Top 10 Greatest Ever Philadelphia 76ers

With Allen Iverson rejoining the Philadelphia 76er’s for a second time, it’s time to take a look at where he stands among the all-time 76er’s.  Does he make your top ten, maybe even your top five?

If we were talking about who’s the most prolific scorer, one could easily argue that it should be either Iverson or Wilt Chamberlain at the top of the list.  To be on this all-time list, on the other hand, implies so much more.  This weighs a lot of factors—most importantly, winning, not wins and losses, but championships.  Some of the other factors include:  MVP’s, records, awards, total points, assists, and rebounds, seasons, scoring titles, Final’s MVP’s, All-Star MVP’s, and ROY’s (Rookie of the Year).  Also factored in is where they were playing when they received those awards.

First, it helps to compare some of the numbers.

Highest PPG in Philadelphia Franchise History

(ESPN.com)

*Note:  Only two players on this chart are not, yet, in the Basketball Hall of Fame:  Allen Iverson, who will likely make it in, and Maurice Cheeks, who probably should.

On the Outside Looking in: “Jumpin’” Joe Fulks

1 Title (BBA).  Despite spending all 8 of his pro seasons in Philadelphia and winning the league’s first ever scoring title, Fulks’ numbers do not match up well historically.  He is described in retrospect how people twenty years from now might describe Allen Iverson.  Fulks was a brilliant and unstoppable scorer, but his 16.4 ppg does not compare favorably to the numbers of other great Sixers.

10.  “Sir” Charles Barkley, “The Round Mound of Rebound”

0 Titles.  0 Scoring Titles.  1 MVP (with the Phoenix Suns).  1 Final’s appearance (also with the Suns, where he lost 4-2 to Jordan’s Bulls).  He ranks 18th all-time in points scored, 16th in total rebounds collected, and 18th in steals.  Nonetheless, he spent half his career there and posted terrific individual numbers, even if he could not help the Sixers win a title.

9.  Maurice “Mo” Cheeks

1 Title (1983).  Cheeks was the starting point guard on a team led by Dr. Julius Erving and Moses Malone.  He ranks 10th all-time in assists and 4th in steals (both higher than A.I.).  Mostly for his all-time records, Cheeks makes this list.  He also coached the Sixers and Allen Iverson for a short period before Iverson was traded to the Denver Nuggets in the ’06-’07 season.

8.  Billy “Kangaroo Kid” Cunningham

1 Title.  0 Scoring Titles.  0 MVP’s (but 1 MVP in the ABA).  Cunningham was a fantastic scorer on a loaded team, including Chamberlain and Greer, so it would have been difficult for him to win a lot of individual honors.  It would be difficult to leave Cunningham off this list, however, since he is the only 76er, as a player (1967) and a coach (1983), to win the NBA Title.  He, also, played the majority of his career with the Sixers.

7.  Neil “Gabby” Johnston

1 Title.  3 Scoring Titles.  0 MVP’s.  Often overshadowed by legends of the game like Barkley, Iverson, and Dr. J, Johnston was part of a dynamic duo (Johnston and Paul Arizin) that led the Sixers to their first title in 1956.  Like Arizin, Johnston played his entire career with the Sixers.

6.  Hal Greer

1 Title, but no MVP’s and no scoring titles.  He ranks 25th all-time in scoring.  Despite his deceptively low PPG (19.2), Greer is the Sixers all-time leader in points scored; however, Iverson should pass him later on this season.  Still, even after Iverson passes him, he’ll still be the Sixers’ all-time leader in games, minutes, field goals, and field goals attempted.

5.  “Pitchin’” Paul Arizin

1 Title.  2 Scoring Titles.  0 MVP’s.  Often regarded as one of the best players of not only of his generation, but in NBA history, Arizin was a prolific scorer, who could rebound effectively.  Although Cunningham was an excellent player, he was not the scorer Arizin was.  Another factor moving Arizin up on the all-time list is that he played his entire career with the Sixers.

4.  Allen “The Answer” Iverson

0 Titles.  4 Scoring Titles.  1 MVP.  ROY.  1 Finals appearance (where they lost 4-1 to the Los Angeles Lakers).  He ranks 17th in points scored, 6th in points per game, 12th in steals all-time, and 36th in assists.  In 2009, Iverson began his 12th season as a Sixer, more than any other player in Philadelphia history.  Cheeks and Erving are right behind him, having played 11 with the team.  Due to his high productivity when it comes to scoring, its no wonder A.I. should eventually become the franchise’s all-time leader in points scored, nor is it a surprise that he currently ranks #1 in Sixers’ history with his 28.1 average.  Although he has never won an NBA title, Iverson justly ranks higher than a couple players at the end of this list because he (a) helped the team to the Finals (unlike Barkley), (b) was the focal point of that team (unlike Cheeks), and will soon overtake Greer’s record for points scored as a Sixer.  If you take a look at his lack of titles, mostly, but also his playoff numbers, you get an indication of why he is ranked 4th, instead of 1st or 2nd.  In the playoffs, only Jordan has averaged a better PPG than A.I.  That sounds good until we factor in that Iverson played more minutes than anyone, took more shots than anyone, but has the lowest field goal percentage in the top 50 playoff PPG scorers, even significantly lower than #50, Hal Greer.  Again, this was one of many factors.

3.  Julius Erving, “Dr. J”

1 NBA Title and 2 ABA Titles.  4 MVP’s (1 in NBA and 3 in ABA).  Slam Dunk Champion (NBA and ABA).  Originally, I had Malone at #3 and Erving at #2, but one of the only reasons he ranked higher was my own sentimental favoritism towards Dr. J.  Erving does have two All-Star MVP’s to Malone’s 0, but there are other factors to consider.  Looking beyond personal preference, Malone ranks higher because we’re talking about the NBA, specifically the Sixers.  Including everything Erving did in the ABA may push him over the top, but we’re not.  We’re trying to stick to the Sixers, here.  With that in mind, in the NBA, Malone has 3 MVP’s to Erving’s 1 (but both got just 1 MVP as a member of the Sixers).  Also, Malone has higher all-time rankings than Erving.  Erving has no Finals’ MVP’s, and Erving’s 1983 title, his only in the NBA, would not have been possible had it not been for Malone, the Finals’ MVP that season.

2.  Moses Malone

1 Title.  3 MVP’s (but only 1 as a Sixer).  Ranks 6th all-time in scoring and 5th in rebounds.  His all-time ranks help to position Malone above Erving.  An amazing rebounder, Malone was a star and MVP in his own right in Houston before joining a Philadelphia team loaded with Dr. J, Cheeks, Caldwell Jones, and Andrew Toney en route to the 1983 title.  In that Finals sweep against the Lakers, where they redeemed their losses from ’79-’80 and ’81-’82, Malone was the Final’s MVP. 

1.  Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain

2 Titles (Sixers in 1967 and Lakers in 1972).  4 MVP’s (all with Sixers).  ROY.  11 Rebounding Titles (more than any other Sixer).  7 Scoring Titles (the most among Sixers).  Wilt’s rookie season (1959-1960) alone distinguishes him, not just from others on this list, but from about all other players in NBA history.  As a rookie, Wilt won the ROY, All-Star MVP, and MVP while averaging 37.6 PPG and 27 RPG.  Chamberlain’s presence in the game created a huge shift in power from the Celtics and Lakers to having to include the 76er’s in the discussion of the league’s powerhouses.  His all-time numbers are ridiculous:  1st in rebounds, 4th in points, and 2nd in points per game.  Although Wilt played only half his career in Philadelphia, he had many of his best years and accomplishments in a Sixers’ uniform including scoring 100 points in a single game and earning 3 consecutive and 4 total MVP awards.

Honorable Mention

• Daryl Dawkins, “Chocolate Thunder”
• Bobby Jones
• Caldwell Jones
• Dikembe Mutombo
• Andrew Toney

Sources:

basketballreference.com
nba.com
espn.com