Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers (also known as the Sixers for short) are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). more...

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Home arenas

State Fair Coliseum (1949-1951)

War Memorial at Oncenter (formerly the Onondaga War Memorial) (1951-1963)

Convention Hall and Philadelphia Arena (1963-1967)

Wachovia Spectrum (1967-1996)

Wachovia Center (1996-present)

Franchise History

The 76ers are the NBA's oldest franchise. They began in 1939 as the Syracuse Nationals, an independent professional team. In 1946, they joined the National Basketball League, becoming the largely Midwest-based league's easternmost team. In 1949, the Nationals were one of seven NBL teams that merged with the Basketball Association of America to form the NBA.

The Glorious 1950's

In the 1950-51 season, led by Hall of Famers Dolph Schayes and Al Cervi, the Nationals made a serious run at the NBA Finals as they beat the best team in the East - the Philadelphia Warriors - in 2 straight games in Round 1, but at the east finals they ran into a dead end as they lost to the New York Knicks in a tough 5-game series.

In the 1954-55 season, led by Dolph Schayes and Paul Seymour the Nationals made it to the playoffs for the 9th straight year. The team would go on to beat the Boston Celtics in 4 games to advance to the NBA finals. In Game 7 of the finals against the Fort Wayne Pistons, unsung hero George King sank a clutch free throw to give the Nationals a 92-91 lead. King would then steal an inbound pass to clinch the championship. Although the Nationals would remain a playoff contender for the rest of the 1950's and into 1963, the Nationals would never again reach the NBA Finals.

The Nats' original owner, Danny Biasone, is the inventor of the 24-second shot clock.

Welcome Back To The NBA, Philadelphia

By the 1960s, Syracuse had become too small to support an NBA team. Paper magnate Irv Kosloff bought the Nationals, the last NBA team still playing in a medium-sized city, from Biasone and moved them to Philadelphia in 1963. The NBA thus returned to Philadelphia one year after the Warriors had left for San Francisco. Their name changed to the "76ers," after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776. The nickname was quickly shortened to "Sixers" by headline writers, and the two names soon became interchangeable for marketing purposes.

For their first four years in Philadelphia,, the Sixers played mostly at the Philadelphia Arena and Civic Center-Convention Hall, with an occasional game at The Palestra at the University of Pennsylvania. In the 1964-65 season, the 76ers acquired the legendary Wilt Chamberlain from the Warriors. The 76ers would push the Boston Celtics to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, with the 76ers trailing 110-108 in Game 7. After Hal Greer's pass was stolen by John Havlicek - an infamous blow to 76ers fans, rubbed in by fabled Celtics announcer Johnny Most when he yelled into the microphone "Havlicek stole the ball!" - the Celtics went on to beat the 76ers and win another NBA Championship.

Read more at Wikipedia.org