The Sixer Sense
Fansided

What the Philadelphia 76ers can learn from 1983 title team

By Stuart London

(Original Caption) Philadelphia 76ers' Moses Malone (2) and Julius Erving (6) hug their coach Bill Cunninham in the dressing room after the 76ers made a clear 4 game sweep over the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA Championship at the Forum 5/31, 115-108.
(Original Caption) Philadelphia 76ers' Moses Malone (2) and Julius Erving (6) hug their coach Bill Cunninham in the dressing room after the 76ers made a clear 4 game sweep over the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA Championship at the Forum 5/31, 115-108. /
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Philadelphia 76ers
Julius Erving | Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

After some frustrating finishes in previous seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers finally won the NBA championship in 1983, 4-0, over the the Los Angeles Lakers . What can the current Sixers, who have had their own share of frustration, learn about winning a title from the last team to take it all?

What could be better than watching the Philadelphia 76ers sweep the Lakers in an NBA finals? Nothing really. So NBC Sports Philadelphia recently showed all four games of the 1983 NBA finals, with a happy ending for Sixers fans at the end of every contest, as they swept the series.

This year, the Lakers are again a title contender, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis the dominating pair, filling the roles of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson whom the 1983 Sixers had to take on.

The current edition of the 76ers are not as favored to reach the finals as the ’83 team, they are expected to be between a No. 4 to 6 seed when the 2020 playoffs begin. However, they were picked by many to win the championship at the start of the season and, as general manager Elton Brand has stated: ‘They are built for the playoffs.’

The 1983 76ers are the last team to win a championship (they have only made the the finals once since then) in franchise history. The game is certainly a bit different then the style played back then, with a lot more three-pointers and dominant centers not as important.

But there are certain elements that, notwithstanding the passages of time, are as relevant to day as back when Ronald Reagan was in his first term as president. Here are some lessons from 1983 that the current 76ers players, coaches as, well as management, can draw upon.