Sixers officially name McKie assistant coach

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that 13-year NBA veteran Aaron McKie has rejoined the franchise as an assistant coach on Maurice Cheeks’ staff. McKie will also have additional duties in player development.

McKie was originally named a member of the Sixers coaching staff back on Oct. 3, 2007. Since he never officially retired as a player, his rights still belonged to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers signed McKie to a contract in order to package him in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol on Feb. 1, 2008. Although he did not appear in a game, McKie spent the remainder of the season on the Grizzlies roster before being waived on May 9, 2008.

In 793 career games with 287 starts, McKie averaged 7.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.15 steals in 24.2 minutes per game. He enjoyed his best season as a Sixer in 2000-01, taking home Sixth Man of the Year honors while helping Philadelphia reach the NBA Finals. That same season, he recorded back-to-back triple-doubles at Sacramento on Dec. 30, 2000 (19 points, 14 assists, 10 rebounds) and vs. Atlanta on Jan. 3, 2001 (11 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists).

McKie, who had his jersey retired at Simon Gratz High School in 2002, also starred at Temple University. He finished his three-year career with the Owls tied for sixth on the school’s all-time scoring list and was named Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year as a junior in 1993.