Random Attic Find: 1983 Sixers Team Photo

This team picture of the 1983 World Champion 76ers was an insert in the Philadelphia Daily News after they had won the championship.

The way this team cut their way through the NBA, there was very little doubt that they were going to win the title. How good was this team? They won 65 games during the regular season and when they lost, I can just remember feeling abject shock. You know when you tuned in to watch on Prism or Channel 48 (I think it was 48), you knew the Sixers were going to win. Moses Malone gave them the low post presence and rebounding that they lacked in the past. He took heat off of Doc, who was then free to do his thing. The only thing you have to say in reference to this team is "Fo-Fo-Fo" and everyone knows what you're talking about.

Some of the things I think of when I look at this picture:

1.) If Andrew Toney wasn't one of the most underrated athletes to come through Philly, I don't know who was. It was sad the way his time ended here. I found this article on NBADraft.Net and the author does a fantastic job of describing how good and well-respected Andrew Toney really was when he played. If it wasn't for the Sixers' doctors not knowing how to fix stress fractures, what today is considered an eminently fixable injury, Toney would have probably gone down as one of the greatest ever in Philly.

2.) Speaking of underrated, was there a more underrated coach in Philadelphia sports history than "The Kangaroo Kid" Billy Cunningham? He accumulated 454 wins, 3 division titles, and our last championship. We'd be building statues today to a coach in the current Philadelphia sporting climate who put together a resume as impressive as that one. Ironically, the closest to acheiving that honor today is Andy Reid, who is only a world championship away from cementing his case for one of the greatest coaches this town has ever seen, but he's also currently under the most fire of any coach in town.

3.) If it wasn't for Norman Braman, former Sixers' owner Harold Katz would be considered the worst owner in Philadelphia over the last 35 years.

4.) Great red tube sox that Mo Cheeks is sporting in the team picture. And yes, I did own socks like that back in the day. I noticed that wearing socks high came back at one time in the NBA, but I have not noticed the tube socks with the stripes make it's way back into the fashion zeitgeist.