Chapter 3 The First Misery in History

The 76ers won the 1966-1967 championship under the leadership of Wilt Chamberlain, Billy Cuningham, Hall Greer, Chet Walker, Luke Jackson and many others, which was also the first championship after the 76ers moved and changed their name.

In the 1967-1968 season, the 76ers maintained the main team that won the championship last season, and they also achieved a good 62 wins this season, and Chamberlain is still the biggest "bug" in that league Averaged 24.3 points and 23.8 rebounds per game, Billy Cunningham averaged 18.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, Walker averaged 17.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, Luke Jackson also averaged 11.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game double-double, Grell became the team's outside knife, averaging 24.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, just when the 76ers were full of hope and looking forward to defending the championship, injuries came unexpectedly, in the middle of the season, Cunningham fractured wrist, Jackson leg injury, Chamberlain toe injury all plagued the team, 76ers struggled to reach the Eastern Conference finals, this time, they are still facing the old rival Celtics, this time, it is the latter who has the last laugh, and it is a way to make the 76ers feel extremely ashamed to win!

After the first four games, the 76ers led 3-1, and one leg has crossed the threshold of the Finals, will a miracle happen at this time? Hey, that's right, a miracle really happened! In the next two games, the 76ers lost to their opponents, and in the seventh game of life and death, the two sides fought until the last second of the game, when the 33-year-old old center Bill Russell suddenly turned into a god! He hit two free throws, then blocked a layup on the defensive end, grabbed a rebound and then sent the 76ers home with a crucial assist, and the 76ers left the championship stage this season in such a shocking way. The Boston Celtics defeated the 76ers and then defeated the Lakers in the Finals to win the 10th championship in franchise history.

From a 3:1 lead to 4:3 was swept away, the 76ers' humiliating defeat made the team's top brass angry, and the team's meritorious head coach Hannum switched to the ABA, and general manager Jerry Ramsey was at the helm of the coach, and as soon as Ramsey took office, the first transaction was to trade the first "BUG" Chamberlain in NBA history to the Lakers, only in exchange for three role players, guard Elch Clark, center Dalal Imhoff, forward Jerry Chambers, This deal can be said to be the most failed deal in the history of the 76ers, the 28-year-old Chamberlain is at the peak of his career, he is priceless, any player in any form of exchange is not equal, from this deal, the 76ers have been exposed by the leadership team have exposed the same problem, that is, the lack of patience for players, rushing, but this way and mentality often do not get good results, this deal is a case.

Chamberlain played a short three-and-a-half-season with the 76ers, playing in a total of 277 games, but in the all-time rebounding list, Chamberlain still ranks third with 6,632 rebounds, ranks tenth in team history with 1,879 assists, and ranks ninth in team history with 3,105 goals hit. Chamberlain's departure caused the 76ers to fall quickly.

Chambers was cut without waiting for the notice to join the team, and new recruit Clark came on as a substitute for 26 minutes. Averaging 13.5 points per game, Imhoff averaged 9.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, without Chamberlain, Billy Cunningham became the team's new leader, he ushered in a big explosion this year, averaging 24.8 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, Grell still contributed 23.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists steadily, Chet Walker averaged 18 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, Luke Jackson averaged 14.4 points and 11.4 rebounds per game as the main center, and the 76ers made the playoffs, but 1 in the first round:4 was easily eliminated by the bitter lord Celtics.

This is just the beginning, the team has stopped in the first round of the playoffs for the next two consecutive years, Cunningham and Greer have continued to perform consistently, Chet Walker switched to the Bulls, and Elch Clarke replaced Walker. He averaged 19.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, and as Luke Jackson grew old and undriven, Imhoff became the team's starting center, averaging 13.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

Chamberlain's trade became the trigger for the team's downfall, and in the following years, the 76ers fell into an unprecedented chaotic slow, a series of trades made the team unrecognizable in just a few years, Elch Clarke switched to the Baltimore bullets, Luke Jackson announced his retirement after the end of the season, and Luke Jackson is currently the sixth most in team history with 4,613 rebounds for the 76ers.

Billy Cunningham's switch to the ABA was the last straw that crushed the 76ers, although the team added role players such as Fred Carter, Beal, Bridges, Bob Ruhr, etc., but there was nothing to make up, in the 1971-1972 season, the 76ers' record was a dismal 9 rises and 72 losses, which is still the lowest winning rate in the NBA, and the 76ers this season can be called the worst in NBA history.

After everyone left, Fred Carter became the team's first choice for offense, from his transfer to the 76ers to 1977 before a major injury, he was able to maintain a level of 20+5+5 almost every year, which was not inferior to any excellent star guard at the time, but the management of the 76ers at that time was hesitant and indecisive in team planning, and many excellent players became short-term passers-by of the 76ers. For example, John Bullock, who averaged 17.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, played such an excellent performance but only played for the 76ers for one season, Kevin Langri, who averaged 13.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, quietly retired after two seasons, averaging 17.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and Tom Van Asdale, who was also traded to the Atlanta Hawks after three seasons with the 76ers, and Leroy Ellis, who averaged 13.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, also retired after four seasons……

In the 1972-1973 season, Jall Greer, who returned from injury, played only 38 games. Averaging only 5.6 points per game, he announced the end of his fifteen-year career at the end of the season, from the Syracuse Nation in 1958-1959 to the 76ers in 1972-1973, Greer played for the 76ers throughout his career, scoring more than 20 points in eight seasons, and was selected as an All-Star for ten consecutive seasons, including the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game in 1967-1968, in 1982 Hall Greer was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and his No. 15 jersey was also retired by the 76ers, and Greer played 754 games for the 76ers to rank third in team history, with a total score of 15,177 points and a total of 3,361 assists, all of which are third in team history.

In the 1974-1975 season, former team boss Billy Cunningham returned to the 76ers, averaging 19.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game this season, while the 76ers also got a quality interior player, Steve Meeks, who averaged 15.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. But Cunningham's return hasn't improved the team's record, with the 76ers winning just 34 games this season.

In the 1975-1976 season, Cunningham only played 20 games because of his legs, but the 1973 76ers draft pick Doug Collins began to get on track, averaging 20.8 points per game and shooting over 50% from the field. Fred Carter's average of 18.9 points per game is still solid, but before the start of the season, the 76ers signed the talented player Joe Bryant with a contract with a sky-high annual salary of $1 million.

Joe is known as a representative of leading basketball, his playing ornamentality, more than that boring and dull era, Joe is 206 cm tall, this height in that era should go to the inside to beg for a living, do a good job of defense and rebounding, but Joe is not such a player, he rarely goes to the inside back singles, he has a more fancy dribble than the guard, super physical talent also allows him to complete a variety of fancy dunks, a large disguised shake over the defender and then into the interior one-handed ball split dunk used to be Joe's forte, but, That's all, Joe, who was expected by the world as "Magic II", never developed decent passing skills, and his defense was also fragile, so to speak, Jerry West, who was the general manager of the Lakers at the time, once had a very impressive evaluation of Joe -

The kid was born to play exhibition games, not to stand on the floor of the basketball arena to win.

Rookie Joe averaged 7.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in 16 minutes of playing time in his first season of career, but fell far short of expectations.

This season, the 76ers reached the playoffs, but fell in the first round, after the end of the season, another great player in the history of the 76ers, Billy Cunningham retired due to injury, at present, Cunningham for the 76ers scored 13,626 points to rank fifth in team history, 6,638 rebounds ranked second in team history, 2,625 assists ranked seventh in team history, and 654 appearances ranked sixth in team history.

The older generation of the team's meritorious leaders Greer and Cunningham have retired from the stage of history, but the wheel of history will not stop, the torch of the 76ers will be passed on, and the next player to take over this big responsibility is called Julius Irving, nicknamed "Dr. J".