Lucas Fired as Coach of 76ers

PHILADELPHIA —  John Lucas once joked that he demanded three titles when he took the job of rebuilding the Philadelphia 76ers because friends told him to ask for as many as he could get.

Having already been dismissed as vice president of basketball operations and general manager, Lucas was fired as coach Monday, three weeks after the team completed the season with the second-worst record in the NBA.

“We felt the best thing to do was move in a different direction,” said Brad Greenberg, who last week was hired as general manager, replacing Lucas. Greenberg said he hoped to hire a new coach by the NBA draft on June 26.

This season, Philadelphia was 18-64, better only than the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies. The 76ers set an NBA record for sustained futility by losing successively more games in each of the last six seasons.

Greenberg, a former Portland Trail Blazer executive, met with Lucas late last week. He said he decided to fire Lucas over the weekend. “He did a fine job . . . but it’s time to move on,” Greenberg said. “This is a new organization right now.”

Also dismissed were assistant coaches Ron Adams and Tom Thibodeau.

Lucas, 42-122 in his two seasons with Philadelphia, said: “This is a deal of wins and losses and I can accept the consequences of that. I know a lot of [the losing] will point to me and that is what this job entails.”