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NBA History: The best era for each of the 30 franchises

By Daniel Lubofsky

SAN ANTONIO - JANUARY 14: Tim Duncan #21 of the San Antonio Spurs looks to drive around Dirk Nowitzki #41 of the Dallas Mavericks at the SBC Center on January 14, 2005 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2005 NBAE (Photo by Chris Birck/NBAE via Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO - JANUARY 14: Tim Duncan #21 of the San Antonio Spurs looks to drive around Dirk Nowitzki #41 of the Dallas Mavericks at the SBC Center on January 14, 2005 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2005 NBAE (Photo by Chris Birck/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Philadelphia 76ers: 1976-83

Julius Erving was one of basketball’s greatest, a skillful scorer and otherworldly athlete. Yet from 1971-76, he was a member of the ABA, until the league merged with the NBA in the summer of 1976 and the former MVP found himself a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.

On a team with future Hall of Famer George McGinnis and talented guards World B. Free and Doug Collins, Erving didn’t have to lead the league in scoring as he did three times during his ABA days.

Instead, he was viewed as the missing piece in Philadelphia that brought the team to the NBA Finals in his first run before bowing out to the Portland Trail Blazers in six games.

Over the next five years, the Sixers remained a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference. They won below 50 games just once and topped out at 62 wins in 1980-81, Erving’s lone NBA MVP season. They would make another two Finals but succumbed both times to the Showtime Lakers of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Erving and the Sixers seemed destined never to emerge victorious with the Larry O’Brien trophy in hand, but their prospects changed before the start of the 1982-83 season. Moses Malone, a perennial All-Star center, had been acquired from the Houston Rockets to provide the inside presence teams so desperately coveted in the 1980s.

Like Erving, Malone’s impact was immediately felt, leading the Sixers to 65 wins. Only this time, the future Hall of Fame big man finished what he started. Philly lost just one time during the 1983 playoffs, sweeping those same Lakers en route to a championship that was a long time coming following years of disappointment.

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