By FRANK WARD
DailyPhiladelphian.com Editor

Eddie Jordan is finished as head coach of the Sixers by Friday. This much we know.

The fate of General Manager Ed Stefanski is still up in the air. Or is it?

Speculation and rumors are all over the place, and I have no issues adding to it. During the second quarter of tonight’s game on Comcast SportsNet, a member of the Sixers front office joined the broadcast to discuss the upcoming summer and the moves the team may make to get better.

Only problem is, your GM wasn’t the spokesman. Instead, it was assistant general manager Tony DiLeo. You remember him, right? The guy who replaced Mo Cheeks last year, only to be relieved of his duties in favor of Jordan.

Tony DiLeo points ed Stefanski toward the unemployment line.

Say what you want, but at least DiLeo took this team to the playoffs.

OK, so how does this all relate to Stefanski?

DiLeo has basically been in hiding most of the year, presumably embarrassed about the end of his coaching reign. Now, all of a sudden, he’s being put back in front of cameras?

Meanwhile, the supposed GM is nowhere to be found and hasn’t been heard from since the trade deadline?

Looks fishy to me. DiLeo is a company man and has been here long before either Eddie joined the franchise. Ed Snider undoubtedly has some loyalty to DiLeo. Plus, DiLeo worked well with Larry Brown, who may be on the Sixers radar after the season.

Bottom line is this could be just one more sign that Stefanski is getting canned and already knows his fate. Otherwise, wouldn’t he want to be out there fielding questions in an attempt to put his spin on the team’s future and salvage some credibility with the fan base?

Stefanski hiding on Fan Appreciation Night is almost as bad as the Allen Iverson-Chris Webber debacle a few years back.

For Stefanski’s sake, we hope he doesn’t live in New Jersey so he’s not stuck in a huge unemployment line with the state’s teachers thanks to Gov. Chris Christie.