‘The best of the best’: Matt Cord is leaving the Sixers after 28 years
Cord is also the midday host on WMMR, where he replaced the late Pierre Robert.
A big voice is leaving the Sixers.
Matt Cord, the team’s longtime public address announcer, is hanging up his headset at the end of the season after nearly three decades.
“I have always wanted to go out on top, and I believe I’m still on top,” Cord said. “I figured, why not now?”
Cord, who also hosts Pierre Robert’s former midday slot on WMMR, said he’ll turn 67 this summer and has thought about retiring for the Sixers job for a while. But it was a discussion with former Sixers play-by-play announcer Marc Zumoff during the team’s recent 2001 reunion night that pushed Cord forward.
“Not only did Mark go out on top, but he left it in great hands with Kate Scott,” Cord said. “So I said, ‘I want to do that.’”
The Sixers have not yet announced a replacement, though Wilmington Blue Coats public address announcer Rob Strauss has filled in for Cord at times this season.
“He’s phenomenal,” Cord said.
The Sixers said they plan to celebrate Cord’s career “in the near future” and hailed his impact on the team and Philly sports fans.
“Matt’s iconic voice helped define our game experience for generations of 76ers fans, and his unique style and presence narrated some of the best moments in franchise history,” the team said in a statement.
Cord’s signature style has served as the in-game soundtrack for Sixers fans for 28 years, dating back to the Allen Iverson era. He has also worked for the team as a senior correspondent, and his voice has appeared on 2K’s popular NBA games.
“A. Six. Foot. Guaaarrrrdddd frooom Georgetown. Number three. Allllleeeeen I-verson,” Cord beamed as he introduced Iverson’s return to the Sixers in 2009.
“Matt is just the best of the best,” Steve Morrison, one half of the popular Preston & Steve Show, said on-air Wednesday morning.
While Cord is obviously identified with his Iverson call, he said die-hard Sixers fans still stop him on the street at times to hear his intro for Jumaine Jones, the former first-round pick who only spent three seasons in Philly.
“Six-eight, frrroooom Georgia. Number thirty TWO! Jumaine! Jones!” Cord said.
“Iverson is always the best, but Jumaine Jones is the one deep down in my arsenal I love doing.”
Cord said he plans to remain with WMMR at least two to three more years, and called it an honor to succeed Robert, a close friend of 35 years who died suddenly in October.
“We try to bring a lot of old elements into the show,” Cord said, which is broadcast daily from the Pierre Robert studio. “I think a lot, ‘What would Pierre do in this situation? I’m just trying to honor him the best I can.”