1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers season

The 1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers season was their 24th season in the NBA and tenth in Philadelphia. Coming off a 30–52 record in the previous season, the 76ers lost their first 15 games of the season and a few months later, went on a then-record 20 game losing streak in a single season.

1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers season
Head coachRoy Rubin, Kevin Loughery
OwnersIrv Kosloff
ArenaThe Spectrum
Results
Record9–73 (.110)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Atlantic)
Conference: 8th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWTAF-TV
RadioWCAU

Their record following the 20 game losing streak was 4–58, and the team at that point had just lost 34 of 35 games. The 76ers finished the season with a 9–73 record, earning the nickname from the skeptical Philadelphia media of the "Nine and 73-ers." The 76ers finished an NBA-record 59 games behind the Atlantic Division champion Boston Celtics. These 9 wins by this 1972–73 squad is the 4th fewest in NBA history (to the 6 games won by the Providence Steamrollers in the 48-game 1947–48 season, the 7 games won by the Charlotte Bobcats in the lockout-shortened 66-game 2011–12 season and the 8 games won by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the lockout-shortened 50-game 1998–99 season.[1]

The 73 losses, although threatened many times (including by the 2015–16 Sixers, who themselves lost 72 that season), remains the all-time low-water mark for any NBA franchise in an 82-game non-lockout season. The 76ers .110 winning percentage was the all-time worst mark in the NBA until the 2011–12 Charlotte Bobcats finished with a .106 winning percentage, whilst their −12.1 points per game point differential has been underdone only by the 2011–12 Bobcats (−13.9 points per game) and the 1992–93 Dallas Mavericks (−15.2 points per game).[2] Only six seasons earlier, the 76ers had set the NBA record for most wins in a season and the highest winning percentage.

Offseason

The Sixers ownership offered the head coaching job to Marquette University head coach Al McGuire, and former University of Kentucky head coach Adolph Rupp, who was seventy years old at the time. Both refused the job.[3] Only Hal Greer remained on the roster from the 1966–1967 NBA Championship Team. The 1972–73 season would be his last in the NBA.

1972 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 5 Fred Boyd (G)  United States Oregon State
3 Charlie Tharpe  United States Belhaven
4 Marshall Wingate  United States Niagara
5 Joe Bynes  United States Arkansas AM&N
6 John Glover  United States Wiley
7 Curtis Pritchett  United States St. Augustine
8 Jim Kopp  United States Rockhurst
9 Rod Murray  United States Cal State-Los Angeles
10 Gary Watson  United States Wisconsin

[4]

Roster
Roster listing
Philadelphia 76ers roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
G 11 Boyd, Freddie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1950–06–13 Oregon State
G 3 Carter, Fred 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1945–02–14 Mount St. Mary's
F 14 Ellis, LeRoy 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1940–03–10 St. John's
F 25 Green, Luther 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1946–11–13 LIU
G 15 Greer, Hal 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1936–06–26 Marshall
G 42 Halliburton, Jeff 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1949–07–03 Drake
C 26 Leaks, Manny 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1945–11–27 Niagara
G 22 Loughery, Kevin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1940–03–28 St. John's
F 34 May, Don 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1946–01–03 Dayton
G 36 Price, Mike 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1948–09–11 Illinois
F 35 Sorenson, Dave 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1948–07–08 Ohio State
F 31 Trapp, John 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1945–10–02 UNLV
F 5 Van Arsdale, Tom 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 1943–02–22 Indiana
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Season

By the start of the 1972–73 season, most of the core of the 76ers 1966-67 championship team was gone. In the 1972 offseason, coach Jack Ramsay left to coach the Buffalo Braves, while a court order allowed All-Star forward Billy Cunningham to bolt to the ABA.[5] Only Hal Greer, who was 36 years old, remained. Poor trades and draft selections over the years left the team with only a few quality players.[6]

The 76ers finished the 1971–72 season with a 30–52 record and could not find a coach for the upcoming season. In desperation, management placed an ad in The Philadelphia Inquirer for a head coach. A friend of Irv Kosloff recommended Roy Rubin, the head coach at LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds. While Rubin had 11 years coaching in college basketball, he had no professional or major college experience to draw on.[6][7]

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.[8] Players criticized Rubin for his sloppy practices and the lack of meaningful comments during time-outs and breaks. Dave Wohl, who was traded to Portland, called Rubin a ‘con man’.[7] With the club record at 4–47, Rubin was fired and replaced by Sixers player Kevin Loughery. The team’s performance improved slightly, going 5–26 with a .161 winning percentage, compared with Rubin's .078 mark.[8]

In their 1st win of the season (a 114–112 victory over Houston), coach Rubin actually injured himself by pulling a leg muscle.[3] The top statistical leaders were Fred Carter (who led the team with 20 points per game), Tom Van Arsdale (with 17.7 points per game), and Leroy Ellis (with 13.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game).

As bad as their season was, it would have been far worse if not for a 5–2 run the team put together in the last two weeks of February 1973. By Valentine's Day 1973 the 76ers' record stood at 4–58 or a .065 winning percentage which actually put on a pace to finish with an unimaginable 5–77 record. However, the team surprisingly won 5 of their next 7 games against some of the best competition in the league. 3 of those 5 wins came against teams that would eventually win fifty or more games that year – Baltimore, the 60-win Milwaukee Bucks and the 57–25 eventual NBA Champion New York Knicks. They improved to 9–60 and actually doubled their winning percentage (up from .065 to .130 during that run.) However, the 76ers lost their remaining 13 games to finish 9–73. Before the 1972–73 season the previous mark for fewest wins in an 82-game schedule was 15, and no subsequent NBA team won fewer than 22 until the 1979–80 Detroit Pistons who finished 16–66.

Season standings
Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Boston Celtics 6814.829–33–632–83–018–4
x-New York Knicks 5725.6951135–621–181–116–6
Buffalo Braves 2161.2564714–276–311–38–14
Philadelphia 76ers 973.110595–262–362–112–20
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Boston Celtics6814.829
2 x-New York Knicks5725.695
3 y-Baltimore Bullets5230.634
4 x-Atlanta Hawks4636.561
5 Houston Rockets3349.402
6 Cleveland Cavaliers3250.390
7 Buffalo Braves2161.256
8 Philadelphia 76ers973.110

Record vs. opponents
1972–73 NBA Records
Team ATL BAL BOS BUF CHI CLE DET GSW HOU KCO LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO POR SEA
Atlanta —3–41–55–12–23–42–21–34–42–23–11–33–36–03–14–03–1
Baltimore 4–3—1–55–10–48–02–23–15–23–11–32–23–35–12–24–04–0
Boston 5–15–1—7–03–15–13–13–15–13–14–02–24–47–04–04–04–0
Buffalo 1–51–50–7—2–21–51–30–41–51–30–40–41–67–11–32–22–2
Chicago 2–24–01–32–2—3–13–43–34–05–21–52–43–14–04–25–15–1
Cleveland 4–30–81–55–11–3—1–31–34–32–21–31–30–66–01–31–33–1
Detroit 2–22–21–33–14–33–1—2–41–33–31–52–51–33–14–26–02–4
Golden State 3–11–31–34–03–33–14–2—3–14–23–41–52–24–02–45–14–3
Houston 4–42–51–55–10–43–43–11–3—0–41–31–31–55–12–22–22–2
Kansas City-Omaha 2–21–31–33–12–52–23–32–44–0—1–51–60–43–13–34–24–2
Los Angeles 1–33–10–44–05–13–15–14–33–15–1—3–32–24–06–16–06–0
Milwaukee 3–12–22–24–04–23–15–25–13–16–13–3—2–23–15–15–15–1
New York 3–33–34–46–11–36–03–12–25–14–02–22–2—6–13–13–14–0
Philadelphia 0–61–50–71–70–40–61–30–41–51–30–41–31–6—0–41–31–3
Phoenix 1–32–20–43–12–43–12–44–22–23–31–61–51–34–0—5–24–2
Portland 0–40–40–42–21–53–10–61–52–22–40–61–51–33–12–5—3–4
Seattle 1–30–40–42–21–51–34–23–42–22–40–61–50–43–12–44–3—

Anatomy of a demise

Two and a half months after Philadelphia's collapse against the Boston Celtics in the 1968 NBA Playoffs, Wilt Chamberlain was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. In return, the Sixers received Darrall Imhoff, Archie Clark and Jerry Chambers.[8]

The background of the deal can be traced back to Sixers owners Ike Richman and Irv Kosloff. Chamberlain indicated that Richman promised him part ownership of the club, but Richman died before the deal was completed. When Kosloff became sole owner, he refused to honor the agreement Chamberlain had reached with Richman. This infuriated Chamberlain, and he contemplated retirement or bolting to the ABA. Chamberlain then expressed a desire to play in Los Angeles and suggested a trade.[8][9] On paper, the deal made some sense from the Sixers' perspective, since general manager Jack Ramsay was not willing to risk letting Chamberlain get away for nothing. In the long run, however, the Sixers didn't get nearly enough in return.

After the 1967–68 season, head coach Alex Hannum bolted to the ABA, and Ramsay named himself head coach. He decided that Clark, Imhoff and Chambers would be part of a smaller, quicker, fast-breaking team. This plan had never truly materialized. Imhoff spent only 2 seasons with the 76ers, Clark spent three, while Chambers never played for Philadelphia after spending two years in the military before being traded. Luke Jackson, Chamberlain's intended successor, suffered a major injury in the 1968-69 season and was never the same player after that. Chet Walker was dealt to the Chicago Bulls for Jim Washington, a role player.[8]

Another contributing factor to the poor season was Philadelphia's first-round draft choices from 1967 through 1972. Selections such as Craig Raymond, Shaler Halimon, Bud Ogden, Harris Ahmad, Al Henry, Dana Lewis and Fred Boyd made no impact with the club, while Philadelphia passed on drafting future stars such as Nate Archibald and Calvin Murphy.[8][7]

Ramsay did coax 55 victories out of the 1st 76ers team he coached in 1968–69. That number dipped into the 40s for the next 2 seasons, and sunk even further to 30 in 1971–72—the 1st time they had missed the playoffs in franchise history (dating back to their tenure as the Syracuse Nationals).[8]

Game log
1972–73 Game Log

Total: 9–73 (Home: 5–26 ; Road: 2–36 ; Neutral: 2–11)

October: 0–9 (Home: 0–4 ; Road: 0–5 ; Neutral: 0–0)
November: 2–13 (Home: 0–5 ; Road: 1–7 ; Neutral: 1–1)
December: 1–13 (Home: 1–4 ; Road: 0–6 ; Neutral: 0–3)
January: 1–16 (Home: 0–5 ; Road: 1–9 ; Neutral: 0–2)
February: 5–9 (Home: 4–1 ; Road: 0–6 ; Neutral: 1–2)
March: 0–13 (Home: 0–7 ; Road: 0–3 ; Neutral: 0–3)
1972–73 Schedule

Awards and records

References
  1. https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/VAN/1999.html
  2. Wright, Kyle; The NBA from Top to Bottom: A History of the NBA from the No. 1 Team to the No. 1,153; pp. 74–87. ISBN 9780595697960
  3. Ferraro, Michael X.; Veneziano, John (2007). Numbelivable!. Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-10-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Perner, Mark (March 7, 2013). "Recalling the 9–73 Sixers of 1972–73". Philly.com.
  6. "Roy Rubin, 87, dies". The New York Times. August 11, 2013.
  7. "The Spirit of the 76ers is willing...but the flesh is weak". January 8, 1973.
  8. From 68–13 to 9–73. (1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers)
  9. Ramsay, Jack (February 10, 2007). "Wilt's spirit was larger than life". Retrieved January 26, 2008.
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