Snider had been the Sixers ' landlord since gaining control of the Spectrum in 1971.

Early in the 1997 – 98 season, the Sixers traded Jerry Stackhouse, who had been the third overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft, to the Detroit Pistons.

Because of a seemingly meaningless loss to the lowly Chicago Bulls in the regular season finale ( both the Sixers and the Lakers finished with identical 56 – 26 records, but Los Angeles was awarded a higher seed based on tiebreakers ), the 76ers had to open a series on the road for the first time in the 2001 playoffs.

Then, on January 11, Sixers GM Billy King announced that the Sixers and aging forward Chris Webber had agreed to a buyout of the remainder of his contract.

The Sixers had started the year 3-0, then went 5-10 before Iverson left the team.

The Sixers also traded power forward Reggie Evans to the Toronto Raptors for a three-point specialist, small forward Jason Kapono, who had won back-to-back three-point shootouts in 2007 and 2008.

Collins played for the Sixers for his entire NBA career after being the first overall pick in the 1973 draft, and had previously coached the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, and the Washington Wizards.

The 76ers valiantly competed, but because of the 1-5 stretch, the Sixers had to face the heavily-favored Miami Heat in the first round, and ultimately fell to them in five games.

While his statistics were comparable in the 2001 – 02 season, the Sixers dealt him to the New Jersey Nets, fearing that his game had deteriorated.

Bol, who wore a No 1 Jersey, ( he had worn No 10 with the Bullets and earlier stint with the Warriors and No 11 with the Sixers ) made the season opening roster and played in what would be his five final NBA games.

Erving again was among the league's best players in the 1980 – 1981 and 1981 – 1982 seasons, although more disappointment came as the Sixers stumbled twice in the playoffs: in 1981, the Celtics eliminated them in 7 games in the 1981 Eastern Finals after Philadelphia had a 3 – 1 series lead, but lost both Game 5 and Game 6 by 2 points and the deciding Game 7 by 1 ) and in 1982, the Sixers managed to beat the defending champion Celtics in 7 games in the 1982 Eastern Finals but lost the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in 6 games.

Although he had a career high 6. 9 assists per game in his only complete season with the Sixers ( 1992 – 93 season ), his stint as a point guard was not a success ( 26 wins, 56 losses ).

Pat Croce, part-owner of the Sixers, said he would have " decked out " the statue had the Sixers won but not before.

In addition, WPSG would continue to broadcast Phillies, Flyers and Sixers games, a move that had been uncertain after the station became a CW affiliate.

Before the 1983 – 84 season, the Celtics had repeatedly lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Playoffs, mainly because physical Sixers guard Andrew Toney routinely caused problems for their defensively fragile backcourt.

While the Sixers continued to contend during his tenure on the bench, it was obvious that they were nowhere near the powerhouse they had once been.

His tenure was almost a mirror image of his time with the Sixers — four seasons, three playoff berths ; however, he did not leave Buffalo in the sort of wreckage that had occurred in Philadelphia.

Green, in the final Sixers game of the 2006 – 07 season, had a career-high 37 points against the Toronto Raptors on April 4, 2007.

The Finals were almost anticlimactic, with the Sixers ousting the Warriors in six games to give them their second NBA Championship.

In the 1967 – 68 season, with a new home court in the form of The Spectrum to defend their championship, once again the 76ers made it back to the NBA Playoffs and in the rematch of the previous year's semifinals, the 76ers held a 3 – 1 series lead over the Celtics, before the Celtics staged a dramatic come back to beat the Sixers in seven games.

Questions remained, but with the first pick, the Sixers found their " Answer ": Allen Iverson.

Again, the Sixers won their first round series in four games, this time defeating the Charlotte Hornets.

In the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Sixers squared off against the Toronto Raptors and their superstar, Vince Carter.

It was also during the season that the Sixers played one home game at their old home, the Wachovia Spectrum.

The Sixers will continue to play their home games at the Wells Fargo Center for the foreseeable future.

The 2011 – 12 NBA season was delayed into December and the Sixers did not hold their home opener until January 6, 2012.

The Sixers would once again face criticism for their lack of a true scorer, as they were not able to keep pace with the Celtics ' scoring.

The Sixers then used their amnesty clause on Elton Brand, traded for Dorell Wright, and signed Nick Young, Kwame Brown, Royal Ivey, and re-signed Spencer Hawes.

In the 1997 – 98 NBA season, the Sixers drastically changed their logo and colors, apparently in an effort to appeal to a more youthful, hip-hop oriented culture.

Although the Sixers took game one in overtime, the Lakers won the next four games to win their second straight title.

The Hawks traded Mutombo to the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers in February 2001 for their injured center Theo Ratliff, as the Sixers needed a replacement stellar big man to compete with Western Conference powers Tim Duncan or Shaquille O ' Neal, should they reach the finals.

Sixers wear an oblong strip on their uniform.

Finally, for the 1982 – 83 season, the Sixers obtained the missing element to combat their weakness at their center position, Moses Malone.

As the Sixers and Raptors increased their double team pressures on Carter and Iverson respectively, the game winning shot came down to Carter who missed with 2. 0 seconds remaining.

Under their ownership, the Sixers went from last place in 1996 to the NBA Finals in 2001.

The collapse came in 1971-72, when the Sixers tumbled to a 30-52 record and missed the playoffs for the first time in their history ( dating all the way back to 1946, when they were still the Syracuse Nationals ).

Years later, after The Deuce returns to the area to close up unfinished business and Billy Wings reforms the Sixers in Los Angeles, the rival gang infiltrates the Victors in an attempt to take over their territory.

The 1966 – 67 Sixers were voted the best team in league history during the NBA's 35th anniversary celebration.

Played 46 games with the Sixers in 2005-06, his best in two years, mainly because of constant injuries to Chris Webber.

In the 2000 – 01 NBA season, McKie was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year, becoming the first Sixers player since Bobby Jones in 1983 to win that honor.

Wilt Chamberlain joined the Sixers in 1965, and in his third season ( 1967 ), he led the team to the NBA title.

The following season, the Sixers improved to 49 – 33, fifth in the East.

Even with this elimination, many fans considered this to be a successful season, considering that the Sixers were 12 games under. 500 in early February and went on to have a run that led them to the playoffs and a 40 – 42 record.

Brand's first season with the Sixers ended early with a right shoulder injury that required surgery.

The Sixers started the season with an uninspiring 3 – 13 mark, but started turning things around, going 37-23 to go on to a 40-36 record, but a depressing 1-5 finish doomed them to a 7th seed in the playoffs with a 41-41 record.

Although they lost the series, Doug Collins was praised for turning around a lottery team in his first season, as well as winning a playoff game when many pundits predicted that the Sixers would be swept.

The Sixers however would finish the season 15-22, giving them a 35-31 record for the year.

The trade also addressed two of the Sixers biggest needs heading into the off season: a dominant center and a " go-to-scorer.

A free-agent, he re-signed with the Sixers after the season.

After the 1970-1971 season, Monroe's agent Larry Fleischer told the Bullets of Monroe's wishes to be traded to the Lakers, Bulls or Sixers.

A famous TV commercial for Sixers season tickets during the 1977 – 78 off-season summed up Erving's desire to win an NBA Title.

Armed with one of the most formidable and unstoppable center-forward combinations of all time, the Sixers dominated the whole season, causing Malone to make the famous prediction of " fo-fo-fo ( four-four-four )".

The Sixers played one regular season game against Chicago Bulls on March 13, 2009, winning by a score of 104 – 101 in the final NBA game in the Spectrum.