So much for having a marrrrrvelous coach.

According to a report by Bob Ford in the Inquirer, the Sixers are wishing for Doug Collins to retire… so they don’t have to fire (and pay) him:

According to multiple league sources, the 76ers organization privately hopes that coach Doug Collins decides not to return for the 2013-14 season and, regardless of his decision, it does not intend to extend his contract – which has one year remaining.

“I think he’s gone at the end of the year. He’ll be moving on,” said one NBA source with intimate knowledge of the situation. “He’ll decide to leave, and they won’t be upset about it. They would like to see it work out that he decides to move on.”

Collins, who will be 62 this summer, will be the one making the decision. Management is not eager to get into a public-relations war with a popular former player and charismatic local hero. The two sides would have to come to an agreement to settle the contract, but if that is the price of a peaceful parting, the organization might consider it a bargain.

Collins is owed $4.5 million next year. If he retires, he doesn’t get that money. If he’s fired, he does. That means there could be an awkward breakup, one that it sounds like the Sixers would like to avoid, for PR reasons. But why? Spike Eskin put it perfectly on CBSPhilly.com:

It’s also a ridiculous concern, because to have a public relations issue, the public has to care in the first place. In case the team hasn’t noticed the thousands upon thousands of empty seats at every game, slim to no chatter on sports radio or at the proverbial water cooler about the team, or any other of the many signs that no one cares about the team right now, let me be the first to deliver the news; guys, nobody cares. When I say nobody, I don’t mean to insult the die-hards that stick with the team through thick and thin, but the group is small and waning, and is made up largely by sadomasochists.

The new ownership group has spent two years trying cull the best moments and figures from the Sixers’ past. Collins is a part of that. But the team has extremely overestimated how much people care about that shit, especially since they’re the fourth, perhaps fifth, team in the city. Bringing back old songs, Dr. J, and Wilt Chamberlains’ court are nice touches, but those things aren’t winning them any new fans. Same with their love of Collins– he just used to play for the team and speaks well. Now he’s become kind of annoying, and I don’t think his players like him. It would be a good move, moving on.