The Perfect All Time Sixers Jersey Collection

Eric Mullin

Apr 15, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers flight crew member waves a large 76ers flag at center court during a timeout against the Miami Heat at Wells Fargo Center. The Heat won 105-101. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Most of my life revolves around sports (for better or for worse). I spend a lot of my time following, watching, analyzing, reading about, and writing about sports. My passion for sports is reflected in my wardrobe, as what I wear on a daily basis usually has to do with (yup you guessed it) sports.

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I am the kind of sports fan that loves jerseys. Some fans stay away from buying jerseys (probably due to the fact of that they are expensive and can lose value when a player changes teams), which is completely fine. These non-jersey buyers tend to go to the route of wearing shirseys (the much cheaper jersey alternative) or just a simple t-shirt of their favorite team.

Ever since I was a young kid I have been a jersey lover. I like wearing jerseys because of the authenticity they hold. Over time I have collected over 200 jerseys, all coming from the four major sports. Of the jerseys I own, the most represented teams are the Eagles and Sixers (my two favorite teams). I am confident that my collection of Sixers jerseys is strong (and somewhat embarrassing) as it consists of Allen Iverson, Wilt Chamberlin, Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Andre Iguodala, Chris Webber, Michael Carter-Williams, Andre Miller, Kyle Korver, and Elton Brand.

Now, you are probably wondering why I am rambling on about jerseys and why the heck I bought an Andre Miller jersey (those were some tough years to find excitement). Well, earlier in the summer, here at The Sixer Sense George Kondoleon ranked the ten best Sixer jerseys of all time, in terms of design. Piggybacking off of that article, here is a scenario to play out in your head. What if someone had just become a Sixer fan and wanted to buy five jerseys to authenticate themselves as a true, die-hard Sixer fan? Which five jerseys would that fan choose, based off of the player as well as the specific design of the jersey? If I were to give them advice, here are the five jerseys that Sixer fan, as well as all jersey-loving Sixers fans, should own.

Next: Nerlens Noel

5. Nerlens Noel- White 2015

I am going out on a limb here, a major limb. The Sixers have one of the most storied pasts in all of basketball, which includes eight retired numbers, but somehow a 21-year old with one year of experience under his belt sneaked into the final cut. Just hear me out before throwing things at me.

This is not a ranking of the five best Sixers of all time. These rankings are based off of the player and the design. If someone is going to authenticate themselves as a Sixer fan, then they are going to need some contemporary flavor in their jersey repertoire. Buying jerseys is all about making a smart investment and on this Sixers team, Nerlens Noel is the smartest investment.

After wowing all Sixer fans with his dominating rim protection skills during his rookie campaign, Nerlz has turned into a fan favorite in Philadelphia. After taking off a full season to recover from an ACL tear Nerlens appeared in 75 games, in which he averaged 1.9 blocks and 1.8 steals. On the offensive end, after looking like a train wreck early on, Nerlens improved his offensive awareness and shooting in the second half of the season. Noel is already a force to be reckoned with on the defensive end and, at only 21 years of age, he has a lot of room still left to grow on both ends of the court. In terms of the player, this is the safest and best jersey to get of any current 76er.

Now onto the jersey design, I have said it before and I will say it again: the Sixers new jerseys are the best set in the entire NBA. From “Phila” on the front, to stars down the side, to the lining on the borders, these are the smoothest, freshest basketball jerseys on the market. Out of the three that the Sixers are bringing to the court this season, it is hard to make a case against any of them. But if I had to choose one to purchase, I would have to go with the white one. The red and blue lining on the borders flows almost too well with the white jersey. Also when you are in attendance of Sixers home games, you will match the players on the court. So if you are in the market for a new Sixers jersey, a white Nerlens Noel jersey is the way to go. That is of course if you already own these next four jerseys.

Next: Charles Barkley

4. Charles Barkley- Red 1978-91

Now we move onto the legends. Today, when the average fan thinks of Charles Barkley the first thing that comes to their minds might be something outrageous that Sir Charles said on television. Charles Barkley the television personality has overshadowed Charles Barkley the basketball player, which makes it feel like people sometimes forget just how good of a player Barkley was.

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In the first eight seasons of his career in Philadelphia, Barkley averaged 23.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on his way to making six All-Star appearances. Barkley was a 6’6” power forward and he was a monster on the glass. By his sixteenth year NBA career, the Auburn product averaged double digit rebounds in all but one season. Furthermore, in the 1986-87 season, Barkley pulled down 14.6 boards a game.

Unfortunately, after his rookie season, Barkley’s Sixer teams failed to advance past the semifinals in the playoffs. Still, Barkley stands as one of the greatest Sixers of all time as his number 34 hangs from the rafters in South Philadelphia. He also sits as the Sixers all-time leader in offensive and defensive rebounds.

The best jersey from Barkley’s playing time in Philadelphia has to be the red one. This is a vintage, classic jersey that was worn by a number of great Sixer players and teams, including a championship one. I am a big fan of the red Sixers jerseys, so I was ecstatic to learn that the team was bringing them back as an alternate. The red jersey is a nice change of pace as an alternate jersey and will add some extra color to your Sixers jersey collection.

Next: Wilt Chamberlain

3. Wilt Chamberlain- Blue 1966-70

If a player in your favorite team’s past time scored 100 points in a single game, then his jersey better be represented in your collection. Wilt is arguably the greatest Sixer of all-time, while only playing three and a half seasons in Philadelphia.

In just under four seasons with the Sixers Wilt piled up the stats and accolades: 27.6 points, 23.9 rebounds (yes you read that number right), 6.8 assists, four all-star game appearances, three first team all-NBA awards, three consecutive MVP awards (yes you read that right as well), and most importantly of all a championship in 1967.

The level of competition that Wilt played against, which was not all that great, is always brought up in opposition of his ‘inflated’ stats. But there is no denying that Wilt was a world class talent who dominated the league for a number of years. The stats in the early years of his career may have been a bit inflated, (I mean the guy averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds in a season, AN ENTIRE SEASON) but as the competition got tougher throughout the years Wilt showed to be a dominant force. Could he reach his career averages in today’s game? Most likely not, but he had the body and the talent to be a superstar (at least on the offensive end) in the modern game.

It is getting to the point in the rankings where the jersey is a representation of the respective player’s era. For example if I saw this jersey without a number on it, the first player I would think of is Wilt Chamberlain.

The jersey set that this comes from is what inspired the Sixers to put “Phila” on their new uniforms. The “Phila” on the front of the jersey is great, but there is no denying that the best part of this jersey is that his name is not on it, which adds to the authenticity of the jersey. Wilt’s blue jersey represents the Wilt era in Philadelphia and is key to any collection of Sixers jerseys. This is also the first jersey in the rankings that I own.

Next: Allen Iverson

2. Allen Iverson- Black 1997-2009

Allen Iverson is the greatest Sixer of my generation. That really is not saying much since my generation of Sixers basketball has been mostly bad, but AI is far and away the greatest Sixer in the past 25 years. Iverson set off a culture movement off and on the court. I could write a zillion words about Allen Iverson and how great he was/is (can you tell that he is my favorite athlete of all time yet?), but in fairness to the others I will keep it short.

Iverson played 12 seasons during his two stops in Philadelphia. He finished with averages of 41.4 minutes (!), 27.6 points, and 6.1 assists. In the magical, MVP season of 2001-02 Iverson averaged 43.7 minutes (meaning he would get just over four minutes of rest per game), 31.1 points, 4.6 assists, and 2.5 steals.

He put the Sixers on his back and led them to the Finals. In the Finals Iverson averaged 35.6 points and went off for 48 points (and an awesome step-over on Tyron Lue) in a game one victory on the road. The Sixers ultimately fell to the clearly superior Lakers in five games, but the fact that Iverson got that Sixer team to that point was a colossal feat in itself.

Iverson also tallied nine All-Star appearances and one All-Star game MVP. The Answer currently sits second on the 76ers all-time list in minutes played, points, free throws, and steals.

Out of all of the jerseys that I own, this is my favorite one. Whenever I wear it people always tell me how cool they think that jersey set is and how the team should bring them back as their regular uniforms. To their surprise I always say that I disagree for one reason. These jerseys represented the Iverson era in Philadelphia. Every other jersey set in the Sixers history consisted of the colors red, white, and blue and the logo sets were generally the same. But these jerseys had the colors white, black, and red and had a different set of logos. They were different from the other jersey sets, just as Iverson’s Era was different from Wilt’s Era or Doc’s Era.

Iverson never won a ring like Erving, Moses, or Wilt. He probably is not even the greatest Sixer of all-time (something that would be almost impossible to clearly declare). But what The Answer was able to do was win over one of the toughest fan bases in sports by throwing around his 165-pound body with abandon on a nightly basis. Critics can knock him all they want for his antics off the court but when that ball was tossed in the air Iverson played like his life was on the line, something you do not usually see from superstar players. Iverson and Philadelphia just clicked, and as one of the most beloved Philadelphia athletes of all-time his jersey is a must have.

Next: Julius Erving

1. Julius Erving- Blue 1976

I had to fight my bias towards Allen Iverson and give this award to the Julius Erving jersey as the best Sixers jersey of all time. Just like Iverson, Erving changed the landscape of the NBA and by bringing a different style of play to the league. While Iverson was dazzling people with his dribbling and crossovers, Erving was flying and dunking on people. In the hair landscape of the league, Iverson brought the corn rows and Erving brought the afro.

Erving was sold to the Sixers from the then ABA New York Nets in 1976. The Doctor would go onto play all 11 of his professional seasons in Philadelphia. He finished with career averages of 22.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks. He was voted to the All-Star team in every season and took home two All-Star game MVP’s. His Sixer teams made it to the NBA finals four times and got over the hump once in 1982-83. As a small-forward Erving currently sits as the Sixers all-time leader in blocks as well as unofficially posterizing dunks on Bill Walton (stat source: my dad).

Coincidentally, these were the jerseys the Sixers wore in Erving’s first season with the team. The stars down the sides of the jersey as well as the lining around the jersey were design inspirations for the team’s new jerseys. This blue jersey is almost identical to the Sixers current road uniform, with the exception of ‘Sixers’ being on the front of the jersey. Just like the Sixers current jerseys, the stars and the stripes on this Erving jersey make it so unique and clean.

The race between Iverson and Erving for the top spot on this ranking was about as close as it could get, but I decided that since the Erving jersey was rare (it was changed after one season) and fresh it deserved the top spot. Both should be in your Sixers jersey collection, but Erving’s rookie jersey edged out the divergent Iverson jersey as the have-to-have Sixers jersey.

Next: Darryl Dawkins: A Career And Life Worth Remembering

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Eric Mullin

Hey my name is Eric Mullin. I'm a sophomore at Rutgers University majoring in Journalism and Media Studies, with a specialization in Sports Journalism. Follow me on twitter @EricMullin_ for the sports opinions!