Collins talks Sixers

At the mid-way point of the season, the 76ers are currently sitting 9th in the Eastern Conference and the injuries continue to mount.  Head coach Doug Collins recently spoke of the team struggles and also how fortunate some of his players are to even play in the NBA.  

"Last night, after the game we had to let Shelvin Mack go," Collins said Thursday. "It's one of the tough things in the business to see a guy who last night was told he didn't have a job. I shared that with our guys today. We had to look around in the locker room last night and see that guy get his stuff and leave, and he doesn't have a job. As much as that game stung, losing, Shelvin Mack is as quality a human being as you'll ever find, and to see him leave that locker room was very sad to me.

"You look and here's Thad [Young], who's injured; you got J-Rich [Jason Richardson] who's looking at season-ending knee surgery; you've got Jeremy Pargo on a 10-day contract [signed Thursday] and a man lost his job [Wednesday] night. You think there's anybody out there in the outside world that feels sorry for any of us? Let's focus and let's understand that it is a privilege to play basketball. And the moment you ever look at basketball as a job, you can't play at the highest level because then it becomes work. Basketball should be joy, and it should be fun. The moment it becomes a job, then it becomes work and nobody likes to go to work, everybody likes to go play."