1982–83_Philadelphia_76ers_season

1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers season
1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers season
NBA champions
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coach	Billy Cunningham
General manager	Pat Williams
Arena	The Spectrum
Results
Record	65–17 (.793)
Place	Division: 1st (Atlantic); Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions; (Defeated Lakers 4–0)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WPHL-TV; PRISM
Radio	WIP
< 1981–82	1983–84 >

1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers season

NBA season team the Philadelphia 76ers (won championship)

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. The 76ers entered the season as runner-ups in the 1982 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.

Quick Facts Philadelphia 76ers season, Head coach ...

Harold Katz bought the franchise 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,^[1] joining an already stacked roster led by Hall of Famers Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks and Bobby Jones, as well as All-Star Andrew Toney. They went on to dominate the regular season, ending the year with a 65-17 record in what is still their second highest winning season in franchise history.

Erving was the team captain and was named the NBA All Star Game MVP, while Malone was named the league's MVP. When reporters asked how the playoffs would run, he answered, "four, four, four", predicting that the Sixers would need to only play four games in each of the three playoff series to win the title.

The Sixers backed up Malone's boast, breezing through the Eastern Conference playoffs, sweeping the New York Knicks in the Semifinals, then beating the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the Conference Finals. They went on to win their third NBA championship with a four-game sweep of the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, who had defeated them the season before. Malone was named the Finals MVP, and his prediction turned out to be only one game off, as some used the adapted phrase "fo', fi', fo'" reflecting their one playoff loss to the Bucks.

Regarded as one of the greatest teams in history, their 12–1 playoff record still^[update] ranks as the third-best in league history after the 2016–17 Warriors, who went 16–1, and the 2000–01 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.

As of 2024, this remains the third NBA championship in 76ers franchise history, though they made NBA Finals appearance in 2001, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

More information Team, ATL ...

1982-83 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	1–5	5–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	3–3	0–2	2–0	6–0	0–2	0–2	1–4	2–4	3–2	2–4	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	4–2
Boston	5–1	—	3–2	5–1	2–0	2–0	3–3	1–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	3–3	5–1	3–3	3–3	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–3
Chicago	1–5	2–3	—	5–1	1–1	1–1	2–4	2–0	1–1	4–2	0–2	0–2	1–5	2–4	1–4	1–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–5
Cleveland	0–6	1–5	1–5	—	2–0	0–2	1–5	2–0	2–0	5–1	1–1	0–2	1–5	0–6	1–5	0–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–2
Dallas	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	—	3–3	2–0	3–2	5–1	2–0	3–3	2–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–3	3–2	2–4	5–0	2–3	2–4	0–2
Denver	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	3–3	—	2–0	4–1	5–1	1–1	3–3	1–4	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	4–1	2–3	2–4	3–2	3–2	4–2	1–1
Detroit	3–3	3–3	4–2	5–1	0–2	0–2	—	2–0	2–0	4–2	0–2	0–2	3–3	3–2	1–5	0–6	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	3–2
Golden State	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–3	1–4	0–2	—	3–2	1–1	1–4	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–4	2–4	1–4	3–3	3–3	3–2	2–0
Houston	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–5	1–5	0–2	2–3	—	2–0	1–5	0–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–5	0–5	1–5	2–3	1–4	0–6	1–1
Indiana	0–6	1–4	2–4	1–5	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	0–2	—	1–1	0–2	1–5	0–6	3–3	1–4	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–5
Kansas City	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–3	3–3	2–0	4–1	5–1	1–1	—	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–4	2–3	3–3	4–1	1–4	4–2	2–0
Los Angeles	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–2	4–1	2–0	5–1	5–0	2–0	4–1	—	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–4	5–1	5–1	4–1	1–1
Milwaukee	4–1	3–3	5–1	5–1	2–0	0–2	3–3	1–1	2–0	5–1	1–1	0–2	—	3–2	4–2	1–5	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–2
New Jersey	4–2	1–5	4–2	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–3	2–0	1–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	2–3	—	4–2	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–2
New York	2–3	3–3	4–1	5–1	2–0	2–0	5–1	1–1	2–0	3–3	1–1	0–2	2–4	2–4	—	1–5	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	4–2
Philadelphia	4–2	3–3	5–1	5–0	2–0	2–0	6–0	2–0	2–0	4–1	2–0	2–0	5–1	3–3	5–1	—	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
Phoenix	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–2	1–4	1–1	4–2	5–0	1–1	4–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	—	5–1	3–2	4–2	5–1	5–0	0–2
Portland	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	3–2	1–1	4–2	5–0	2–0	3–2	3–3	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–5	—	2–3	5–1	3–3	3–2	1–1
San Antonio	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	4–2	4–2	1–1	4–1	5–1	2–0	3–3	4–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–3	3–2	—	4–1	1–4	5–1	2–0
San Diego	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–5	2–3	1–1	3–3	3–2	1–1	1–4	1–5	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–4	1–5	1–4	—	0–6	2–3	0–2
Seattle	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	3–3	4–1	1–1	4–1	1–5	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–3	4–1	6–0	—	5–0	1–1
Utah	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–0	4–2	2–4	2–0	2–3	6–0	0–2	2–4	1–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–5	2–3	1–5	3–2	0–5	—	0–2
Washington	2–4	3–3	5–1	2–3	2–0	1–1	2–3	0–2	1–1	5–1	0–2	1–1	3–3	3–3	2–4	2–4	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	—

Game log

More information 1982–83 Game Log Total: 65–17 (Home: 35–6 ; Road: 30–11), Game ...

1982–83 Game Log
Total: 65–17 (Home: 35–6 ; Road: 30–11)

October: 2–0 (Home: 1–0 ; Road 1–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
1	October 29	@ New York Knicks	104–89	Madison Square Garden	1–0
2	October 30	New Jersey Nets	110–99	The Spectrum	2–0

November: 11–3 (Home: 7–2 ; Road 4–1)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
3	November 3	San Diego Clippers	130–111	The Spectrum	3–0
4	November 5	@ Detroit Pistons	120–109	Pontiac Silverdome	4–0
5	November 6	Boston Celtics	119–115	The Spectrum	5–0
6	November 10	Chicago Bulls	145–108	The Spectrum	6–0
7	November 12	Indiana Pacers	108–117	The Spectrum	6–1
8	November 13	@ New Jersey Nets	110–100	Brendan Byrne Arena	7–1
9	November 14	Washington Bullets	102–93	The Spectrum	8–1
10	November 17	Detroit Pistons	120–103	The Spectrum	9–1
11	November 19	Milwaukee Bucks	121–109	The Spectrum	10–1
12	November 23	Portland Trail Blazers	103–106	The Spectrum	10–2
13	November 24	@ Indiana Pacers	121–106	Market Square Arena	11–2
14	November 26	@ Cleveland Cavaliers	120–102	Richfield Coliseum	12–2
15	November 27	Utah Jazz	126–113	The Spectrum	13–2
16	November 30	@ Atlanta Hawks	97–111	The Omni	13–3

December: 11–2 (Home: 5–0 ; Road 6–2)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
17	December 2	@ Phoenix Suns	116–108	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	14–3
18	December 3	@ San Diego Clippers	127–110	San Diego Sports Arena	15–3
19	December 5	@ Los Angeles Lakers	114–104	The Forum	16–3
20	December 8	Atlanta Hawks	132–85	The Spectrum	17–3
21	December 10	@ Boston Celtics	97–123	Boston Garden	17–4
22	December 11	Detroit Pistons	128–111	The Spectrum	18–4
23	December 15	Cleveland Cavaliers	99–93	The Spectrum	19–4
24	December 17	New York Knicks	109–95	The Spectrum	20–4
25	December 18	@ Washington Bullets	97–100	Capital Centre	20–5
26	December 21	Boston Celtics	122–105	The Spectrum	21–5
27	December 26	@ San Antonio Spurs	124–122	HemisFair Arena	22–5
28	December 28	@ Houston Rockets	104–93	The Summit	23–5
29	December 29	@ Dallas Mavericks	126–116	Reunion Arena	24–5

January: 14–1 (Home: 7–0 ; Road 7–1)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
30	January 5	Los Angeles Lakers	122–120	The Spectrum	25–5
31	January 7	@ Washington Bullets	106–89	Capital Centre	26–5
32	January 8	Kansas City Kings	125–113	The Spectrum	27–5
33	January 11	@ Atlanta Hawks	109–99	The Omni	28–5
34	January 12	Milwaukee Bucks	122–121	The Spectrum	29–5
35	January 14	@ Detroit Pistons	115–105	Pontiac Silverdome	30–5
36	January 15	Indiana Pacers	114–105	The Spectrum	31–5
37	January 18	@ Cleveland Cavaliers	98–90	Richfield Coliseum	32–5
38	January 19	Chicago Bulls	126–106	The Spectrum	33–5
39	January 21	Seattle SuperSonics	130–117	The Spectrum	34–5
40	January 23	@ Milwaukee Bucks	96–107	MECCA Arena	34–6
41	January 25	@ Chicago Bulls	116–99	Chicago Stadium	35–6
42	January 26	Phoenix Suns	113–102	The Spectrum	36–6
43	January 28	@ Kansas City Kings	114–99	Kemper Arena	37–6
44	January 29	@ Utah Jazz	126–109	Salt Palace	38–6

February: 11–1 (Home: 7–0 ; Road 4–1)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
45	February 1	@ Denver Nuggets	133–124	McNichols Sports Arena	39–6
46	February 3	@ Golden State Warriors	117–111	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena	40–6
47	February 4	@ Portland Trail Blazers	109–115	Memorial Coliseum	40–7
48	February 6	@ Seattle SuperSonics	97–96	Kingdome	41–7
49	February 9	Atlanta Hawks	106–93	The Spectrum	42–7
50	February 10	@ Chicago Bulls	116–110	Chicago Stadium	43–7
51	February 16	Denver Nuggets	116–95	The Spectrum	44–7
52	February 18	Houston Rockets	127–98	The Spectrum	45–7
53	February 20	New York Knicks	104–89	The Spectrum	46–7
54	February 23	Dallas Mavericks	133–101	The Spectrum	47–7
55	February 25	Chicago Bulls	116–111	The Spectrum	48–7
56	February 27	Golden State Warriors	115–104	The Spectrum	49–7

March: 11–5 (Home: 6–1 ; Road 5–4)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
57	March 1	@ New York Knicks	106–94	Madison Square Garden	50–7
58	March 4	@ Boston Celtics	110–115	Boston Garden	50–8
59	March 6	@ New Jersey Nets	106–112	Brendan Byrne Arena	50–9
60	March 7	Detroit Pistons	123–114	The Spectrum	51–9
61	March 12	@ Washington Bullets	95–86	Capital Centre	52–9
62	March 13	Washington Bullets	97–93	The Spectrum	53–9
63	March 15	@ Indiana Pacers	132–128	Market Square Arena	54–9
64	March 16	Boston Celtics	105–100	The Spectrum	55–9
65	March 19	@ Milwaukee Bucks	105–97	MECCA Arena	56–9
66	March 20	@ Detroit Pistons	121–119	Pontiac Silverdome	57–9
67	March 22	@ New York Knicks	76–89	Madison Square Garden	57–10
68	March 23	Milwaukee Bucks	104–101	The Spectrum	58–10
69	March 25	New Jersey Nets	92–101	The Spectrum	58–11
70	March 27	Cleveland Cavaliers	94–80	The Spectrum	59–11
71	March 29	@ Chicago Bulls	95–97	Chicago Stadium	59–12
72	March 30	Atlanta Hawks	120–113	The Spectrum	60–12

April: 5–5 (Home: 2–3 ; Road 3–2)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Location	Record
73	April 1	New Jersey Nets	104–111	The Spectrum	60–13
74	April 3	@ Cleveland Cavaliers	96–84	Richfield Coliseum	61–13
75	April 5	@ Milwaukee Bucks	116–108	MECCA Arena	62–13
76	April 6	San Antonio Spurs	109–112	The Spectrum	62–14
77	April 8	Indiana Pacers	126–118	The Spectrum	63–14
78	April 10	New York Knicks	113–97	The Spectrum	64–14
79	April 12	@ Atlanta Hawks	97–102	The Omni	64–15
80	April 13	Washington Bullets	76–95	The Spectrum	64–16
81	April 15	@ New Jersey Nets	100–98	Brendan Byrne Arena	65–16
82	April 17	@ Boston Celtics	101–114	Boston Garden	65–17

1982–83 Schedule

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 in Philadelphia, and the third as the 76ers/Nationals franchise 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 to 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). 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.^[2] At the time, no other city with all four professional sports teams had a championship drought last as long as that from 1983 to 2008 (25 years).^[3] 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.^[4] The city's teams had lost championships during such years, beginning with the 76ers themselves in 1977.^[4] The exceptions were the Phillies in 1983 and the Flyers in 1987.^[4]

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.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 1982–83_Philadelphia_76ers_season, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] [1]
"Malone Goes to 76ers for Caldwell Jones". The New York Times. September 16, 1982.

[2] [2]
Sheridan, Phil (October 30, 2008). "WORLD CHAMPS!; 28 years later, Phillies again are baseball's best". Philadelphia Inquirer. p. A1. After 25 years of drought...Philadelphia has its championship...the Phillies really are World Series champions.

[3] [3]
Levin, Bob (October 21, 2008). "Phillified". The Globe and Mail. p. S1.

[Philadelphia-4] [4]
Warren, Ken (June 2, 2010). "Two cities that could use a CUP". Ottawa Citizen. p. B3.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	22	Mark McNamara	C/F	United States	California
2	36	J.J. Anderson	SF	United States	Bradley
2	45	Russ Schoene	PF	United States	Tennessee-Chattanooga
3	68	Dale Solomon		United States	Virginia Tech
4	91	Bruce Atkins		United States	Duquesne
5	114	Donald Mason		United States	Fresno State
6	137	Kevin Boyle		United States	Iowa
7	160	Keith Hilliard		United States	Southwest Missouri State
8	183	Donald Seals		United States	Jackson State
9	204	George Melton		United States	Cheyney (PA)
10	224	Randy Burkert		United States	Drexel

1982–83_Philadelphia_76ers_season

1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers season

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

NBA Finals

Awards, records, and legacy

References

Share this article:

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Philadelphia 76ers	65	17	.793	–	35–6	30–11	15–9
x-Boston Celtics	56	26	.683	9	33–8	23–18	14–10
x-New Jersey Nets	49	33	.598	16	30–11	19–22	11–13
x-New York Knicks	44	38	.537	21	26–15	18–23	10–14
Washington Bullets	42	40	.512	23	27–14	15–26	10–14

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Philadelphia 76ers	65	17	.793	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	51	31	.622	14
3	x-Boston Celtics	56	26	.683	9
4	x-New Jersey Nets	49	33	.598	16
5	x-New York Knicks	44	38	.537	21
6	x-Atlanta Hawks	43	39	.524	22

7	Washington Bullets	42	40	.512	23
8	Detroit Pistons	37	45	.451	28
9	Chicago Bulls	28	54	.341	37
10	Cleveland Cavaliers	23	59	.280	42
11	Indiana Pacers	20	62	.244	45