In 1963, the Syracuse Nationals moved to Philadelphia after spending 15 seasons in New York, thus becoming the Philadelphia 76ers. The move shocked the league as the Nationals had a lot of success in Syracuse including a Championship win in 1955. The league landscape has changed dramatically since the Sixers entered the NBA as only nine teams were in the league compared to 30 in 2023.
At the time, there were only four teams in the Eastern Conference and five in the Western Conference, whereas today we see 15 teams in each conference with more expansion teams possible in the not-too-distant future. They are one of only eight teams to survive the first decade of the NBA. In the 60 years that have followed, the 76ers have brought two championships home to the City of Brotherly Love, and have made 39 postseason appearances (65% of seasons ended in a playoff berth). Their 39 playoff appearances rank third all-time in NBA history and 14 of these playoff runs have come since 2000 with an NBA Finals appearance in 2001.
We all know the team’s legends such as Allen Iverson, Julius Erving, Joel Embiid, Wilt Chamberlain, Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, and Hal Greer just to name a few. These players all made a significant impact during their time with the historic franchise and became fan favorites in the process. It’s easy to remember a city’s legendary players, but here are a few names that you may have forgotten were part of the Sixers organization during their careers.