1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers season

1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers season
Third NBA Championship
Head coach	Billy Cunningham
Arena	The Spectrum
Results
Record	65–17 (.793)
Place	Division: 1st (Atlantic) Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	PRISM Network, WPHL
Radio	WFLN
Philadelphia 76ers seasons
< 1981–82	1983–84 >

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.

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 center Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets. Led by Hall of Famer Julius Erving and All-Stars Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones they dominated the regular season, winning 65 games in what is still the second most winning year in franchise history.

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 sweep all three rounds to win the title, with the minimum 12 games. Malone's deep voice made his boast sound like "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 (and second in Philadelphia) with a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had defeated them the season before. Malone was named the playoffs' MVP.

The Sixers did not quite fulfill Malone's prediction, as their run took one game over the minimum. Nonetheless, their 12–1 playoff record is the second-best in league history after 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.

Contents 1 Offseason 1.1 NBA Draft 2 Roster 2.1 Depth chart 3 Regular season 3.1 Season standings 3.2 Game Log 4 Player stats 5 NBA finals 6 References

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	22	Mark McNamara	(C)	United States	California

Roster

Philadelphia 76ers 1982-83 NBA Champions 2 Malone (Finals MVP) | 4 Richardson | 6 Erving | 8 Iavaroni | 10 Cheeks | 14 Edwards | 22 Toney | 24 Jones | 25 Cureton | 31 McNamara | 33 R. Johnson | 45 C. Johnson | Head Coach Cunningham

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Moses Malone	Clemon Johnson	Mark McNamara
PF	Marc Iavaroni	Reggie Johnson	Earl Cureton
SF	Julius Erving	Bobby Jones
SG	Andrew Toney	Clint Richardson
PG	Maurice Cheeks	Franklin Edwards

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Philadelphia 76ersC	65	17	.793	-
Boston Celtics	56	26	.683	9
New Jersey Nets	49	33	.598	16
New York Knicks	44	38	.537	21
Washington Bullets	42	40	.512	23

Game Log

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 Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia Spectrum 3–0 4 November 5 @ Detroit Pistons 120–109 Pontiac Silverdome 4–0 5 November 6 Boston Celtics 119–115 Philadelphia Spectrum 5–0 6 November 10 Chicago Bulls 145–108 Philadelphia Spectrum 6–0 7 November 12 Indiana Pacers 108–117 Philadelphia Spectrum 6–1 8 November 13 @ New Jersey Nets 110–100 Brendan Byrne Arena 7–1 9 November 14 Washington Bullets 102–93 Philadelphia Spectrum 8–1 10 November 17 Detroit Pistons 120–103 Philadelphia Spectrum 9–1 11 November 19 Milwaukee Bucks 121–109 Philadelphia Spectrum 10–1 12 November 23 Portland Trail Blazers 103–106 Philadelphia Spectrum 10–2 13 November 24 @ Indiana Pacers 121–106 Market Square Arena 11–2 14 November 26 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 120–102 Coliseum at Richfield 12–2 15 November 27 Utah Jazz 126–113 Philadelphia Spectrum 13–2 16 November 30 @ Atlanta Hawks 97–111 Omni Coliseum 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 Philadelphia Spectrum 17–3 21 December 10 @ Boston Celtics 97–123 Boston Garden 17–4 22 December 11 Detroit Pistons 128–111 Philadelphia Spectrum 18–4 23 December 15 Cleveland Cavaliers 99–93 Philadelphia Spectrum 19–4 24 December 17 New York Knicks 109–95 Philadelphia Spectrum 20–4 25 December 18 @ Washington Bullets 97–100 Capital Centre 20–5 26 December 21 Boston Celtics 122–105 Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia Spectrum 25–5 31 January 7 @ Washington Bullets 106–89 Capital Centre 26–5 32 January 8 Kansas City Kings 125–113 Philadelphia Spectrum 27–5 33 January 11 @ Atlanta Hawks 109–99 Omni Coliseum 28–5 34 January 12 Milwaukee Bucks 122–121 Philadelphia Spectrum 29–5 35 January 14 @ Detroit Pistons 115–105 Pontiac Silverdome 30–5 36 January 15 Indiana Pacers 114–105 Philadelphia Spectrum 31–5 37 January 18 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 98–90 Coliseum at Richfield 32–5 38 January 19 Chicago Bulls 126–106 Philadelphia Spectrum 33–5 39 January 21 Seattle Supersonics 130–117 Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia 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 King County Domed Stadium 41–7 49 February 9 Atlanta Hawks 106–93 Philadelphia Spectrum 42–7 50 February 10 @ Chicago Bulls 116–110 Chicago Stadium 43–7 51 February 16 Denver Nuggets 116–95 Philadelphia Spectrum 44–7 52 February 18 Houston Rockets 127–98 Philadelphia Spectrum 45–7 53 February 20 New York Knicks 104–89 Philadelphia Spectrum 46–7 54 February 23 Dallas Mavericks 133–101 Philadelphia Spectrum 47–7 55 February 25 Chicago Bulls 116–111 Philadelphia Spectrum 48–7 56 February 27 Golden State Warriors 115–104 Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia Spectrum 51–9 61 March 12 @ Washington Bullets 95–86 Capital Centre 52–9 62 March 13 Washington Bullets 97–93 Philadelphia Spectrum 53–9 63 March 15 @ Indiana Pacers 132–128 Market Square Arena 54–9 64 March 16 Boston Celtics 105–100 Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia Spectrum 58–10 69 March 25 New Jersey Nets 92–101 Philadelphia Spectrum 58–11 70 March 27 Cleveland Cavaliers 94–80 Philadelphia Spectrum 59–11 71 March 29 @ Chicago Bulls 95–97 Chicago Stadium 59–12 72 March 30 Atlanta Hawks 120–113 Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia Spectrum 60–13 74 April 3 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 96–84 Coliseum at Richfield 61–13 75 April 5 @ Milwaukee Bucks 116–108 MECCA Arena 62–13 76 April 6 San Antonio Spurs 109–112 Philadelphia Spectrum 62–14 77 April 8 Indiana Pacers 126–118 Philadelphia Spectrum 63–14 78 April 10 New York Knicks 113–97 Philadelphia Spectrum 64–14 79 April 12 @ Atlanta Hawks 97–102 Omni Coliseum 64–15 80 April 13 Washington Bullets 76–95 Philadelphia 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

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	AVG

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 sweep round 1, four wins to sweep round 2, etc.), but it actually wound up as "Fo', fi', fo." (four, five, four). 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.^[1] 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.^[2] The city's teams had lost championships during such years, beginning with the 76ers themselves in 1977.^[2] The exceptions were the Phillies in 1983 and the Flyers in 1987.^[2]

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.

References

• Philadelphia 76ers on Basketball Reference

1982–83 NBA season by team 1982 NBA Draft • All-Star Game • Playoffs • Finals • Transactions Eastern Atlantic Boston • New Jersey • New York • Philadelphia • Washington Central Atlanta • Chicago • Cleveland • Detroit • Indiana • Milwaukee Western Midwest Dallas • Denver • Houston • Kansas City • San Antonio • Utah Pacific Golden State • Los Angeles • Phoenix • Portland • San Diego • Seattle

NBA Champions 1947: Philadelphia Warriors · 1948: Baltimore Bullets · 1949: Minneapolis Lakers · 1950: Minneapolis Lakers · 1951: Rochester Royals · 1952: Minneapolis Lakers · 1953: Minneapolis Lakers · 1954: Minneapolis Lakers · 1955: Syracuse Nationals · 1956: Philadelphia Warriors · 1957: Boston Celtics · 1958: St. Louis Hawks · 1959: Boston Celtics · 1960: Boston Celtics · 1961: Boston Celtics · 1962: Boston Celtics · 1963: Boston Celtics · 1964: Boston Celtics · 1965: Boston Celtics · 1966: Boston Celtics · 1967: Philadelphia 76ers · 1968: Boston Celtics · 1969: Boston Celtics · 1970: New York Knicks · 1971: Milwaukee Bucks · 1972: Los Angeles Lakers · 1973: New York Knicks · 1974: Boston Celtics · 1975: Golden State Warriors · 1976: Boston Celtics · 1977: Portland Trail Blazers · 1978: Washington Bullets · 1979: Seattle SuperSonics · 1980: Los Angeles Lakers · 1981: Boston Celtics · 1982: Los Angeles Lakers · 1983: Philadelphia 76ers · 1984: Boston Celtics · 1985: Los Angeles Lakers · 1986: Boston Celtics · 1987: Los Angeles Lakers · 1988: Los Angeles Lakers · 1989: Detroit Pistons · 1990: Detroit Pistons · 1991: Chicago Bulls · 1992: Chicago Bulls · 1993: Chicago Bulls · 1994: Houston Rockets · 1995: Houston Rockets · 1996: Chicago Bulls · 1997: Chicago Bulls · 1998: Chicago Bulls · 1999: San Antonio Spurs · 2000: Los Angeles Lakers · 2001: Los Angeles Lakers · 2002: Los Angeles Lakers · 2003: San Antonio Spurs · 2004: Detroit Pistons · 2005: San Antonio Spurs · 2006: Miami Heat · 2007: San Antonio Spurs · 2008: Boston Celtics · 2009: Los Angeles Lakers · 2010: Los Angeles Lakers · 2011: Dallas Mavericks

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National Basketball Association's Top Ten Teams in NBA History 1964–65 Boston Celtics • 1966–67 Philadelphia 76ers • 1969–70 New York Knicks • 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers • 1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers • 1985–86 Boston Celtics • 1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers • 1988–89 Detroit Pistons • 1991–92 Chicago Bulls • 1995–96 Chicago Bulls

Sports teams based in and around Philadelphia Baseball MLB: Philadelphia Phillies, IL: Lehigh Valley IronPigs, EL: Reading Phillies • Trenton Thunder, CL: Wilmington Blue Rocks, ALPB: Camden Riversharks Basketball NBA: Philadelphia 76ers, EBA: The Destroyers Football NFL: Philadelphia Eagles, AFL: Philadelphia Soul, IFL: Lehigh Valley Steelhawks • Reading Express, SIFL: Trenton Steel, WFA: Philadelphia Liberty Belles, IWFL: Philadelphia Firebirds, LFL: Philadelphia Passion Hockey NHL: Philadelphia Flyers, ECHL: Reading Royals • Trenton Titans Lacrosse NLL: Philadelphia Wings Rugby league AMNRL: Aston Bulls • Bucks County Sharks USARL: Philadelphia Fight Roller derby WFTDA: Philly Rollergirls Rugby union RSL: Philadelphia Whitemarsh RFC Soccer MLS: Philadelphia Union, WPS: Philadelphia Independence, NPSL: FC Sonic Lehigh Valley, USLPDL: Reading United A.C., WPSL: Northampton Laurels Tennis WTT: Philadelphia Freedoms College athletics (NCAA Div. I) Drexel University Dragons • La Salle University Explorers • Saint Joseph's University Hawks • Temple University Owls • University of Delaware Blue Hens • University of Pennsylvania Quakers • Villanova University Wildcats See also: Philadelphia Big 5 and City 6 Main article: Sports in Philadelphia