- NBA Championships: 3
- Last NBA Championship: 1983
- Claim to Fame: The Sixers nearly swept the 2001 NBA Awards. Allen Iverson won MVP, Dikembe Mutombo won Defensive Player of the Year, Aaron McKie won Sixth Man of the Year, and Larry Brown won Coach of the Year honors.
- Claim to Shame: The Sixers hit a historic low in 1972-73 when they won just nine games. The club endured losing streaks of 20, 15, 14, and 13 games.
This may be tough for some younger fans to “process”, but the Philadelphia 76ers were interesting long before Joel Embiid came along.
This longstanding franchise was founded in 1949 in Syracuse, New York, and reached the Finals in its inaugural campaign. The Nationals, as they were then known, came up short against the Minneapolis Lakers, but they captured a title five years later in 1955 by downing the Fort Wayne Pistons in a chippy seven game series.
The franchise headed down the highway to Philadelphia in 1963 and picked up right where they left off, winning their second championship in 1967. That team featured four future Hall of Famers including Hal Greer, Chet Walker, Billy Cunningham, and Wilt Chamberlain, who poured in 24.1 points and 24.2 rebounds per game.
Wilt left the City of Brotherly Love two years later and the Sixers experienced a brief downturn until 1976 when they acquired three-time ABA MVP Julius Erving from the New York Nets. Dr. J led Philadelphia to 11 consecutive playoff appearances and helped the franchise capture its third NBA Championship in 1983.
Other electrifying players like Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson followed, but no one has been able to deliver a fourth title to Philly.
That could change in 2018-19. The Sixers surpassed all expectations last season by winning 52 games and have one of the best young nucleuses in the league. Joel Embiid has emerged as a two-way force, Ben Simmons is a triple-double waiting to happen, and supporting stars like Dario Saric and Markelle Fultz appear ready to take the next step in their young careers.
The “Process” won’t truly be complete until the Sixers win another title, but that’s looking more and more like a possibility rather than a pipedream.
