Editing Philadelphia 76ers (section)

===1976–1987: Julius Erving era===
{{Further|Julius Erving}}
[[File:JuliusErvingSlamDunk1981.jpg|thumb|[[Julius Erving]] played 11 seasons with the 76ers from 1976 to 1987, leading the 76ers to four NBA Finals and ultimately winning an NBA championship in 1983.]]
The 76ers finally came all the way back in 1976–77, in large part due to the [[ABA–NBA merger]]. The ABA's last champions, the [[New York Nets]], were facing a burden of $5 million to the Knicks for entering the [[New York metropolitan area]] on top of the $3.2 million expansion fee for joining the NBA. So, when the 76ers offered to buy the contract of the Nets' franchise player, [[Julius Erving]], for $3 million—roughly the cost of NBA membership—the Nets had little choice but to accept. A few months before that trade, Kosloff had sold the 76ers to [[Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr.]] on May 28, 1976.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/29/archives/motta-to-coach-bullets-76ers-sold-motta-hired-by-bullets-76ers-sold.html Goldaper, Sam. "Motta to Coach Bullets," ''The New York Times'', Saturday, May 29, 1976.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301212428/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/29/archives/motta-to-coach-bullets-76ers-sold-motta-hired-by-bullets-76ers-sold.html |date=March 1, 2022 }} Retrieved December 4, 2020</ref>

Led by Erving, the 76ers began an exciting ride, beating their long-time [[Celtics–76ers rivalry|rival]] from Boston in a seven-game playoff series to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. There, they defeated the [[Houston Rockets]], led by future 76er [[Moses Malone]], in six games to advance to the NBA Finals. In the Finals, they sprinted to a 2–0 series lead over the [[Bill Walton]]-led [[Portland Trail Blazers]]—who were coached by former 76ers' coach/general manager Jack Ramsay—only to drop the next four games in a row to give the Blazers the title.

That led to the 1977–78 motto of "We owe you one", which would ultimately backfire when they lost in the conference finals that season to the [[Washington Bullets]], who went on to win the NBA championship. In the next four seasons, the 76ers would fall short of the NBA Championship, even after Shue handed the coaching reins to former great Billy Cunningham. In the [[1980 NBA Finals]] against the [[Los Angeles Lakers]], they lost 4–2. In Game Six, rookie [[Magic Johnson]] played center for the Lakers in place of [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]] (who was out because of a sprained ankle sustained in Game Five) and scored 42 points. In the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals, the 76ers opened a 3–1 series lead over the Celtics only to see Boston come back and win the series in seven games. The following season, the 76ers again faced the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, and again jumped to a 3–1 series lead only to see Boston forge a 3–3 series tie. The 76ers were given little chance of winning as they faced the Celtics in Game Seven at [[Boston Garden]]. This time, they played angry but inspired basketball, pulling away to a 120–106 victory and becoming the third NBA road team to win [[List of NBA game sevens|Game 7]] after leading the series 3–1. In the game's closing moments, the Boston Garden fans began chanting "Beat L.A., Beat L.A.", as they realized their team would lose the playoff series to a hated opponent (Philadelphia 76ers), but nonetheless openly wished that opponent good luck in the next round against a more hated opponent (the Los Angeles Lakers).<ref>{{cite news|last=Silva|first=Steve|title=The origins of 'Beat LA'|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=June 2, 2008|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2008/06/the_back_beat_b.html|access-date=October 14, 2010|quote=But that's not when the chant took off in Boston. It actually started as a chant supporting the Philadelphia 76ers.|archive-date=June 6, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606173452/http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2008/06/the_back_beat_b.html?|url-status=live}}</ref> The team lost the [[1982 NBA Finals|1982 Finals]] in six games against the Los Angeles Lakers.

====1982–83: Third NBA championship====
[[File:Moses Malone.jpg|thumb|[[Moses Malone]] won MVP honors in 1983, the same year he led the 76ers to their first title in 16 years.]]

[[Harold Katz]] bought the 76ers from Dixon in 1981. On his watch, the final piece of the championship puzzle was completed before the [[1982–83 NBA season|1982–83 season]] when they acquired center Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets. Led by [[Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame|Hall of Famers]] Julius Erving, [[Maurice Cheeks]], and All-Stars [[Andrew Toney]] and [[Bobby Jones (basketball, born 1951)|Bobby Jones]], they dominated the regular season, winning 65 games in what is still the second most winning year in franchise history. Malone was named League MVP, and when reporters asked how the playoffs would run, he answered, "four, four, four"—in other words, saying that the 76ers needed to win four games in each of the three rounds. Malone's accent made his boast sound like "fo', fo', fo'."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone|title=Moses Malone Player History & Career Recognition|website=[[NBA.com]] }}</ref>

The 76ers backed up Malone's boast. They made a mockery of the Eastern Conference playoffs, first sweeping the [[New York Knicks]] and then beating the [[Milwaukee Bucks]] in five games. The 76ers went on to win their third NBA championship (and second in Philadelphia) with a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had defeated them the season before. Malone was named the playoffs' MVP. The 76ers did not quite fulfill Malone's prediction, as their run was actually "fo', fi', fo" ("four, five, four") – a loss to the Bucks in game four of the Eastern finals being the only blemish on their playoff run. Nonetheless, their 12–1 playoff record is tied for the fewest losses in league history with the 2000–01 Lakers, who went 15–1 en route to the NBA title, coincidentally beating the 76ers in the Finals (after suffering their only defeat that postseason in Game 1), and also with the 2016–2017 [[Golden State Warriors]], who won the title with a 16–1 playoff record. The Philadelphia-based group [[Pieces of a Dream (band)|Pieces Of A Dream]] had a minor hit in 1983 with the R&B song "Fo-Fi-Fo", which title was prompted by Malone's quip. This also marked the last major-pro championship in Philadelphia until the [[Phillies]] won the [[2008 World Series]].<ref>{{cite news|title=WORLD CHAMPS!; 28 years later, Phillies again are baseball's best|date=October 30, 2008|first=Phil|last=Sheridan|newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|page=A1|quote=After 25 years of drought&nbsp;... Philadelphia has its championship&nbsp;... the Phillies really are World Series champions.}}</ref>

====Arrival of Charles Barkley====
{{Further|Charles Barkley}}
After a disappointing [[1983–84 NBA season|1983–84 season]], which ended with a five-game loss to the upstart [[New Jersey Nets]] in the first round of the [[1984 NBA playoffs|playoffs]], [[Charles Barkley]] arrived in Philadelphia for the [[1984–85 NBA season|1984–85 season]]. For the next eight seasons, Barkley brought delight to the Philadelphia fans thanks to his humorous and sometimes controversial ways.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bezbrige.com/index.php/Shocking/the-most-controversial-men-in-sports.html |title=The Most Controversial Men in Sports |publisher=Bezbrige.com |access-date=January 27, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122144145/http://www.bezbrige.com/index.php/Shocking/the-most-controversial-men-in-sports.html |archive-date=January 22, 2013}}</ref> The 76ers returned to the Eastern Conference Finals in Barkley's rookie season, but lost to the [[Boston Celtics]] in five games. As it turned out, they would never again advance as far during Barkley's tenure in Philadelphia. Following the 1984–85 season, [[Matt Guokas]] replaced Billy Cunningham as head coach. Guokas led the 76ers to a 54–28 record and the second round of the [[1986 NBA playoffs|1986 playoffs]], where they were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games.

On June 16, 1986, Katz made two of the most controversial and highly criticized personnel moves in franchise history, trading Moses Malone to Washington and the first overall pick in the [[1986 NBA draft]], which had been obtained from the [[San Diego Clippers]] in a 1979 trade for [[Joe Bryant]], to the [[Cleveland Cavaliers]]. In return, the 76ers received [[Roy Hinson]], [[Jeff Ruland]], and [[Clifford T. Robinson|Cliff Robinson]], none of whom played more than three seasons with the team. Cleveland, meanwhile, turned their acquired pick into future All-Star [[Brad Daugherty (basketball)|Brad Daugherty]].

On the night of the [[1986–87 NBA season|1986–87 season]] opener, Julius Erving announced he would retire after the season, which was subsequently filled with tributes in each arena the 76ers visited. On the court, the team suffered through an injury-plagued campaign, but still managed to make the playoffs with a 45–37 record. Their season would end at the hands of the Bucks again, this time in a best-of-five first-round series that went the distance.