Comparing Philadelphia 76ers 1983 NBA Champs vs. 2018 roster

The last time the Philadelphia 76ers won an NBA Championship was 1983. Let’s examine the talent of the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers to that of the 2018 Philadelphia 76ers on a position by position basis

The Philadelphia 76ers want to win to get the 3-seed in the NBA Playoffs. Can they do it? Well, they have a 13 game winning streak going, plus the chance of extending that to 16 with three more wins. They just dominated the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers and held on to win their 13th game. You see, the 2018 Philadelphia 76ers are young and hungry. Powered by second year player Joel Embiid and Dario Saric, rookies Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz, and fourth year player Robert Covington,  this team is playing very well.  Very well, yes, but it’s been a three chapter book for the team so far.   In the first 27 games, the team ended up 14-13, and struggled mightily with winning and losing streaks. The next 27 games began with the team in a 1-6 freefall, but recovered nicely to climb to a 29-25 record.

The championship team in 1983 won 65 games, which is a plateau far higher than the 50 game goal of the team this season. But the Philadelphia 76ers ended January 2018 at 24-24. Since that time, the team has gone on a 25-6 run. Over the course of a season, that number projects out to an amazingly coincidental 65-17 season.

Comparing apples and oranges

While carving out a third of the season to annualize doesn’t prove anything, the reality is that the last third of this 2017-2018 season is more typical with the future performance of this team. The team roster stabilized in this period. And with players learning the NBA for the first time making up significant contributors, later in the season is better. If you’ve seen the 2017-2018 Sixers play, you KNOW they are good. How good?

But the team has not yet landed on a roster which remains the same from year to year. So this remains an apples to oranges comparison for now. Still, it’s fun to consider the current 25-6 run as enough of a statisical sample to run the comparison between the two teams. Even if not a valid comparison at this point in time, it’s beneficial in the sense of gauging this team’s progress going forward. The 1983 Philadelphia 76ers team was the best of the NBA. The 2018 Philadelphia 76ers are not the best in the NBA, yet. But they may be someday.

Center Moses Malone vs. Joel Embiid

The Philadelphia 76ers championship hopes then and now begin at the center position. In fact, the center position has been a recurring theme for the Philadelphia 76ers throughout the team’s history. The Philadelphia 76ers (and predecessor Syracuse Nationals) have won three NBA Championships. The 1954-1955 Syracuse Nationals front man was then 6-foot-9 rookie center Red Kerr. The 1967 Philadelphia 76ers front man was 7-foot-1 Wilt Chamberlain. And the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers found 6-foot-10 center Moses Malone to be the keystone for the team.

Malone dominated in the NBA. In his first year in Philadelphia, he joined the team as a six year veteran. Like Julius Erving, he began in the ABA. His first season with the Philadelphia 76ers was phenomenal. He scored 24.5 points per game, and pulled in 15.3 rebounds to lead the team in both categories. While he could score, he was a huge plus defensively as well. And in post season, his 26.0 points per game led the team.

Similar impact Embiid

Joel Embiid is not a seasoned veteran. But he leads the team in scoring at 22.9 points per game. He also dominates the board, pulling down 11.0 rebounds per game as well.

Right now, Embiid is injured. And the durability of Moses Malone is far superior to Embiid at this early stage of Embiid’s basketball playing career. But Malone had limited shelf life as a Philadelphia 76er. Embiid, for all intents and purposes, will likely be a lifelong player here. And while he is currently injured, he may be the team’s most dangerous player in postseason. He autocorrects. He watches his own videos, watches play of NBA greats, and then emulates what they did in his next game.

Power Forward Marc Iavaroni vs. Dario Saric

Few will remember Marc Iavaroni from that 1983 NBA Championship roster.  In short, he was the defensive guru for the Philadelphia 76ers. And much like the modern day Robert Covington, that means his greatest plays never made it to the scoreboard. In fact, his best plays kept opponents off the scoreboard as well.

Dario Saric is the tortoise in the tortoise and the hare fable. He is not the most athletic, fast, or powerful player. But he’s NBA savvy, and he can deliver in virtually every NBA statistical category. While Iavaroni ended his NBA career at 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds, he was the right defensive specialist amidst the scoring offense of the 1982-1983 Philadelphia 76ers.

Dario does versatility

Power forward Dario Saric gives the Philadelphia 76ers enough versatility to exploit an advantage somewhere on the court. If Saric has the ball on offense, he can score from anywhere, or dish out an assist to the open shooter.  And he’s just in his second season.

While Iavaroni had a very specific role to fill, defend, Saric fills in the 2018 76ers lineup whereever he is needed. And on any given night, he can be needed anywhere.  Perhaps the most incredible feat of Saric this season is improving his three-point shot from 31 percent to nearly 40 percent. That perimeter shooting makes this Philadelphia 76ers very difficult to defend if everyone is playing their best.

Small Foward Julius Erving vs. Robert Covington

Known and beloved by fans as “Doctor J.”, Julius Erving was a true NBA Superstar. Truly, the epitome of the Philadelphia 76ers dominance in the 1970’s and 1980’s. In the year the Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA Championship, Doctor J was elite at both the offensive and defensive side of the basketball court.  It was his sixth season with the Philadelphia 76ers, and he was deep into his prime.  There is nobody on the Philadelphia 76ers roster who can compete with the great Doctor J.  Yet.

Julius Erving was the one guy on the Philadelphia 76ers team who could take over a game. Literally. Not by ego, but by the love of the game and his team. He averaged 18.9 shots in a game, but 4.4 assists. He pulled down over eight rebounds, and averaged nearly two steals and two blocks a game over his career. But the career average of 24.2 points per game dominated in the NBA in his tim.

RoCo defends Philly well

Robert Covington is not Doctor J, nor does the Philadelphia 76ers need him to be. He is simply a good player on a good roster where the whoe 5-man lineup is better than the sum of the parts. When Julius Erving had the ball, he could score from anywhere. When Robert Covington gets the ball, he needs to be feet planted and clear to the basket. His offensive arsenal is not nearly as full as that of Erving.  But he does deliver on defense.

And the role of yesteryear’s Iavaroni is now a similar role to Covington’s. Let’s face it, the NBA has changed. The power game of big bodies owning the basketball court has faded to the new metric of tall fast wing men launching an arsenal of three-point shots. To defend those scorers, the modern NBA team needs someone who can stay with them, block them, disrupt passing landes, and fast-hand punch the ball away.  Covington can do all that. Plus he can score nearly 13 points a game. No, that’s now Julius Erving production. But it’s huge from a guy tasked with shutting down the best player on the opposing team.

Shooting guard Andrew Toney vs. J.J. Redick

Andrew Toney contributed for years for the Philadelphia 76ers. Well, for eight years to be exact. When he played in that 1982-1983 season, he was coming into his prime. He had nearly a 20 points per game average in the regular season, and sustained that rate of scoring in the postseason.

Toney was a player who had unlimited offensive prowess. And yes, that was without a three point shot. Or rather, without an extensive three. He did shot from the perimeter, and he ended his career with a .342 shooting percentage.  But much like the modern day team, he had strong skills in scoring and in distributing. He averaged 4.6 assists per game. Like Doctor J, his shooting was nearly 50 percent for his career from the floor. The ball in his has usually meant points.

Redick ice cold

Where Toney was fire and passion, J.J. Redick is the cold calculating assasin. His forte is not so much taking over the game as it is icing it.  Shooting 41.7 percent from the perimeter, he is the guy other teams must account for the entire game. While he won’t put up Toney level points, he’s a good player to have on the court to balance out the post game attack of Joel Embiid and the driving to the basket points of Ben Simmons.

And there is a fit, a mesh, of J.J. Redick on this team which is tough to explain. When the Philadelphia 76ers needed offense to stave off the Cleveland Cavaliers, Redick delivered 28 points. That’s on 9-19 from the floor, including 4-11 from three-point range,  and 6-7 from the foul line. In fact, in April 2018, he’s up to nearly a 22 points per game average.  And he plays solid defense as well.  Heading into the playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers will need J.J. Redick’s offense, and defense.

Point guard Maurice Cheeks vs. Ben Simmons

Point guard Maurice Cheeks worked incredibly well with his back court partner, Andrew Toney. They were a tandem who played together for many years. “Mo” cheeks was the driver, the point guard, the guy who made it happen. But he played with Julius Erving. And Doctor J. had this to say about Mo’s point guard progeny.

Mo Cheeks is heading for the NBA Hall of Fame. He delivered his best season the year the Philadelphia 76ers won that NBA Championship. In the 1982-1983 post season, he averaged 16.3 points, 7.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds. he shot over 50 percent from the floor, and he fed the ball to the offensive weapons all over the court.

Until now, we have covered the Philadelphia 76ers from 1983, and admittedly, the evidence weighs very heavily in favor of the 1983 NBA Champion Philadelphia 76ers. But we have one more player to discuss. And he is somthing… special

But Ben is something… special

Someday, Ben Simmons may make that trek as well. To the NBA Hall of Fame? To an NBA Championship? But folks, right now he is delivering in his rookie season like a well-seasoned veteran. And with whomever you compare him, he stands toe-to-toe with NBA legends in their rookie season.

In some ways, he’s comparing well with veterans too.

Ben Simmons keeps getting better

Ben Simmons is out of this world right now. He notched his 12th triple double of the season, and is now third on the team’s all time list.

And he’s just getting started.  In fact, he keeps getting better as the season moves on. When he plays, he produces. The fact is that with the Philadelphia 76ers margin of victory so high, he is pulled from the games by the wisdom of head coach Brett Brown.  Managing game minutes is a modern NBA consideration.

Next: Translating Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid medical update into playoff timetables

Now, top players average 30 minutes per game. In 1983, players averaged 36 or more minutes. While that extends the career of the NBA’s best, it does dilute the statistics of the players. What it comes down to is that the 1982-1983 Philadelphia 76ers were the best of the NBA in their era. The game has changed, and so has the configuration of the teams competing for the top spot. While this is the first time this team enters the postseason, it won’t be the last.  And in comparison, the team is close to one of the NBA’s historic best teams. Could this be the year?  Well, we know Philadelphia plays the underdog role very well. And this 76ers team will be underdogs.