List of Philadelphia 76ers seasons
| Company type | Professional basketball team |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports |
| Predecessor | Syracuse Nationals |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Founder | Danny Biasone |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia , United States |
Area served | United States |
| Products | Basketball team |
| Parent | National Basketball Association (NBA) |
The Philadelphia 76ers represent a professional basketball organization located in Philadelphia, competing within the NBA's Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Throughout more than seventy NBA seasons, this franchise has advanced to the Finals on nine occasions and claimed three championship titles. The Sixers hold the third position in NBA history for both total wins and playoff participations. Since 1996, their home venue has been the Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Originally established in 1946 by proprietor Danny Biasone as the Syracuse Nationals in the National Basketball League (NBL), the team became part of the NBA in 1949 following a merger with the Basketball Association of America (BAA). During their tenure as the Nationals, they reached the Finals three times and secured a single championship in 1955 before relocating to Philadelphia for the 1963–64 season, succeeding the Philadelphia Warriors who had moved away.
After adopting the Philadelphia 76ers name, the franchise has participated in 36 playoff campaigns and earned two championships. The 1964 acquisition of Philadelphia native Wilt Chamberlain culminated in a 1967 Finals triumph against his former team. Nevertheless, following Chamberlain’s retirement and Billy Cunningham's transition to the ABA, the team’s performance deteriorated significantly, resulting in only nine wins during the 1972–73 season. With coaches Gene Shue and Cunningham at the helm and led by forward Julius Erving, the Sixers experienced a resurgence from 1975–76 through 1990–91, consistently posting winning records and capturing their most recent title in 1983 by sweeping the Lakers.
The decade of the 1990s brought challenges, including an 18–64 record in 1995–96, until guard Allen Iverson revived the squad’s fortunes. In the 2000–01 season, Iverson guided Philadelphia to a franchise-record 56 victories and an Eastern Conference Finals win, advancing to the NBA Finals but falling to the Lakers four games to one. The subsequent decade was characterized by average results until financial restrictions led general manager Sam Hinkie in the early 2010s to trade expensive players for draft selections. This approach caused three straight seasons with fewer than twenty wins, including a franchise-low 10–72 record in 2015–16, marking one of the poorest winning percentages ever recorded in NBA history.
Seasons
| League champions | Conference champions | Division champions | Playoff berth |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Finish | Division | Finish | W | L | Win% | GB | Playoffs | Awards | Head Coach | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syracuse Nationals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1946–47 | 1946–47 | NBL | — | — | Eastern | 4th | 21 | 23 | Template:Winpct | 10 | Lost Opening Round (Royals) 3–1 | Bennie Borgmann | ||||||||||
| 1947–48 | 1947–48 | NBL | — | — | Eastern | 4th | 24 | 36 | Template:Winpct | 20 | Lost Opening Round (Duffey Packers) 3–0 | |||||||||||
| 1948–49 | 1948–49 | NBL | — | — | Eastern | 2nd | 40 | 23 | Template:Winpct | 8.5 | Won Opening Round (Calumet Buccaneers) 2–0 Lost Division semifinals (Duffey Packers) 3–1 |
Dolph Schayes (ROY) Al Cervi (COY) |
Al Cervi | |||||||||
| 1949–50[lower-alpha 1] | 1949–50 | NBA | — | — | Eastern | 1st | 51 | 13 | Won Division semifinals (Warriors) 2–0 Won Division finals (Knicks) 2–1 Lost NBA Finals (Lakers) 4–2 |
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| 1950–51 | 1950–51 | NBA | — | — | Eastern | 4th | 32 | 34 | Template:Winpct | 8 | Won Division semifinals (Warriors ) 2-0 Lost Division finals (Knicks ) 3-2 |
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| 1951-52 | 1951-52 | NBA | — | — | Eastern | 1st | 40 | 26 | Template:Winpct | Won Division semifinals (Warriors ) 2-1 Lost Division finals (Knicks ) 3-1 |
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| 1952-53 | 1952-53 | NBA | — | — | Eastern | 2nd | 47 | 24 |
Lost Division semifinals (1952-53 Boston Celtics season ) 2-0 |
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| 1953-54 NBA season | 1953-54 Syracuse Nationals season | NBA | — | — | Eastern | bgcolor="#96cdcd" |T-2nd | 42 | 30 | 2 | Round-robin semifinals (4-0) Won Division finals (1953-54 Boston Celtics season ) 2-0 Lost NBA Finals (1953-54 Minneapolis Lakers season ) 4-3 |
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| 1954-55 NBA season | 1954-55 Syracuse Nationals season | bgcolor="#ffcccc"|'NBA' | — | — | bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|'Eastern' | bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|'1st' | 43 | 29 | — | bgcolor="#ffcccc"|'Won' Division finals (1954-55 Boston Celtics season ) 3-1 Won NBA Finals (1954-55 Fort Wayne Pistons season ) 4-3 |
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| 1955-56 NBA season | 1955-56 Syracuse Nationals season | NBA | — | — | Eastern | bgcolor="#96cdcd"|'3rd' | 35 | 37 | 10 | Won Division Tiebreaker (Knicks) 1-0 Won Division semifinals (Celtics) 2-1 Lost Division finals (Warriors) 3-2 |
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| 1956-57 NBA season | 1956-57 Syracuse Nationals season | NBA | — | — | Eastern | bgcolor="#96cdcd"|'2nd' | 38 | 34 | 6 | Won Division semifinals (Warriors) 2-0 Lost Division finals (Celtics) 3-0 |
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| 1957-58 NBA season | 1957-58 Syracuse Nationals season | NBA | — | — | Eastern | bgcolor="#96cdcd"|'2nd' | 41 | 31 | 8 | Lost Division semifinals (Warriors) 2-1 | ||||||||||||
| 1958-59 NBA season | 1958-59 Syracuse Nationals season | NBA | — | — | Eastern | bgcolor="#96cdcd"|'3rd' | 35 | 37 | 17 | Won Division semifinals (Knicks) 2-0 Lost Division finals (Celtics) 4-3 |
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| 1959-60 NBA season | 1959-60 Syracuse Nationals season | NBA | — | — | Eastern | bgcolor="#96cdcd"|'3rd' | 45 | 30 | 14 | Lost Division semifinals (Warriors) 2-1 | ||||||||||||
| 1960-61 NBA season | 1960-61 Syracuse Nationals season | NBA | — | — | Eastern | bgcolor="#96cdcd"|'3rd' | 38 | 41 | 19 | Won Division semifinals (Warriors) 3-0 Lost Division finals (Celtics)4 -1 |
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| 1961 -62 NBA Season | 1961 -62 Syracuse Nationals Season | NBA | — | — | Eastern | '3rd' | 41 | 39 | 19 | Lost Division Semifinals( Warriors )3 -2 | ||||||||||||
| 1962 -63 NBA Season | 1962 -63 Syracuse Nationals Season | NBA | — | — | Eastern | '2nd' | 48 | 32 | 10 | Lost Division Semifinals( Royals )3 -2 | ||||||||||||
NBA records
| Statistic | Victories | Defeats | Winning Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season performance (1949–present) | 3,125 | 2,898 | Template:Winning percentage |
| Playoff performance (1949–present) | 251 | 238 | Template:Winning percentage |
| Combined regular and postseason record | 3,376 | 3,136 | Template:Winning percentage |
NBL records
| Statistic | Victories | Defeats | Winning Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season performance (1946–1949) | 85 | 82 | Template:Winning percentage |
| Postseason performance (1946–1949) | 4 | 9 | Template:Winning percentage |
| Total regular and postseason record | 89 | 91 | Template:Winning percentage |
Sources
- NBA History, nba.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC.
- Philadelphia 76ers, basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
- Playoff Index, basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
References
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