A Look Back At The Incredible 1983 Sixers
By Josh Wilson
Mar 1, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; A banner with the jersey number of Philadelphia 76ers former guard Allen Iverson is raised to the rafters during a ceremony at halftime of game between the 76ers and Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The Philadelphia 76ers are currently in a rebuilding stage. They are looking to build a roster that can get into the playoffs and compete in the next few years. Roster moves, draft rights, and young players are all parts of the equations as Sam Hinkie works hard to make things work in the future.
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This is no new story for the Sixers. At the end of the 1982 season, the Sixers were sick of losing. Well, sort of. They had been to the Finals three times in the recent six years, and lost every time. Specifically, they had troubles playing the Los Angeles Lakers, a dominant team in the Finals throughout that time period.
Harold Katz had purchased the team in 1982. He started things off on the right foot, determined to make a change. He set out to rebuild the team. It wasn’t as drastic as the current rebuild, but it was a construction process nonetheless.
This team was built specifically to beat the Los Angeles Lakers. And it did its job, as they swept the Lakers during the regular season and in the Finals. This incredible team is a part of the franchise worth looking at, and it has several layers.
As a younger basketball fan who only has seen the modern basketball game firsthand, classic games are vague to me. I rely on what I hear from fans from that era, and older game tapes. What I know in the modern era is that it’s a lot of roster strategy. Moving players through trades and signing in free agency seems like a ‘modern-era’ basketball strategy to me, but this Sixers team proved that this has been around for a while.
Diving in, the rebuild started before the season with some roster moves.
Next: Building A Powerhouse