Happy 80th Birthday To The 76ers Sixth Man, Alan Horwitz
Here in Philadelphia, we are known for having some of the best fans in the world. We are passionate and knowledgeable, and most importantly, we show up no matter what. With that being said, there may be one fan who sticks out the most, especially when it comes to the 76ers, and that is the 6th man himself, Alan Horwitz.
Well, yesterday, the sixth man celebrated his 80th birthday, and I can assure you that he has been the biggest 76ers fan for every second of those 80 years!
To celebrate his birthday, of course, he was in attendance to see the Sixers take on the defending NBA Finals champions, the Denver Nuggets.
Not only that, but the team honored him with the opportunity to be the honorary pregame bell ringer, which is a big deal!
Alan got the crowd into it right away, and I think it helped propel the team to a huge victory last night behind an amazing performance from Joel Embiid. The MVP checked in with 41 points, and the team beat the Nuggets by a score of 126-121.
The 76ers were not the only ones to honor Alan last night, either. We also announced that Alan will be honored by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The sixth man will be going into the Hall of Fame as a fan ambassador in the class of 2024. I can’t think of a higher honor for one of the best fans of all time.
I have known Alan for over 20 years, and he truly is one of the greatest human beings you will ever meet. Not to mention all of the charitable things he does in the Philadelphia community and with the 76ers.
He is a class act!
So I hope you enjoyed your 80th, Alan! I can’t wait for you to be honored this summer at the Hall of Fame!
Go Sixers!
More from Matt Cord…
Joel Embiid Is The MVP Of The NBA
Another trophy is making its way to South Philly and taking its rightful home right on Broad Street.
Joel “The Process” Embiid was officially awarded the MVP of the NBA last night, and a lot of us think it has been a long time coming.
The big fella had quite the season!
He led the NBA in points per game with 33.1 and brought in 10.2 rebounds per game, which was good for 8th in the league.
Plus, he got his teammates involved, averaging 4.2 assists per game.
Embiid is the fifth Philadelphia 76ers player to win the award with Wilt Chamberlain winning in 1966, 1967, and 1968, Julius “Dr. J” Erving winning in 1981, Moses Malone winning in 1983, and Allen Iverson winning in 2001.
This is the second MVP season I have had the pleasure to watch up close as the public address announcer for the team.
Both seasons were legendary between Iverson’s season in ‘01 and Joel’s this year!
We all know the ‘01 season ended in an NBA Finals appearance, so hopefully, his year is similar, but we actually finish the job this time and win it all!
But that discussion is for another day!
Today is all about Embiid!
It has been a pleasure to watch him grow as a basketball player.
From a guy who couldn’t get on the floor his first two years due to injury to the best player in the world!
Also, off the floor, he is one of the funniest players to be around.
For example, when we were in London in 2018, I snagged a funny photo of him imitating Dikembe Mutumbo’s finger wave!
That’s just one small moment that sticks out of him as a person.
I look forward to doing his intro every night because I know it is going to be the loudest the crowd gets during the pregame night in and night out.
Plus, I can’t forget our pregame ritual where I give him his first pass of the night and then after getting a feel for the game ball, he passes it back to me so I can give it to the referee!
It is so cool to see all his teammates react and give him his flowers!
He deserves them all!
But I’m sure his focus right now isn’t even on winning the award, it’s on trying to get healthy for his team and working towards a championship!
So let’s get it done, big fella!
Congrats!
Matt Cord is the host of the Matt Cord Show. He is a lover of all Philly Sports and has been the voice of the Sixers for 27 years and NBA2K for the past 4 years. As a cyclist enthusiast, Matt writes about his adventures all throughout the city.
