Head coach Billy Cunningham Arena The Spectrum | General manager Pat Williams Record 65–17 (.793) | |
Place Division: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 1st (Eastern) Playoff finish NBA Champions
(Defeated Lakers 4-0) | ||
The 1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers season was the 37th season of the franchise (going back to their days as the Syracuse Nationals) and their 20th season in Philadelphia.
Contents
- East First Round
- East Conference Semifinals
- East Conference Finals
- NBA Finals
- Awards records and legacy
- References
Harold Katz bought the 76ers in 1982. On his watch, the final piece of the championship puzzle was completed before the 1982–83 season when they acquired free-agent center Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets in a sign-and-trade for Caldwell Jones. Led by Hall of Famer Julius Erving and All-Stars Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones they dominated the regular season, starting the season with 49 wins against 7 losses and winning 65 games in what is still the second most winning year in franchise history.
Erving led as the team captain and was named the NBA All Star Game MVP, while Malone was named league MVP, and when reporters asked how the playoffs would run, he answered, "four, four, four"—in other words, predicting that the Sixers would need to win four games in each of the three playoff series to win the title. Malone, speaking in a non-rhotic accent, pronounced the boast "fo', fo', fo'."
However, the Sixers backed up Malone's boast. They made a mockery of the Eastern Conference playoffs, first sweeping the New York Knicks and then beating the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. The Sixers went on to win their third NBA championship with a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had defeated them the season before. Malone was named the playoffs' MVP.
Their 12–1 playoff record still ranks as the second-best in league history after the 2001 Lakers, who went 15–1 en route to the NBA title coincidentally beating the 76ers in the finals. The Philadelphia-based group Pieces of a Dream had a minor hit in 1983 with the R&B song "Fo-Fi-Fo", which title was prompted by Malone's quip.
East First Round
The 76ers had a first round bye.
East Conference Semifinals
(1) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (5) New York Knicks: 76ers win series 4–0
East Conference Finals
(1) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (2) Milwaukee Bucks: 76ers win series 4–1
NBA Finals
(1) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (1) Los Angeles Lakers: 76ers win series 4–0
NBA Finals
The 1983 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1982–83 season.
The 76ers went on to capture their second NBA championship as they swept the New York Knicks, and proceeded to beat the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. They finally finished it off with a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had defeated them the season before, making this the only NBA championship not to be won by either the Lakers or the Boston Celtics from 1980–1988.
Said head coach Billy Cunningham, "The difference from last year was Moses." Malone was named MVP of the 1983 Finals, as well as league MVP for the third time in his career. The 76ers completed one of the most dominating playoff runs in league history with a 12-1 mark after league and NBA Finals MVP Moses promised "Fo', fo', fo" (as in "four, four, four" – four wins to win each playoff series), which they accomplished in 13 games. The 76ers were also led by Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones.
The 1983 NBA Finals was the last to end before June 1. This championship is especially noted because it would be the last major sports championship for the city of Philadelphia until the Phillies won the 2008 World Series. At the time, no other city with all four professional sports teams had a championship drought last as long as that from 1983–2008 (25 years). When the Flyers played for the 2010 Stanley Cup, The Ottawa Citizen reported that the main reason for that lengthy championship drought was because the only years the city's teams played for championships during that time were years presidents were inaugurated. The city's teams had lost championships during such years, beginning with the 76ers themselves in 1977. The exceptions were the Phillies in 1983 and the Flyers in 1987.
Following the 1983 NBA Finals, a video documentary called "That Championship Feeling" recaps the NBA Playoff action that year. Dick Stockton narrated the video, and Irene Cara's 1983 hit single "What A Feeling" is the official theme song for the video documentary. For the first time, NBA Entertainment used videotape instead of film for all the on-court and off-court footage.
Awards, records, and legacy
At the time, their 65-17 regular season record ranked as the fifth greatest regular season win total in NBA history. Previously, only the 1972 Lakers (69-13), the 1967 Sixers (68-13), the 1971 Bucks (66-16), and the 1973 Celtics (who lost in that years Conference Finals; 68-14), exceeded this total.
Their .8105 winning percentage, combined regular season and post season (77-18) in 1983, has been topped since by only four (4) teams, the 1986 Celtics (.820, with 18 losses), the 1996 Bulls (.870), the 1997 Bulls (.832), and the 2016 Warriors (.830, also with 18 losses, lost NBA finals).
In fact, after 66 regular season games, their record stood at 57-9 (the 2016 Golden State Warriors were only 3 games ahead of this pace at 60-6, in the record breaking 73 win regular season).
Possessing an exceptionally talented roster, and having a brilliant coach in Billy Cunningham, the 1982–1983 Philadelphia 76ers were one of the very best teams in NBA history.