”
Nurse, meanwhile, recognized the adversity had initially been “really hard” for McCain to shoulder. Yet the coach noticed a recent flip to more outward positivity “whether he’s playing or not, which is hard to do coming out of the season he had” before the injuries.
“I just keep telling him to have patience and hang in there,” Nurse said. “I say to him, ‘Listen, things will change, I guarantee you. Before too long, something’s going to happen where something’s going to open up for you.”
That opportunity arrived Tuesday. And it culminated in four long-range splashes in the fourth quarter — and a fired-up Sixers bench.
“I knew my time was going to come,” McCain said. “And I knew it’s going to continue to come.”
You’ve probably never heard of Eugène Sue, a French surgeon under Napoleon and later the writer credited with first use of the phrase, “La vengeance se mange très-bien froide.”
Loosely translated, it means, “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” It has been uttered by characters as diverse as Vito Corleone in The Godfather novel, to Khan Noonien Singh, a Klingon warlord in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”
Now, in Bill Belichick’s hour of disappointment and shame, Philly can savor revenge.
Despite winning a record six Super Bowls, Belichick — whose era as Patriots coach coincided with two of the most notorious cheating schemes in NFL history — failed to secure the minimum 40 of 50 votes required to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He will not be a first-ballot inductee, according to an ESPN.com report Tuesday.
This shocked the sports world.
Former defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who never played for Belichick, said on Twitter/X that there is “not a single world whatsoever” in which Belichick shouldn’t be a first-ballot inductee.
I can’t be reading this right.
This has to be some knock-off Hall of Fame or something, it can’t be the actual NFL Hall of Fame.
There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer. https://t.co/OXhL1Sd4FM
Voters are not required to reveal their votes, but Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson said voters who do not admit to omitting Belichick from their ballot are “cowardly.”
Like so many, they were shocked. Like so many, they were outraged.
They should not have been.
Hall of Fame voters hate cheaters.
Carlos Beltrán, who helped run an illegal sign-stealing scheme for the Houston Astros, had to wait four years to gain entrance to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and Roger Clemens, Herculean heroes all implicated in PED scandals, might never make it in.
I voted for all of those guys, and I’d have voted for Belichick, too, if I’d had a vote (the panel is a rotating hodgepodge of 50 mostly credible experts). But I understand. I understand why at least 10 voters banned Bill.
Why should Belichick, a proven and penalized two-time cheater, be treated any better than other scofflaw? He might not be Pete Rose, but he ain’t Bill Walsh, either.
Bill Belichick’s wins are a matter of record but some of his off-field tactics apparently gave voters pause.
The voters convened on Jan. 13 to discuss the fates of the Hall of Fame finalists, among them Belichick, whose 302 wins are a record in the Super Bowl era (30 of Don Shula’s 328 wins predate the Super Bowl). Reportedly amid the discussion: Belichick’s role in “Spygate,” an illegal videotaping scheme that Belichick conducted from 2000, the year he was hired as the Patriots’ head coach, through early 2007, when they were caught red-handed while taping the Jets’ sideline during a road game.
This incident came just over a year after the league issued a memorandum reminding teams of the parameters and definitions of illegal recording.
The penalty was a $500,000 fine for Belichick, a $250,000 fine for the Patriots, and the loss of their first-round pick in the 2008 draft.
But there was no way to secure reparations from the teams who had been cheated — possibly among them, the 2004 Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.
Thanks in part to the efforts of former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, it has since been established that the Patriots recorded opponents’ signs before and after that game.
It was a hot topic. How hot?
Shanin Specter, a Philadelphia attorney and the late senator’s son, told The Inquirer in 2021 that, in 2008, President Donald Trump — then a private citizen — appeared to offer Specter’s father a bribe if he would drop his investigation into Spygate.
The real ones didn’t need an investigation. They knew what was happening as it was happening.
In a story in 2018, former Eagles defensive backs coach Steve Spagnuolo told a Philadelphia radio station that, at Super Bowl XXXIX, Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson accused the Patriots of stealing the Eagles’ signs during the game. The Patriots seemed to know what was coming even when the Eagles employed rarely-used schemes and plays.
How did this specter of cheating arise so many years later?
The ESPN report indicated that Bill Polian, a Hall of Fame member as an NFL executive and a current voter, lobbied against Belichick during that Jan. 13 meeting. He cited the incidence of Belichick’s cheating, and he had skin in the game.
Polian was president and GM of the Colts when the Patriots, in the middle of their Spygate era, knocked them out of the playoffs after the 2003 and 2004 seasons. On Tuesday night, Polian denied to ESPN that he had told voters that Belichick should serve a one-year penance, but, incredibly — as in, not credibly — Polian said he was unable to recall if he’d voted for Belichick.
Polian wasn’t with Indianapolis after 2011, but he remained close to the franchise, so he wasn’t happy when the Colts were victims of Belichick’s other moment of ignominy.
At halftime of the 2014 AFC championship game in New England, NFL officials were alerted by Colts players that the footballs the Patriots were using seemed soft. The balls were examined, deemed to be illegal, and an investigation commenced.
That’s how Belichick and the Patriots were implicated in “Deflategate.” Eventually, they were found to have routinely, intentionally, and illegally deflated footballs they used on game days to make them easier to pass, catch, and hold on to. Furthermore, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was found to have destroyed evidence during the investigation. (Belichick denied knowledge of the matter, and the Wells Report into Deflategate found that Belichick was not involved, but many observers remain unconvinced).
This time the league fined the Patriots $1 million, suspended Brady for the first four games of the 2015 season, and took away the Patriots’ 2016 first-round pick and their 2017 fourth-round pick.
Bill Belichick will not join former Eagle Brian Dawkins in the Pro Football Hall of Fame … at least this year.
Today, most folks look past Belichick’s cheating, especially on Tuesday, when the story broke. They point at his innovation, his preparation, and his ability to maximize the abilities of every player, from Brady to Richard Seymour to Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski.
But just enough folks apparently did not. Just enough folks think Belichick should have to wait a bit before he gets his bust and his jacket.
Just enough folks did not look past Belichick’s sins.
Shula died in 2020, but somewhere, you have to think ol’ Don’s smiling. He despised Belichick’s methodology.
“The ‘Spygate’ thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished. You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments,“ Shula said in 2007, during the Patriots’ failed attempt to match his 1972 Dolphins’ perfect season.
Seven years later, when asked about Belichick’s feats to that point, Shula replied with the nickname Belichick’s detractors had given him: “Beli-Cheat?”
Since becoming Temple’s women’s basketball coach in 2022, Diane Richardson has introduced her team to WNBA players and had them participate in community events.
From Philly’s Kahleah Copper attending nearly every practice during Richardson’s first two seasons to having the Owls hold a camp for girls, Richardson has been an ongoing advocate for women’s basketball in the city.
With an WNBA franchise set to come to Philadelphia in 2030, she hopes the fandom will continue to grow. In the meantime, Unrivaled will make its first trip out of Miami and play at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday — in front of a sold-out crowd.
“To get Unrivaled sold out in a matter of days, that tells you we are ready for the WNBA,” Richardson said. “I think we’ll have sold-out stadiums when the WNBA gets here.”
Richardson has been at the forefront of the push to grow women’s basketball in Philly. Unrivaled is another event to get the city ready — and the support has been encouraging.
General manager Howie Roseman (left) and head coach Nick Sirianni have much to consider that goes beyond the offensive coordinator search.
Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman, and Nick Sirianni are tasked with making a variety of staffing and personnel decisions over the next several months to return the Eagles to Super Bowl contention next season. With the coaching carousel spinning and free agency and the draft looming, here’s where the Birds could start with their decision-making.
And there’s a lot of anxiety surrounding the Eagles, particularly about the fact that they haven’t hired an offensive coordinator yet.
Maybe that’s because the NFL’s passing game isn’t necessarily what it used to be. But that doesn’t mean it can’t evolve with the right strategy, and in the Eagles’ case, the right coordinator, writes Mike Sielski.
What we’re…
🤔 Wondering: This year’s Super Bowl will feature the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. Are there any local connections?
📺 Watching: A hometown favorite will appear on your television screens during a Budweiser Super Bowl ad: Lincoln the bald eagle.
🏈 Debating: Who were your favorite NFL color analysts this season? Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes ranks his.
Jared McCain (20) celebrates a three-pointer that was part of his 17-point night in a win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
The one big takeaway from the Sixers’ 139-122 comeback win against Milwaukee last night is that despite the on-again, off-again nights from Joel Embiid and Paul George, it’s still electric when those two are on the floor — together. The duo accounted for 61 of the team’s total, with George finishing with a game-high 32 points.
It allowed other important pieces not to be relied on as heavily in what was as close to a team performance as we’ve seen from the Sixers this season. Inquirer writer Keith Pompey has more on the pair and what appeared to also be a revival of Jared McCain.
Next up, the Sixers will look to run it back against Sacramento in the second of a three-game homestand at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday (7 p.m., NBCSP).
Flyers’ Christian Dvorak, Travis Konecny and Trevor Zegras gather during stoppage on Jan. 17.
The Flyers have been scuffling of late, having lost eight of their last 10, and a big reason why has been the dropoff from their No. 1 line of Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny, and Christian Dvorak.
The Flyers need more from the high-scoring trio and Rick Tocchet believes it starts with them playing a more honest 200-foot game.
“I hate to use the word cheating; they’re cheating for offense,” Tocchet said of his top line’s game recently.
“You’ve got to play the right way. You’ll get the same amount of chances in the long run, and that’s the way you’re supposed to play the game anyway.”
Speaking of the Flyers’ struggles, here’s what the players had to say after Monday’s disappointing 4-0 loss.
Sports snapshot
Villanova’s Devin Askew goes for a loose ball during a win over Georgetown at Finneran Pavilion on Jan. 21.
What do Phillies prospect Aidan Miller and the Dodgers have in common when it comes to World Series chances? A whole lot of upside.
The Phillies were always going to enter spring training needing to look inward in order to catch up to the Dodgers. In more ways than one. They are going to need to get some sort of impact from their minor league system.
Aidan Miller is the kind of prospect who can alter a team’s long-term trajectory. It’s the type of production the Dodgers are shelling out billions for, and what the Phillies are aspiring to, writes columnist David Murphy.
Al Luecke, 77, of Fishtown, a regular at J.R’s Saloon for 25 years, playing pool on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.
Sure, the Super Bowl is basically just another football game when the Eagles aren’t playing, but it is the perfect excuse to scope out a new dive bar to become a regular before next season. Last month, our colleagues on the food team asked for recommendations for Philly’s best and most unsung dive bars.
After combing through more than 400 responses, the final list includes dives of all stripes, from bars that only air the Mike & Merrill broadcast to ones with juicy roast beef sandwiches, pre- and post-game karaoke, and the occasional sub $5 Citywide.
🧠 Trivia time answer
Which athlete has won the most MVP awards while playing with Philadelphia’s professional teams?
A) Wilt Chamberlain, who won four MVP awards — Michael P. was first with the correct answer.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Keith Pompey, Colin Schofield, Olivia Reiner, David Murphy, Marcus Hayes, Mike Sielski, Ryan Mack, Jeff Neiburg, Jonathan Tannenwald, Jackie Spiegel, Jenn Ladd, Beatrice Forman, and Ariel Simpson.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
As always, thanks for reading. Stay warm this week. Kerith will be in your inbox with Thursday’s newsletter. — Bella
