Bill Roth was ‘nervous’ before his return as Hip Hop. But Sixers fans — and Franklin — showed him the love.

When Bill Roth first put the Hip Hop costume back on, he stared at himself in the mirror, just to recall what he looked like wearing it.

But after a moment, it all came rushing back.

“I was nervous, and it’s been a long time since I’ve been nervous,” Roth said. “When I performed as the character, I always tried to give the fans something different. I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s the same vibe I want to do. I want to go out there and do a great job. I want to represent the organization well.

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“I want to represent my family well, because now they’re older, and that’s dad, and the fans, OK, they’re here to watch Hip Hop. Right now it’s surreal. Now, I can calm down and be like, ‘Wow. Holy cow.’ I like that feeling of standing on a court with people cheering, it’s a pretty cool feeling.”

Two of Roth’s three kids occasionally used to join him on the court as mini-Hip Hop, but having them in the building to watch him make his return now, 15 years later, felt different.

For starters, his middle daughter, Adrienne, was afraid of the character while Roth was playing him, but she teared up watching Roth be honored at halftime for his time as Hip Hop.

“When she got here tonight, she walked up to me, she gave me a hug, and she said, ‘Dad, I’m proud,’” Roth said. “Made my night.”

His son came along early for rehearsals, to get a peek behind the scenes and even try on the Hip Hop head for himself.

Roth got to ring the bell to open the game, and participate in a few mid-game skits with Franklin, including whacking one unlucky Toronto Raptors fan with a sheet cake for his birthday. He and Franklin came up with an “on the fly” handshake after Franklin hit an improbable behind-the-back half court shot.

Franklin was unveiled as Hip Hop’s replacement in 2015, but there’s no hard feelings from Roth.

“This is how I described it to my kids — they love Spider-Man,” Roth said. “I think it was the last Spider Man, you had the three actors that played him, right? I’m just a character from a different time. We loved it. We hit it off, and we were able to interact real well, there was no like, stepping on toes.”

As soon as Hip Hop hit the concourse, he was mobbed by two types of fans. First, the Sixers fans who grew up with Hip Hop, and wanted to show him off to their kids. Roth took tons of pictures with fans young and old in his return.

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There may not have been anyone more excited to see Hip Hop return than Levittown native Vince Galasso, who promptly ordered a Hip Hop Halloween costume and broke it back out for Hip Hop’s return on Saturday.

“I had to do it,” Galasso said. “It’s a little hot in here, but I’ll manage.”

That enthusiasm was rivaled by 30-year-old Hip Hop superfan Josh Steinberg, store manager at Mitchell & Ness, whose collection of Hip Hop plushies, masks, toys, and even a t-shirt and custom jersey, got him a special meet and greet with Hip Hop after halftime. Of course, he wore the shirt. Roth loved it.

But for Roth, the best part of getting back in the costume was reuniting with the people who worked at the arena and in the organization when he was there.

When he first walked out to ring the bell, he saw one of his old friends, director of game presentation Derrick Hayes, and getting the opportunity to give him and so many other old friends a hug was the highlight of the day.

“It was so tight knit,” Roth said “When the door closed in 2011, it was like I never got a chance to say goodbye to a family. We just moved on, so coming back and seeing everybody again, it was awesome. Do you know what I mean? The organization is really that good, that tight-knit. That’s what I think made the 2000-2001 season so special.”

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