The 1983 NBA World Championship Series, also known as Showdown '83, was the championship round of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA)'s 1982–83 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. It was the last NBA Championship Series completed before June 1. The Eastern Conference champion

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

defeated the Western Conference champion

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

4 games to 0. 76ers center

Moses Malone Moses Eugene Malone (March 23, 1955 – September 13, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 through 1995. A cen ...

was named the

NBA Finals Most Valuable Player The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award (formerly known as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of e ...

(MVP). This, along with the

1989 NBA Finals The 1989 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1988–89 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the conclusion of the 1989 NBA Playoffs. The series was a rematch of the previous year's championship round between the Eastern ...

, were the only two NBA championships of the 1980s not to be won by either the Lakers or the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

; every NBA Finals of that decade featured either the Lakers or Celtics, and sometimes both (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

). Coincidentally, the Lakers were also swept in the 1989 NBA Finals, that time by the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

Background

Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers lost their first two Finals meetings with the Lakers in and . While Julius Erving played superbly in both series, their frontcourt of

Darryl Dawkins Darryl R. Dawkins (January 11, 1957 – August 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He was particularly known for his tenure with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he als ...

Caldwell Jones Caldwell "Pops" Jones (August 4, 1950 – September 21, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. Jones was drafted out of Albany State College by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 14th pick in the 1973 NBA draft. He played three seaso ...

, and Bobby Jones couldn't neutralize

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...

. So in the off-season, the 76ers acquired

from the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

in an effort to counter Abdul-Jabbar, in addition to providing some offense and rebounding to the team. They parted ways with Caldwell Jones, Dawkins, and

Lionel Hollins Lionel Eugene Hollins (born October 19, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach and former player currently serving as an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the Portland ...

before the season, while giving greater responsibility to high-scoring guard Andrew Toney and backup playmaker Clint Richardson, and adding forwards Clemon Johnson and rookie

Marc Iavaroni Marcus John Iavaroni (born September 15, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player and former head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as an assistant coach for several ...

. Malone's acquisition paid dividends, as the 76ers won 65 games in the

1982–83 NBA season __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

. Prior to the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

, Malone predicted the team would win in four games in each of the three rounds, ending it with the statement ''Fo, Fo, Fo''. The 76ers would steamroll through the playoffs, sweeping the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

4–0 in the conference semifinals, before overcoming the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 196 ...

in five games.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers earned the top pick of the 1982 NBA draft, becoming the only defending champion to earn the top overall pick in the same season. This was because

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central ...

owner

Ted Stepien Theodore J. Stepien (June 9, 1925 – September 10, 2007) was an American businessman who owned the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1980 to 1983. Born in Pittsburgh in 1925, he became wealthy as the founde ...

traded their first round pick and

Butch Lee Alfred "Butch" Lee Jr. (born December 5, 1956) is a Puerto Rican retired professional basketball player. Lee was the first Puerto Rican and first Latin American-born athlete to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), accomplishing thi ...

to the Lakers for

Don Ford Donald J. Ford (born December 31, 1952) is a former American basketball power forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. He also was a member of the Auxilium Torino in Europe. He playe ...

and draft pick

Chad Kinch Chadwick Oliver Kinch ( – ) was an American professional basketball player. He was a 6'4" (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) shooting guard and played collegiately at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte after starring at Perth Amb ...

three years earlier. Because the Cavaliers earned the worst record at 15–67, they would have earned the top overall pick via a coin toss with the 17–65 San Diego Clippers. Instead, the Lakers would earn the top pick and ultimately selected future Hall of Famer

James Worthy James Ager Worthy (born February 27, 1961) is an American sports commentator, television host, analyst, and former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Game James", he played his entire professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers ...

first overall. The Lakers won 58 games the next season. Worthy was a strong contender for Rookie of the Year when he broke his leg late in the season, therefore missing the rest of the season and the playoffs. Despite Worthy's absence, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were still in their prime, and led the Lakers back to the Finals by beating the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

4–1 and the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

4–2 in the second and third playoff rounds, respectively.

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

The

won both games in the regular season series:

Series summary

The final piece of the

' championship puzzle was completed before the 1982–83 season when they acquired center

from the

. They went on to capture their historic second NBA championship as they won 65 games, and stormed through the

, first sweeping the

, and then beating the

in five games. They finally finished it off with a four-game sweep of the

, who had defeated them the season before. Said head coach

Billy Cunningham William John Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the ''Kangaroo Kid'' for his leaping and record-setting rebounding abilities. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the ...

, ''"The difference from last year was Moses."'' Malone was named MVP of the 1983 Finals, as well as league MVP for the third time in his career. The 76ers completed one of the most dominating playoff runs in league history with a 12–1 mark after league and NBA Finals MVP Moses promised ''"Fo', fo', fo"'' (as in ''"four, four, four"''—four wins to win round 1, four wins to win round 2, etc.), but it actually wound up as ''"Fo', fi', fo."'' (four, five, four). The 76ers were also led by Julius Erving,

Maurice Cheeks Maurice Edward Cheeks (born September 8, 1956) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as head coach of t ...

, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones. With 59 seconds to go in Game 4, it was Erving who made a three-point play to hold the lead for good, crushing the Lakers in a four-game sweep and ending the last NBA Finals to end before June. Until the

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

won the

2008 World Series The 2008 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2008 season. The 104th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies and the Ame ...

over the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

in a 4-1 sweep, this was the last time for 25 years that a team from Philadelphia in the Big Four leagues won their league's championship.

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Player statistics

;Philadelphia 76ers , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 4 , , 36.8 , , .423 , , .000 , , .848 , , 2.3 , , 5.8 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 22.0 , -! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left" , , , 4 , , 4 , , 39.3 , , .507 , , .000 , , .660 , , 18.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.5 , , 1.5 , , 25.8 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 4 , , 35.8 , , .553 , , .000 , , .600 , , 2.3 , , 6.3 , , 2.8 , , 0.0 , , 15.3 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 26.0 , , .568 , , .000 , , .667 , , 4.8 , , 2.8 , , 2.0 , , 2.3 , , 12.0 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 4 , , 24.8 , , .588 , , .000 , , .375 , , 5.5 , , 2.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.8 , , 5.8 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 4 , , 38.3 , , .469 , , .000 , , .800 , , 8.5 , , 5.0 , , 1.3 , , 2.8 , , 19.0 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 23.0 , , .393 , , .000 , , .750 , , 3.3 , , 1.8 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 6.3 , - , align="left" , , , 3 , , 0 , , 12.7 , , .385 , , .000 , , .000 , , 3.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 3.3 , - , align="left" , , , 3 , , 0 , , 6.3 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 0.7 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 3 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.7 ;Los Angeles Lakers , - , align="left" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 21.0 , , .409 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , 7.0 , , 0.5 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , 11.0 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 4 , , 38.8 , , .552 , , .000 , , .769 , , 7.5 , , 3.0 , , 0.8 , , 2.3 , , 23.5 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 4 , , 39.3 , , .461 , , .000 , , .571 , , 5.8 , , 1.8 , , 2.0 , , 1.3 , , 18.5 , - , align="left" , , , 3 , , 3 , , 36.7 , , .405 , , .000 , , .636 , , 2.7 , , 4.7 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 13.7 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 1 , , 31.5 , , .486 , , .333 , , .833 , , 3.5 , , 1.8 , , 1.5 , , 0.3 , , 10.0 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 4 , , 21.3 , , .480 , , .000 , , .778 , , 4.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 1.5 , , 7.8 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 14.0 , , .400 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 5.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 2.5 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 4 , , 44.8 , , .408 , , .000 , , .929 , , 7.8 , , 12.5 , , 1.8 , , 0.5 , , 19.0 , - , align="left" , , , 3 , , 0 , , 4.0 , , .600 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , 3.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 8.5, , .125 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0

Television coverage

The 1983 NBA Finals was broadcast by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Dick Stockton Richard Edward Stokvis (born November 22, 1942), known professionally as Dick Stockton, is an American retired sportscaster. Stockton began his career in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as the sports director for KDKA-TV. ...

and

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Va ...

were the commentators and

Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was one of the original members ...

was the host, with

Kevin Loughery Kevin Michael Loughery (born March 28, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Career biography Loughery spent 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (1962–1973), almost nine of them with the Baltimor ...

as a pre-game, halftime and post-game analyst. It also introduced a new theme music (composed by Allyson Bellink) for the

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...

coverage of the NBA, used an introduction of the NBA arenas (similar to the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (la ...

) until the 1989 Playoffs and later revived the second theme beginning in the 1989 Finals.NBA on CBS
/ref> Russell departed CBS following the series, and was replaced by former Celtics teammate

Tom Heinsohn Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a player, coach and broadcast ...

. Russell would later resurface as a color analyst on TBS until 1986.

Team rosters

Philadelphia 76ers

Los Angeles Lakers

References

External links

NBA History
{{DEFAULTSORT:1983 Nba Finals National Basketball Association Finals

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

NBA NBA 20th century in Los Angeles County, California

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is a ...

1980s in Philadelphia

Sports competitions in Philadelphia Sports competitions in Inglewood, California

Background

Philadelphia 76ers

Los Angeles Lakers

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

Series summary

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Player statistics

Television coverage

Team rosters

Philadelphia 76ers

Los Angeles Lakers

See also

References

External links