On This Day In NBA History: August 6 - The "Phildelphia 76ers" Are Born
When you look back in NBA history, you can see a lot of franchises that have either rebranded, relocated, or both through the years.
The Minneapolis Lakers eventually became the Los Angeles Lakers, the Philadelphia Warriors became the Golden State Warriors and the Vancouver Grizzlies ultimately became the Memphis Grizzlies.
Another franchise to undergo both a name change and relocate were the Syracuse Nationals, who you may know better as the Philadelphia 76ers.
On this day in 1962, the Philadelphia 76ers were officially born, as Irv Kosloff and Ike Richman purchased the Syracuse Nationals and then relocated the franchise to the City of Brotherly Love.
Richman was a well-known attorney in Philadelphia and he was Wilt Chamberlain’s attorney, negotiating the future Hall-of-Famer’s first contract with the Philadelphia Warriors prior to buying the Nationals with Kosloff.
The move from Syracuse to Philadelphia made sense not only because the team’s new owners were based in the area, but because the Philadelphia Warriors had moved across the nation to San Francisco following the 1961-62 season, opening the door for the Philadelphia 76ers to be born.
For their first eight seasons as the 76ers, this franchise went to the playoffs eight straight years, winning the NBA championship in 1967 with Hall-of-Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Hal Greer.
Today, the Philadelphia 76ers find themselves as one of the league’s most historic franchises given that they have been in operation since 1949 when they were the Syracuse Nationals in the early days of the NBA.
All-Stars Joel Embiid and James Harden now lead what many believe to be a championship contender in the Eastern Conference, but the Sixers have had their fair share of struggles in the playoffs lately.
Making the playoffs for five straight seasons now after missing the playoffs for five consecutive seasons prior, the 76ers have failed to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals even though they have won a playoff series in four of the last five seasons.
In fact, the Philadelphia 76ers have not advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals since Allen Iverson led them to the 2001 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
Coming off a 51-win season, the 76ers players, coaches, executives and fans fully believe that this upcoming 2022-23 season is theirs for the taking. Time will tell if the Philadelphia 76ers will be able to claim their fourth NBA championship, which would be the sixth-most by a franchise in league history.
