1982-83 NBA Finals
May 22, 1983 – May 31, 1983
1982-83 NBA Finals result: P7Philadelphia 76ers def. LALLos Angeles Lakers, 4-0, May 22, 1983 – May 31, 1983.
Result
| Team | Series | |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | P7Philadelphia 76ers | 4-0 |
| Runner-up | LALLos Angeles Lakers |
Games
| Game | Date | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | May 22, 1983 | P7Philadelphia 76ers 113–107 Los Angeles Lakers | The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Game 2 | May 26, 1983 | P7Philadelphia 76ers 103–93 Los Angeles Lakers | The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Game 3 | May 29, 1983 | P7Philadelphia 76ers 111–94 Los Angeles Lakers | The Forum, Inglewood, California |
| Game 4 | May 31, 1983 | P7Philadelphia 76ers 115–108 Los Angeles Lakers | The Forum, Inglewood, California |
Finals MVP
Moses Malone. Malone, acquired from Houston that offseason specifically to counter Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was named Finals MVP after dominating inside throughout the sweep.
Series context
The 1982-83 season was the culmination of a determined rebuild by the Philadelphia 76ers, who had lost in the Finals to the Lakers in both 1980 and 1982 despite having Julius Erving as their superstar. Seeking the missing piece to get past Los Angeles, Philadelphia acquired star center Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets in a sign-and-trade during the offseason. The move proved transformative: the 76ers had one of the league's best regular seasons, then stormed through the playoffs with a dominant postseason record. Before the season even began, Malone had famously predicted a "fo', fo', fo'" championship run, meaning four-game sweeps in each of the three playoff rounds. He nearly delivered on the boast: Philadelphia needed five games to get past Milwaukee before sweeping the Lakers in the Finals. Los Angeles, despite Magic Johnson's continued excellence and a 35-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar still playing at a high level, was hampered by a late-season leg fracture to rising star James Worthy and simply could not match Philadelphia's frontcourt combination of Malone and Erving. The 76ers swept the series in four games, capped by a Game 4 clincher in which Erving's decisive three-point play sealed the championship. The sweep gave Philadelphia its first title since 1967 (as the 76ers) and third overall dating back to their Syracuse Nationals days. Head coach Billy Cunningham credited the acquisition of Malone as the singular difference-maker that pushed a very good 76ers roster over the top against a Lakers team that had beaten them in the Finals twice in the previous three seasons. Malone, who dominated the boards and interior scoring throughout the series, was a near-unanimous choice for Finals MVP, cementing his status as one of the era's most dominant centers alongside Abdul-Jabbar. Philadelphia finished the regular season 65-17, then went a stellar 12-1 through the playoffs, sweeping New York in the conference semifinals before beating Milwaukee in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Los Angeles went 58-24, defeating Portland in five games in the second round and San Antonio in six games in the Western Conference Finals to reach the title series. Attendance ran heavy in both buildings, with Philadelphia's home games drawing 18,482 fans and the Lakers' games at the Forum drawing 17,505. The championship stood as the last NBA Finals completed before the calendar turned to June, and it remains the only NBA championship of Julius Erving's career, capping three prior NBA Finals losses with the 76ers in 1977, 1980, and 1982. Sixth man Bobby Jones, who won the inaugural NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award that season, gave Philadelphia elite two-way depth off the bench throughout the postseason.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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