The Sixers added another big man on Thursday.
Former NBA power forward Alaa Abdelnaby has been named the Sixers' new TV color analyst for the 2015-16 season. He will team with Marc Zumoff to call the action, starting Thursday night in the Sixers' second preseason game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Abdelnaby, 47, had a five-year NBA career from 1990 to 1995, playing for the Blazers and Celtics before joining the Sixers for three games in his final season. He was a first-round pick in 1990 after a four-year career at Duke in which he made three Final Fours.
"Timing is a lot in life, and I think this team is on the rise," Abdelnaby said Thursday. "I think with the pieces that the Sixers have acquired over the offseason, a guy like [Jahlil] Okafor in particular, a Duke guy, for me in particular it's even more relatable a place because of his presence here. But this team is rising, and for me to be able to hitch my ride at this moment is a great opportunity, one I couldn't pass up."
Abdelnaby replaces Malik Rose as Zumoff's broadcast partner. Rose left this summer to take a job as manager of basketball operations for the Atlanta Hawks.
Abdelnaby previously served as an analyst for CBS Sports, Westwood One Radio, and for TNT on Duke's 2015 Final Four teamcast.
"These are savvy basketball fans here," Abdelnaby said. "There's no talking down to them. Hopefully with the enthusiasm and the team winning, they'll like what they're seeing on the screen."
NBA
Abdelnaby is excited by the Sixers' trajectory, and he sees some similarities between them and the team currently residing at the top of the NBA mountain.
"I equate it to what was happening with our current NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors. Five years ago, they were in disarray," he said. "There was a lot of talk about when and if [the Warriors] were going to get out of the mud and out of their losing ways. And look at them now, they're the best team in the league.
"I think the Sixers are doing the same thing, trying to find winners along the way until they establish themselves. You're getting pieces here slowly but surely, and again, from a big guy's perspective, the idea that this team could potentially have three seven-footers moving forward is very exciting."
You can hear Abdelnaby's debut Thursday at 7 p.m. on The Comcast Network when the Sixers host the Cavs.