Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid is considered by many as part of the upper echelon of big men in the NBA today. The question is: how does he fare as far as the greatest centers in franchise history?
Philly has had the privilege of having some of the greatest big men of basketball don the 76ers jersey, and today, we will be taking a look at some of them. Below is our lists of the best centers in Philadelphia 76ers history.
3. Joel Embiid
Embiid is only in his fourth year in the NBA, and he has already shown that he has the potential to be one of the greats. Last season, the 7-foot center put up a career-best 27.5 points (on 48.4 percent shooting), 13.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.9 blocks while also knocking down 1.2 triples per game.
Being the cornerstone of Philadelphia's infamous “Process,” Embiid has led the Sixers to back-to-back trips to the second round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, they have yet to take the next step, and this is the very reason why Embiid has been on the receiving end of some harsh criticism of late.
The three-time All-Star never seems to be able to shake the injury bug, which has plagued him ever since he was forced to sit out the first two seasons of his career due to a lingering foot problem. Over the past three seasons, Embiid has missed a total of 88 regular-season games, plus a handful of contests in the playoffs last season.
The good news here is that Embiid still has a ton of basketball ahead of him, so he has plenty of time to take that next step. However, one has to wonder if that will be with Philly or with somebody else, because there have been rumblings about the franchise trading either him or Ben Simmons.
2. Moses Malone
Moses Malone had two separate stints with the Sixers. The first was a historic four seasons in the early 1980s, when he would lead the league in rebounds for three straight years (it was actually five if we count the previous two years he was with the Houston Rockets). The 6-foot-10 big man rejoined the Sixers in 1993 — one season prior to his retirement — in what was a rather forgettable run. When talking about his greatness for the 76ers, we are of course, pertaining to the former.
When the Sixers traded for Malone in 1982 from the Rockets, what they got was a dominant 27-year-old big man who was in his prime. Philadelphia was coming off an NBA Finals defeat against the Los Angeles Lakers in the previous season, and at 32, the window was slowly closing for the great Julius Erving. The team went all out on Malone, and the move instantly paid dividends.
In just his first season with the team, Malone guided the Sixers to their first title in nearly two decades, dating back to the Wilt Chamberlain era. Malone averaged 24.5 points (on 50.1 percent shooting), 15.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.0 blocks that year, and proved to be the missing piece to Philly's championship puzzle. The cherry on top of the cake is how Malone, Erving, and the rest of the team avenged their bitter defeat in the previous season by topping the Lakers in a Finals rematch in 1983.
Prior to that championship run, Malone uttered the infamous “Fo, Fo, Fo” prediction, and the 76ers nearly lived up to that. They lost just one game in the 1983 playoffs and swept the Lakers in the Finals.
1. Wilt Chamberlain
If you score 100 points in a game then you have to be the GOAT, right?
Ironically, the great Wilt Chamberlain started his Hall of Fame career in Philadelphia, but it was for a different franchise. He spent the first five and a half years of his career with the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors. It was during his spell with the Warriors that Chamberlain historically averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds in a season (1961-62), and after that campaign the franchise moved from Philly to San Francisco.
In 1965, the 76ers got their hands on the 7-foot-1 center, and the rest, as they say, is history. Chamberlain's numbers may have declined when he made the move, but he was still as dominant as ever. In just his first full season with the Sixers, he led the team to only its second championship in franchise history, as they defeated none other than his former team, the Warriors, in the 1967 Finals.
Enshrined into the Hall of Fame in 1979, the great Wilt Chamberlain finished his career as a 13-time All-Star, seven-time scoring champ, 10-time All-NBA member, two-time All-Defensive team member, one-time Finals MVP, and four-time season MVP. He led the league in rebounds 11 times and, astonishingly, in assists during the 1967-68 season.
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