The Sixers' mascot, Hip Hop, was retired in 2011. Now, for the 25th anniversary of the 2001 team, they're bringing him back.

Alex Coffey, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Oct 15, 2025

Published in Basketball

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PHILADELPHIA — Bill Roth was at his gym in Delaware County a few weeks ago when he got some unexpected visitors. It was Sixers vice president Mike Goings and manager of live events Derrick Hayes.

They went out to lunch. Roth assumed they’d be talking about gymnastics and catching up on life. But Goings and Hayes also had a question for him.

Roth had played the Sixers’ mascot, Hip Hop, from 1998 to 2011. They were about to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 2001 team that lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Would Roth consider putting the rabbit costume back on?

“I don’t think I said anything,” he said on Monday night. “I think I just sat there, in front of them. I was just trying to process things.”

Roth said yes, thereby opening a chapter of his life that he once thought was closed. According to the team, Hip Hop will make an appearance during the Sixers’ Nov. 8 home game against the Toronto Raptors.

He’ll be present at other tributes, alongside the Sixers’ primary mascot, Franklin the Dog, for various celebrations around the 2000-01 team.

It was a very different time. The Sixers wore black uniforms (which will also be coming back in 2025-26). Allen Iverson was their young, rebellious point guard, and Hip Hop was meant to complement him.

Roth wore sunglasses, a durag and a spiked collar around his neck. He would catapult off a trampoline and somersault through the air for a series of acrobatic dunks.

“That was a period in time that was so exciting,” Roth said. “The whole city was involved. When they said, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about doing this,’ it just started bringing back amazing memories.”

The former Temple gymnast was 27 when he made his mascot debut. He is 55 now. He isn’t sure if he’ll be able to pull off the same moves — but Roth isn’t ruling anything out yet.

“I think my wife would kill me,” he said. “That’s what she would probably do.”

Jokes aside, the gesture from the team means a lot to Roth and his family. He spent 13 years of his life working year round as the Sixers mascot, on and off the court. He’d visit schools, charity events, and other functions, and even incorporated his three children into his routines.

Roth’s daughter, Madison, played “Lil Hip Hop.” His daughter, Adrienne, and his son, Matthew, also helped out, but they were young, and don’t have vivid memories of watching their father perform.

Now, they’ll get the chance. Matthew, a gymnast at Greenville University at Illinois, will be home for the Nov. 8 game, and so will Adrienne.

“They’ve never really understood Hip Hop, in a sense, the character and performance,” Roth said. “They performed on the court with me. But to remember what they actually did? I don’t think that they do.”

Roth has been out of the spotlight for a while. He and his wife, Christina, opened a gym, Crosspoint Gymnastics, in 2015, where they train the next generation of local athletes.

Returning to a mascot role was not something he expected, let alone prepared for. So, he has spent the past few weeks “studying” in his free time: watching old YouTube videos of Hip Hop, to remind himself of how the character acted.

He’s also looked at other mascots and performers to see if he can learn anything from their routines, as well.

Most of all, he is excited to see his pseudo family at Xfinity Mobile Arena again. He became close to the game day staff, some of whom still work for the team.

This time, though, he’ll try not to sprain ankle, or chip a tooth (or tear his Achilles or ACL).

“The swag of the character and the persona of the character, I still think is there,” Roth said.

He added: “As I’m preparing, it’s like, ‘Wow, OK. Here come all the nerves again. Here are all the thoughts again, that I used to have back in the day.’ There is the excitement of seeing people I haven’t seen in a while, right? And remembering how awesome of a time that [2001] season was.”

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