Sixers PA announcer Matt Cord unretired because of LeBron James. Maybe he can finally dine with The King.

Matt Cord met Kyle Korver for dinner in Center City just like they always did whenever Korver rolled through town. Cord, the Sixers’ longtime public address announcer, knew Korver since he was a rookie and they stayed in touch after Korver left Philly in 2008.

They finished their meal at the Capital Grille in November of 2017 and then sat at the hotel bar where Korver and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers were staying.

“Out from the elevator comes LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Tristan Thompson,” Cord said. “LeBron’s like ‘Kyle!’ Kyle goes ‘Bron-Bron!’”

Korver introduced his friend to James, who said he knew the PA announcer. James then said that they were headed to dinner and asked if Korver and Cord wanted to join. No thanks, Korver said. They already ate.

“And I’m like ‘What?’ They walked away,” Cord said. “I said ‘Kyle.’ He said ‘I’m so sorry man. I just take it for granted. He’s a teammate.’ I would’ve eaten again. I would’ve gotten desert. ‘Nah, LeBron. You go. We’re good.’”

Cord, 67, retired last May after 28 seasons behind the mic. But then the Sixers signed James, the guy Cord almost dined with. Cord’s phone was flooded with messages. Everyone wanted to know if Cord was coming back to introduce James. Even Allen Iverson texted, telling the guy who turned “a 6-foot guard from Georgetown” into a catchphrase that he still had more to give.

“I was like, ‘Is this really you?” Cord said. “He’s like ‘Who’d you think it was?’ Totally in his voice.”

Cord’s retirement was over, lasting about as long as that dinner he missed. He’ll be at the microphone Thursday night for the home opener. There was only one guy who could announce James’ arrival. And it was the guy who almost ate with him.

“I’ve been on the radio for 40 years,” said Cord, who hosts the midday show on WMMR-FM. “I’m an OK D.J. I don’t think I’m great. I get nervous sometimes when I’m on the air and I’m interviewing a band and it’s like ‘Oh no.’ But I don’t get nervous in front of a crowd with a microphone and a PA. For some reason, that’s always home to me.”

Cord joined the Sixers in April 1999 after their PA announcer left for a job in Milwaukee. Pat Croce heard Cord call lacrosse for the Philadelphia Wings and figured his shtick — announcing opposing scorers with an almost monotone whisper — would fit with basketball.

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“Nothing against the Wings but it’s like minor leagues,” Cord said. “Then you get to the NBA and I was really afraid I was going to make multiple mistakes a game. I knew the game but didn’t know it that well going in. When I started, I sat to the right of center court between Stephen A. Smith and Phil Jasner. They helped me a lot. Phil more than Stephen. Stephen would correct me if I said something wrong. ‘That’s not a defensive three.’ ‘Well, that’s what the ref said.’ I was learning on the fly.”

The PA job soon became more than just Cord’s side gig. The guy who feared he didn’t know enough about basketball became part of the show. He didn’t just perfectly enunciate each syllable, but gyrated in his seat and snapped his head as if he was using every muscle to get the words just right.

“For the first 10 years, I had a microphone that was stationary and I couldn’t move it,” Cord said. “Then I thought ‘Wow. It would be great if I could have a mic on a wire and go to the right, go to the left, sometimes stand up when a player is blocking me.’ Ever since I got that, it’s been like Roger Daltrey with his microphone. I just went crazy and stuck with it.”

The Sixers returned to the playoffs in Cord’s first season as the Iverson Era was in full swing. They had Croce, black jerseys, The Answer, car flags, and a PA guy who could send an arena into a fervent pitch. The games — “You Gotta’ Be Here,” the ad said — became events.

“I always say I’m the lead singer of the band and I have to get people into it,” Cord said. “When they’re into it, it’s so much fun. My job is still pretty easy either way. But when it’s a playoff game and the lights go down and we do intros, there’s just nothing like that.”

Cord was the voice when the Sixers made the NBA Finals and also the voice when they lost 72 games. He yelled into his microphone when the crowds were packed and when the seats were empty. Cord was always there, even during the 2011-2012 season where former Sixers CEO Adam Aron decided to replace him with a former TV newscaster.

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Cord did video interviews for the team website while someone else did the job he loved.

“I interviewed Andy Reid during the whole Juan Castillo stuff,” Cord said as the Eagles head coach was under fire for making his offensive line coach the defensive coordinator. “I said ‘I won’t.’ Then I got killed on WIP the next morning. ‘He interviewed Andy Reid and didn’t ask him anything about Juan. I’m like ‘OK. He’s in our building and he’s interviewing with the website.’”

Replacing Cord on the mic was a predictable flop and the Sixers soon held tryouts for a new voice. It would have been understandable if Cord refused to audition for his old job. But he went for it anyway. It was his.

“I really wanted to do it again,” Cord said. “I missed it. I really missed it.”

Cord announced in March that it would be his last season and then spent the rest of the year receiving well wishes on his way out. His farewell was humbling, Cord said. A few months later, he was humbled again when everyone pulled him back in.

“My wife said, ‘None of this would’ve happened if you didn’t retire. No one would’ve cared that you were still with the Sixers,’” Cord cracked. “But I was ready to hand over the mic after 28 years. The same people who said good luck with retirement were the same people who said you have to come back.”

He was with his wife Patty Ann this summer at a charity function when the Sixers owners asked him if he returning. They asked Patt Ann if she wanted her husband to stay retired.

“She said ‘No, no, no,’” Cord said. “She’s like ‘I would love to have over 60 nights at home by myself reading a nice book.’”

Cord, with the blessing of his wife, was back. Iverson texted from China to congratulate him. He crossed paths briefly with James during the preseason when James spotted Cord before a game and gave him a handshake, a subtle nod that he knew the guy who once turned down his dinner invite.

“One of our assistant coaches said ‘That’s game recognizing game’,” Cord said. “I was like ‘Alright.’”

Cord was supposed to leave this week for a trip to Ireland but his wife and step daughter will go without him while he roars “From St. Vincent-St. Mary High School” and the crowd erupts. Ireland can wait. Cord knew where he had to be this season. Maybe he’ll get a dinner out of it.

“I haven’t met him yet but I want to share that story with him,” Cord said. “If I can get a conversation with him, that’s the thing. You have to have that one moment where he’s walking down the hall one way and I’m walking down the hall the other way.”

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Beat reporters Gina Mizell and Chris Hine break down their most intriguing quotes from LeBron James and Tyrese Maxey during the preseason, along with what they most hope to learn about this revamped roster during the first month of the season. Watch here. 

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