All-Time 76ers Team
"You talkin' about practice?" Well, we’re talking about greatness, and these players etched their names in Sixers lore.
All-Time 76ers Team
The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the NBA’s most storied franchises and have been in existence since the league's creation in the 1940s. They started out as the Syracuse Nationals before heading south to Philadelphia in 1963 and rebranding themselves as the 76ers, or Sixers, for short.
Outside of the Celtics and Lakers, no team has been more successful in terms of wins than the Sixers, who rank third in both regular-season victories and postseason wins. Some of the all-time greats have suited up for the franchise and are recognizable by just one name: Wilt, Barkley, Julius and Iverson, to name a few.
Some of the greatest quotes in NBA history have come from Sixer players, including "Fo', fo', fo'," "Trust the Process" and "You talkin' about practice?" Well, we’re talking about the best of the best to suit up for the franchise. Here is the all-time lineup for the three-time NBA champion Philadelphia 76ers.
Maurice Cheeks, Point Guard
Experience: 15 years (1978-93)
Years with 76ers: 11 years (1978-89)
Career stats: 11.1 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 6.7 APG
76ers stats: 12.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 7.3 APG
Championships (titles with 76ers in bold): 1 (1983)
All-time 76ers team role: Starter
Maurice Cheeks, Point Guard
Bottom line: Often overshadowed by other point guards such as Magic Johnson and John Stockton, Mo Cheeks was the perfect two-way point guard for the Sixers of the 1980s.
He was a pass-first point guard who knew that getting the ball to Dr. J, Moses Malone, Andrew Toney or Charles Barkley was a better option than him taking a shot.
On the other end of the floor, Cheeks was a five-time All-Defensive selection and became the NBA’s all-time leader in steals by the time he left the Sixers in 1989.
Allen Iverson, Shooting Guard
Experience: 14 years (1996-2010)
Years with 76ers: 12 years (1996-2006, 2009-10)
Career stats: 26.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 6.2 APG
76ers stats: 27.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 6.1 APG
Championships: 0
All-time 76ers team role: Starter
Allen Iverson, Shooting Guard
Bottom line: Maybe the most polarizing NBA player over the last 30 years, Allen Iverson embodied the city of Philadelphia with his toughness and swagger. He gave everything he had in every game (but not every practice) and won four scoring titles in Philly.
Iverson willed an undermanned team to the 2001 NBA Finals while averaging nearly 48 minutes played per game during that playoff run.
Both his first and second departures from the 76ers didn’t go as planned, but he remains as beloved as any player in franchise history.
Julius Erving, Small Forward
Experience: 11 years, all with 76ers (1976-87)
Career stats: 22.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 3.9 APG
Championships: 1 (1983)
All-time 76ers team role: Starter
Julius Erving, Small Forward
Bottom line: A three-time ABA MVP, Julius Erving joined the NBA and the 76ers at the age of 26 in 1976. His numbers didn’t match what he did in the ABA, but Dr. J still won an NBA MVP and led the team to four Finals appearances.
His graceful play on the court and his dignified manner off the court made him one of the faces of the NBA before the arrivals of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
Erving’s teams never had a losing record and made the postseason in every year of his career. He also set a record that can be tied but never beaten as he made an All-Star team, either with the NBA or ABA, in 100 percent of the 16 seasons he played in.
Dolph Schayes, Power Forward
Experience: 15 years, all with Nationals/76ers (1949-64)
Career stats: 18.5 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 3.1 APG
Championships: 1 (1955)
All-time 76ers team role: Starter
Dolph Schayes, Power Forward
Bottom line: While George Mikan was the NBA’s first dominant player, Dolph Schayes was in the running for the No. 2 player in the league behind "Mr. Basketball."
Schayes was a power forward with guard skills. He finished in the top 10 in assists multiple times in his career and led the NBA in free-throw percentage three times.
A native New Yorker, he played his first 15 seasons for the franchise when it was known as the Syracuse Nationals and then played his final season after the team moved to Philly and rebranded as the 76ers.
When he retired in 1964, Schayes ranked second in NBA history in points, third in rebounds and eighth in assists.
Wilt Chamberlain, Center
Experience: 14 years (1959-73)
Years with 76ers: 4 years (1965-68)
Career stats: 30.1 PPG, 22.9 RPG, 4.4 APG
76ers stats: 41.5 PPG, 25.1 RPG, 3.0 APG
Championships (titles with 76ers in bold): 2 (1967, 1972)
All-time 76ers team role: Starter
Wilt Chamberlain, Center
Bottom line: A native of Philadelphia, Wilt Chamberlain rewrote the records books while at Overbrook High School and set the national high school scoring mark. Once he reached the NBA, Chamberlain played for both NBA teams in Philadelphia — first the Warriors, who then relocated to San Francisco. And then the 76ers, who Chamberlain joined in his sixth NBA season.
In his three full seasons with the 76ers, Chamberlain won the MVP award each year, led the league in rebounds and field-goal percentage each year, and won his seventh and final scoring title.
He also helped bring the first NBA championship to the Sixers in 1967 as the team set an NBA record by winning 68 games. That team was the only one of Chamberlain’s legendary career in which he defeated Bill Russell’s Celtics in the NBA playoffs.
Charles Barkley, Power Forward
Experience: 16 years (1984-2000)
Years with 76ers: 8 years (1984-92)
Career stats: 22.1 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.9 APG
76ers stats: 23.3 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 3.7 APG
Championships: 0
All-time 76ers team role: Reserve
Charles Barkley, Power Forward
Bottom line: Charles Barkley spent the first half of his NBA career with the Sixers and joined an aging team that was transitioning away from the likes of Dr. J and Moses Malone.
Barkley had the talent to take the baton from those former MVPs, but his supporting cast wasn’t quite the same, which led to many productive yet unsuccessful years in Philly for Sir Charles.
Still, though, the Sixers fans got to see the best of Barkley, who finished in the top six in MVP voting for six straight years with the team.
Barkley still has the second-highest player efficiency rating (PER) in franchise history, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain.
Hal Greer, Shooting Guard
Experience: 15 years, all with Nationals/76ers (1958-73)
Career stats: 19.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.0 APG
Championships: 1 (1967)
All-time 76ers team role: Reserve
Hal Greer, Shooting Guard
Bottom line: From Wilt Chamberlain to Dr. J to Allen Iverson to Dolph Schayes, the Sixers' franchise has had some of the greatest players in NBA history. But it’s Hal Greer who is the franchise’s all-time leader in points.
Greer was Mr. Reliable during his career, literally, as he finished his career first in NBA history in games played. He made 10 straight All-Star games and played every role imaginable for the team — from starting shooting guard, to starting point guard, to sixth man off the bench.
Because of his accomplishments to the franchise, Greer was the first player in team history to have his jersey retired, and it appropriately came in 1976.
Billy Cunningham, Small Forward
Experience: 9 years, all with 76ers (1965-72, 1974-75)
Career stats: 20.8 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 4.0 APG
Championships: 1 (1967)
All-time 76ers team role: Reserve
Billy Cunningham, Small Forward
Bottom line: Billy Cunningham was a great player. A combo forward, "The Kangaroo Kid" played much bigger than his size and averaged over 10 rebounds for his career despite being just 6 feet, 6 inches.
Cunningham is just one of four players in NBA history with career averages of 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. The others are Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Elgin Baylor.
Larry Costello, Point Guard
Experience: 12 years (1954, 1956-65, 1966-67)
Years with 76ers: 10 years (1957-65, 1966-67)
Career stats: 12.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 4.6 APG
76ers stats: 12.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 4.7 APG
Championships (titles with 76ers in bold): 1 (1967)
All-time 76ers team role: Reserve
Larry Costello, Point Guard
Bottom line: Much like Tommy McDonald was the last NFL player to not wear a facemask, Larry Costello was the last NBA player to shoot a two-handed set shot.
Costello stood only 6-foot-1, but no one had a problem with his shot attempts since he was accurate from everywhere on the court and finished in the top 10 in field-goal percentage three times.
With Costello at point guard and Hal Greer at shooting guard, the 76ers had arguably the best backcourt in the NBA during their era, and the two combined to make 15 All-Star teams.
Andre Iguodala, Small forward
Experience: 15 years (2004-present)
Years with 76ers: 8 years (2004-12)
Career stats: 12.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.4 APG
76ers stats: 15.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 4.9 APG
Championships (title with 76ers in bold): 3 (2015, 2017-18)
All-time 76ers team role: Reserve
Andre Iguodala, Small Forward
Bottom line: Andre Iguodala will never get the credit he deserves because most casual NBA fans only know him as the jack-of-all-trades sixth man that helped the Warriors become a dynasty. But in his prime, "Iggy" was a two-way force between the Allen Iverson era and "The Process" era.
He was a point-forward who could drop 20 points in a game while also locking down the other team’s best offensive player. On this mythical all-time Sixers team, Iggy would be perfect in the role he had with the Warriors, where he would be called upon to do whatever is necessary, from running the offense or defending a top scorer.
Moses Malone, Center
Experience: 19 years (1976-94)
Years with 76ers: 5 years (1982-86, 1993-94)
Career stats: 20.6 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 1.4 APG
76ers stats: 21.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 1.3 APG
Championships (titles with 76ers in bold): 1 (1983)
All-time 76ers team role: Reserve
Moses Malone, Center
Bottom line: Moses Malone played just five seasons with the 76ers, but boy, were they impactful. He made four All-Star teams, won three rebounding titles, was a two-time All-NBA player and won both the 1983 MVP and 1983 Finals MVP.
He also gave the infamous quote of "fo, fo, fo," in regards to his prediction of the Sixers sweeping each of their playoff rounds in 1983.
The Sixers actually went "fo, fi, fo," as it took them five games to win their second-round matchup, but Malone cemented his place in 76ers legend and lore.
Doug Collins, Shooting Guard
Experience: 8 years, all with 76ers (1973-81)
Career stats: 17.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.3 APG
Championships: 0
All-time 76ers team role: Reserve
Doug Collins, Shooting Guard
Bottom line: Before Ben Simmons (2016) and Allen Iverson (1996) were No. 1 overall pick for Philadelphia, Doug Collins was the first No. 1 overall pick in Sixers history (1973).
He had a star-crossed career and played the equivalent of five NBA seasons due to a rash of foot injuries, but he still managed to make four straight All-Star teams in the 1970s.
Collins ceded his starting two-guard position to Andrew Toney, who had a similar injury-ravaged career, but Collins eventually returned to the organization as a head coach in 2010.
Billy Cunningham, Head coach
Experience: 8 years, all with 76ers (1977-85)
Career record: 454 wins, 196 losses, .698 winning percentage
Championships: 1 (1983)
All-time 76ers team role: Head coach
Billy Cunningham, Head Coach
Bottom line: After a Hall of Fame career as a player, Billy Cunningham became the Sixers' coach at the age of 34. By 39, he had led the team to three NBA Finals appearances and won the championship in the 1982-83 season.
That was the memorable "Fo, Fo, Fo" team led by Moses Malone and Dr. J, which produced the second championship in Sixers franchise history.
Cunningham coached for just eight seasons but was extremely successful and holds a .698 all-time winning percentage to rank third in NBA history behind Steve Kerr (.771) and Phil Jackson (.704).