From 68-13 to 9-73

Sporting News, The, Nov 24, 1997 by Jon Caroulis

It was a rare opportunity to stay up late. I was 10 years old, and my brothers and I got to watch the sixth game of the 1967 NBA Finals on television from the West Coast. Our parents realized how much we wanted to see our hometown Philadelphia 76ers clinch the championship against the San Francisco Warriors.

And clinch they did.

After eight consecutive Celtics titles and Bill Russell always billed ahead of Wilt Chamberlain, it was heady stuff for Philadelphians. This was a remarkable 76ers team, with Chamberlain, the biggest and best in our opinion, at center; Chet Walker and Luke Jackson at forward; Hal Greer and Wali Jones at guard; and Billy Cunningham coming off the bench like no one could.

Those 76ers went 68-13 and ousted the hated Celtics in the Eastern Division playoffs--in five games, no less.

But, incredibly, it was just six seasons later, 1972-73, that this franchise had the wherewithal to win all of nine games. Nine. The Sixers' .110 winning percentage--they lost 73 times--is the lowest in NBA history.

How do you so quickly dismantle one of the best teams in history and win 59 fewer games?

It took some effort.

In 1967-68, the Sixers won 62 games but blew a three-games-to-one lead to Boston in the Eastern playoffs. Then, 2 1/2 months later, Chamberlain inexplicably--or so it seemed--was traded to the Lakers. What did the Sixers get for this megastar, a Philadelphia native who had played high school ball in the city, spent three seasons with the Philadelphia Warriors, averaged 50.4 points in an NBA season and scored 100 points in a game? Darrall Imhoff, Archie Clark and Jerry Chambers, that's what.

The genesis for that disastrous deal dated to the mid-1960s, when the Sixers were owned by businessmen Ike Richman and Irv Kosloff. Chamberlain has indicated that Richman promised him a part of the club, but Richman died before the deal was completed. When Kosloff became sole owner, he refused to honor Richman's agreement with Wilt.

This infuriated Chamberlain, who contemplated retirement. Later, he reached a truce with Kosloff, and his three-year contract was replaced by a one-year pact. After that one season, Chamberlain could do virtually anything he wanted--even rejoin the Harlem Globetrotters, for whom he played one season--except play for another NBA team.

At that point, Chamberlain appeared inclined to end his career. But he then expressed a desire to play in Los Angeles and suggested a trade. True, the Lakers held a trump card: Chamberlain had hinted at retirement, so the 76ers could have lost him and received nothing in return. No matter; Philadelphia still settled for far less than Wilt was worth.

After the '67-68 disappointment, 76ers general manager Jack Ramsay added the coaching duties to his job description, replacing Alex Hannum, and he wanted a smaller, quicker, fast-breaking team. And Clark, Imhoff and Chambers presumably would be the foundation for such a team.

Wrong.

Imhoff spent only two seasons with the 76ers, Clark three and Chambers never played for Philadelphia after spending two years in the military before being traded.

There was more hemorrhaging: Ramsay unloaded Walker to the Bulls before the 1969-70 season for journeyman Jim Washington; Jones was traded to the Bucks for "future considerations" in December 1971; Jackson was hounded by injuries; Greer grew old; and Cunningham eventually departed for the big bucks of the ABA. Plus, Philly's first-round draft choices from 1967 through 1972 were--are you ready?--Craig Raymond, Shaler Halimon, Bud Ogden, Al Henry, Dana Lewis and Fred Boyd.

Ramsay did coax 55 victories out of his first 76ers team, but that number dipped into the 40s the next two seasons and bottomed out--for him, anyway--at 30 in 1971-72.

By 1972-73. Ramsay was coaching the Buffalo Braves and a man named Roy Rubin was entrusted with making something out of not much in Philly. Hired by G.M. Don DeJardin, Rubin had coached at Long Island University the 11 previous seasons. Although he posted a winning percentage of .649 at LIU, his selection seemed to be a reach.

"He was a bad coach," says Harvey Pollack, the 76ers' longtime media-relations director and now the team's statistics director. Pollack believed Rubin lacked the background to run an NBA team.

Alan Richman, who covered the Sixers for the now-defunct Philadelphia Bulletin, figured 1972-73 would be rough. "They had nobody who could put the ball in the basket," says Richman, alluding to the defection of Cunningham and his 23.3 scoring average, and the loss of Clark a year earlier in a trade with the Bullets. You knew they were going to be bad, but you had no idea they were going to be that bad."

The Sixers, whose roster included the likes of Manny Leaks, Jeff Halliburton, Mike Price, John Q. Trapp and Dave Sorenson, started the season 0-15 and later lost 20 consecutive games. With his record at 4-47, Rubin was replaced by Sixers player Kevin Loughery. The new coach inspired the troops to a 5-26 record and a .161 winning percentage, compared with Rubin's .078 mark.