1983 NBA Finals

1983 NBA World Championship Series

Company type	Sports event
Industry	Professional basketball
Founded	May 22, 1983 (1983-05-22)
Headquarters	Philadelphia and Los Angeles , United States

The 1983 NBA World Championship Series, often referred to as Showdown '83, represented the final contest of the National Basketball Association's 1982–83 season and postseason. The Eastern Conference champions, the Philadelphia 76ers, swept the Western Conference champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, to claim their third NBA championship. This victory overturned the results of their previous four Finals encounters.

Center Moses Malone of the 76ers was honored with the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award. It is significant that this series, along with the 1989 Finals, were the only NBA titles in the 1980s not secured by either the Lakers or the Boston Celtics. Additionally, the Lakers were swept again in the 1989 Finals by the Detroit Pistons.

Philadelphia 76ers

Having fallen short in the 1980 and 1982 Finals against the Lakers—with their frontcourt unable to contain Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—the 76ers made a pivotal acquisition by bringing in star center Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets. This strategic addition was intended to neutralize Abdul-Jabbar's influence while enhancing scoring and rebounding capabilities. Concurrently, the team underwent roster changes, trading away key contributors Caldwell Jones, Darryl Dawkins, and Lionel Hollins, and expanding roles for guard Andrew Toney, reserve playmaker Clint Richardson, as well as incorporating forwards Clemon Johnson and rookie Marc Iavaroni.

Malone’s influence was felt immediately; Philadelphia finished with an impressive 65-win regular season. Prior to entering the playoffs, Malone boldly forecasted a clean sweep throughout the postseason with his famous phrase Fo, Fo, Fo. The team validated this confidence by sweeping the New York Knicks 4–0 in the opening round and dispatching the Milwaukee Bucks in five games during the conference finals.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers possessed the top selection in the 1982 NBA draft, uniquely standing as the only reigning champions to hold such a pick within the same season. This opportunity arose due to a previous transaction orchestrated by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien, who traded their first-round pick along with Butch Lee for Don Ford and draft choice Chad Kinch. Since Cleveland recorded the league’s poorest record at 15–67, they would have secured this number one pick via a coin toss against the 17–65 San Diego Clippers. Instead, this pick was acquired by Los Angeles, who selected future Hall of Famer James Worthy as their top overall draft choice.

During that season, Los Angeles compiled 58 wins. Worthy emerged as a strong contender for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award before a late-season leg injury sidelined him for both remaining regular-season games and playoffs. Despite this setback, elite guard Magic Johnson alongside veteran 35-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar propelled the Lakers back into the Finals after overcoming the Portland Trail Blazers in five games (4–1) and defeating the San Antonio Spurs in six games (4–2) during subsequent playoff rounds.

Road to the Finals

Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference champions)			Philadelphia 76ers (Eastern Conference champions)
Template:1982–83 NBA West standingsTop seed in Western Conference, second-best overall league record	Regular season		Template:1982–83 NBA East standingsTop seed in Eastern Conference, best overall league record
Received first-round bye	First round		Received first-round bye
Overcame (5) Portland Trail Blazers, 4–1	Conference semifinals		Swept (5) New York Knicks, 4–0
Defeated (2) San Antonio Spurs, 4–2	Conference finals		Defeated (2) Milwaukee Bucks, 4–1

Regular season matchups

During the regular season, the Philadelphia 76ers secured victories in both encounters against their opponents:

Series overview

Game	Date	Venue	Outcome	Opponent
Game 1	May 22	Philadelphia 76ers	113–107 (1–0)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 2	May 26	Philadelphia 76ers	103–93 (2–0)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 3	May 29	Los Angeles Lakers	94–111 (0–3)	Philadelphia 76ers
Game 4	May 31	Los Angeles Lakers	108–115 (0–4)	Philadelphia 76ers

The final component that shaped the Philadelphia 76ers' championship run was the addition of center Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets prior to the 1982–83 campaign. The team achieved an impressive 65-win season and dominated the 1983 NBA Playoffs, sweeping the New York Knicks, overcoming the Milwaukee Bucks in five games, and concluding with a four-game sweep against the reigning champions, the Los Angeles Lakers.

Head coach Billy Cunningham identified Malone as the pivotal factor behind their success. Malone was honored with both the Finals MVP and his third league MVP award. The 76ers completed an extraordinary postseason with a 12–1 record, fulfilling Malone's "Fo', fo', fo" forecast (four wins in each playoff round), which ultimately became "Fo', fi', fo" due to one extended series. Significant contributions came from Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones.

In Game 4, Erving's decisive three-point play secured the win, finalizing the sweep and marking this series as the last NBA Finals to conclude before June.

This triumph stood as Philadelphia’s last major professional sports championship until the Phillies captured the 2008 World Series title.

Player performance statistics

Philadelphia 76ers

|- | align="left" | || 4 || 4 || 36.8 || .423 || .000 || .848 || 2.3 || 5.8 || 1.3 || 0.3 || 22.0 |-! style="background:#FDE910;" | align="left" | || 4 || 4 || 39.3 || .507 || .000 || .660 || 18.0 || 2.0 || 1.5 || 1.5 || 25.8 |- | align="left" | || 4 || 4 || 35.8 || .553 || .000 || .600 || 2.3 || 6.3 || 2.8 || 0.0 || 15.3 |- | align="left" | || 4 || 0 || 26.0 || .568 || .000 || .667 || 4.8 || 2.8 || 2.0 || 2.3 || 12.0 |- | align="left" | || 4||4||24.8|| .588|| .000|| .375||5.5||2.0||0.3||0.8||5.8 |- | align="left" | ||4||4||38.3|| .469|| .000|| .800||8.5||5.0||1.3|| 2.8||19.0 |- | align="left" | ||4||0||23.0|| .393|| .000|| .750||3.3||1.8||1.3||0.3||6.3 |- | align="left" | ||3||0||12.7|| .385|| .000|| .000||3.0||0.3||0.3||0.3||3.3 |- | align="left" | ||3||0||6.3|| .333|| .000|| .000||1.0||0.3||0.7||0.0||0.7 |- | align="left" | ||1||0||1.0|||1.000||| .000||| .000|||0.0|||0.0|||0.0|||0.0|||4.0 |- | align="left" | ||1||0||1.0||| .000||| .000||| .000|||0..0|||0..0|||0..00|| |- |- |-

Los Angeles Lakers

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Broadcast information

CBS aired the coverage of the 1983 NBA Finals through their NBA on CBS programming, featuring commentators Dick Stockton and Bill Russell, with hosting by Brent Musburger and analysis provided by Kevin Loughery. This broadcast introduced new theme music composed by Allyson Bellink for CBS Sports NBA presentations, which included arena introductions that continued until the 1989 playoffs. This theme music was also brought back for use during the 1989 Finals.

Following this series, Russell departed from CBS and was succeeded by his former Boston Celtics teammate Tom Heinsohn. Subsequently, Russell worked as a color commentator on NBA on TBS until his departure in 1987.

See also

• 1983 NBA playoffs

External links

• NBA Historical Overview