The Philadelphia 76ers own a rich history as one of the oldest franchises in the NBA. Initially debuting as the Syracuse Nationals, the franchise relocated to the City of Brotherly Love and became the 76ers in 1963. With their background, the Sixers have created some heated rivalries with several teams and players throughout its existence.
Here are Philadelphia's five most hated rivals in franchise history.
5. Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers
For a three-year stretch from 1999-2001, the Allen Iverson-led 76ers faced Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers in the playoffs. The Pacers eliminated the Sixers in two consecutive postseasons, one being a sweep in 1999 and the other a 4-2 series win in 2000, which is the year Indiana eventually made the NBA Finals.
After losing to the Pacers for two years in a row, Iverson and coach Larry Brown's relationship continued to sour. Philadelphia almost traded its franchise superstar due to the growing rift with the Hall of Fame coach. However, salary cap restrictions prevented the deal from happening. Brown and Iverson eventually patched things up prior to the start of the 2000-01 season. Their revitalized relationship made the Sixers the best team in the Eastern Conference that season.
Ironically enough, the top-seeded Sixers faced their most familiar foe in the opening round of the playoffs: Miller and the Pacers. Philadelphia dominated early in Game 1, flexing its muscles as a much-improved squad. However, the Sixers saw their lead dissipate. Indiana stole the series opener, 79-78, with a go-ahead triple from Miller in the final seconds.
Despite the deflating Game 1 loss, Philadelphia was ready to prove it was different squad this time around. The Sixers eventually won the next three games thanks to dominant performances from the 2001 MVP, who averaged 31.5 points in four games. The Pacers still posed a huge challenge, though, with Miller averaging 31.3 points in the series.
Nonetheless, Iverson and the Sixers were finally able to get over their first biggest obstacle of that era.
4. Modern Celtics
Let's start with the spoiler that the majority of the rivals listed here consist of different eras of Boston Celtics teams. The current Celtics are the best squad to discuss.
The modern-day iterations of both squads have faced off just once in the playoffs so far — in 2018, when the Celtics took down the 76ers in five games. Nonetheless, every regular-season game since their 2018 playoff series has given off an intense playoff atmosphere. Things always get gritty and there seems to be some extra sauce when these two teams square off.
Marcus Smart and Joel Embiid even almost threw hands during a March 2019 game last season after the Celtics guard shoved the Sixers star center to the ground:
To make things interesting, former Celtics center Al Horford made the move to Philadelphia this past offseason. Certainly, if these two teams face off in this year's playoffs, there will be bad blood between both squads. And while there hasn't been enough playoff history just yet between these two squads in this era, fans would certainly love to see more playoff matchups between them in the near future.
3. Early '80s Lakers
Led by Julius Erving, the 76ers were perennial title contenders from the late '70s to the early '80s. They made the NBA Finals four times in seven years. Out of their four Finals appearances, they faced Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the Los Angeles Lakers three teams. Those heated battles for the NBA title happened within a four-year stretch.
Certainly, facing each other in the Finals as often as they did for a short period of time created a ton of animosity between the Lakers and Sixers. Philadelphia fell to a rookie Magic Johnson in the 1980 NBA Finals, despite Los Angeles missing superstar center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the title clincher in Game 6. Two years later, the Sixers made the Finals again and faced the Lakers once more. In their second Finals series in three years, Los Angeles won the title again in six games.
The following offseason, Philadelphia reloaded by acquiring reigning league MVP Moses Malone. The Sixers put together one of the greatest regular seasons of all time with a 65-17 campaign. They strolled their way to the Finals, where they once again faced the Lakers. This time, however, Philly's loaded squad, led by Malone, Dr. J, Maurice Cheeks, and Andrew Toney, drew the ultimate redemption by sweeping their tormentors in their two previous Finals series.
2. Bill Russell's Celtics
The Philadelphia 76ers landed a big fish when they acquired The Big Dipper, Wilt Chamberlain, midway through the 1964-65 season. The 7-foot-1 superstar's addition instantly turned Philadelphia into title contenders. But they needed to go through Bill Russell and the dynasty Boston Celtics in order to reach the promised land.
The Sixers and Celtics faced each other in the playoffs for five straight years from 1965 to 1969. Of their five series against each other, the Sixers only emerged victorious once. In 1965, Philly bowed out to Boston in seven games. The following year, which was Chamberlain's first full season with the Sixers (he won MVP), the Celtics denied Chamberlain another trip to the Finals by eliminating Philadelphia in five games.
The following season, the Sixers finally got over the hump. They dethroned the Celtics in the Eastern Division Finals in five games and went on to win the 1967 NBA championship. This, however, proved to be Philly's lone win in its five playoff series against Boston in that five-year span. Philadelphia bowed out to the Celtics in six games in the 1968 Eastern Division Finals and got eliminated in five games in the semifinals in 1969.
1. Larry Bird's Celtics
While Dr. J and the 76ers faced the Lakers thrice in the NBA Finals, they also needed to go through Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics to get there. They saw the Celtics in the playoffs four times in six seasons, including three straight from 1980-1982.
In 1980, the third-seeded Sixers took down the top-seeded Celtics in five games in the conference finals. The following season, Boston exacted revenge by eliminating Philadelphia in a grueling seven-game series. Philadelphia raced out to a 3-1 lead in the series. However, the Celtics staged an improbable comeback and won the last three games by a total margin of five points to advance to the Finals, where they won the 1981 title.
The following year, the two rivals faced each other yet again in the conference finals. For the second straight year, Philly established a 3-1 lead. However, just like in their series the prior year, Boston forced another Game 7. Many certainly favored the defending champion Celtics to complete the comeback given that Game 7 was set in Boston.
However, Philadelphia learned its lesson and blew out the Celtics on the road. Despite losing to their bitter rival, Boston fans chanted “Beat L.A.!” to the Sixers with their more hated rival, the Los Angeles Lakers, waiting in the wings.
Make no mistake about it, despite the rivalry, the Celtics and Sixers had mutual respect and high regard toward each other. However, the two Eastern Conference heavyweights were also involved in one of the biggest on-court melees in NBA history.
An early-season game in 1984-85 ended in a major fistfight between no less than Dr. J and Larry Legend, two of the biggest stars in the history of the sport. Erving was seen throwing jabs at Bird, while a number of Sixers players held the Celtics superstar. Both players needed to be separated and received hefty fines from the NBA:
No need to fret, though. The two legends are cool with each other. Dr. J already made it clear that the fight didn't affect their healthy relationship at all.
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