1983 NBA Finals

1983 basketball championship series August 2023 NBA 1983 Los Angeles Lakers Pat Riley 0 Philadelphia 76ers Billy Cunningham 4 May 22–31 Moses Malone(Philadelphia 76ers) 76ers:Maurice Cheeks (2018)Julius Erving (1993)Bobby Jones (2019)Moses Malone (2001)Lakers:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1995)Michael Cooper (2024)Magic Johnson (2002)Bob McAdoo (2000)Jamaal Wilkes (2012)James Worthy (2003; did not play)Coaches:Billy Cunningham (1986, player)Pat Riley (2008)Broadcasters:Chick Hearn (2003, contributor)Officials:Hugh Evans (2022)Darell Garretson (2016)Earl Strom (1995) 76ers defeated Bucks, 4–1 Lakers defeated Spurs, 4–2 The 1983 NBA World Championship Series, also known as Showdown '83, was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (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 swept the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers to win their third NBA championship and first since 1967. After their previous four final meetings, the 76ers returned the favor. 76ers center Moses Malone was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). This, along with the 1989 NBA Finals, were the only two NBA championships of the 1980s not to be won by either the Lakers or the Boston Celtics; every NBA Finals of that decade featured either the Lakers or Celtics, and sometimes both (1984, 1985, 1987).List of NBA champions https://www.nba.com/news/history-nba-champions 2026-06-21 NBA.com Coincidentally, the Lakers were also swept in the 1989 NBA Finals, that time by the Detroit Pistons. Background Philadelphia 76ers 1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers season The 76ers lost their first two Finals meetings with the Lakers in 1980 and 1982. While Julius Erving played superbly in both series, their frontcourt of Darryl Dawkins, Caldwell Jones, and Bobby Jones couldn't neutralize Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. So in the off-season, the 76ers acquired Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets 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 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.Sixers History The Trade That Brought the Chairman to Philadelphia Philadelphia Sixers https://www.nba.com/sixers/news/sixers-history-trade-brought-chairman-philadelphia 2026-06-21 www.nba.com Malone's acquisition paid dividends, as the 76ers won 65 games in the 1982–83 NBA season. Prior to the playoffs, 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 4–0 in the conference semifinals, before overcoming the Milwaukee Bucks in five games.Hofmann Rich 2018-09-04 Philly Specials series: Doc, Moses and Mo provide the 1983 Finals exclamation point for the Fo’, Fi’, Fo’ Sixers https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/504495/2018/09/04/philly-specials-series-doc-moses-and-mo-provide-the-1983-finals-exclamation-point-for-fo-fi-fo-sixers/ 2026-06-21 The New York Times 0362-4331 Los Angeles Lakers 1982–83 Los Angeles Lakers season 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 owner Ted Stepien traded their first round pick and Butch Lee to the Lakers for Don Ford and draft pick Chad Kinch 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.Gatinho 2007-09-11 Ted Stepien and the James Worthy Rule https://www.forumblueandgold.com/2007/09/11/ted-stepien-and-the-james-worthy-rule/ 2026-06-21 Forum Blue And Gold Instead, the Lakers would earn the top pick and ultimately selected future Hall of Famer James Worthy first overall.1982 NBA Draft https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1982.html 2026-06-21 Basketball-Reference.com en 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, already a top-level guard, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 35 and still in his prime, led the Lakers back to the Finals. They beat the Portland Trail Blazers 4–1 and the San Antonio Spurs 4–2 in the second and third playoff rounds, respectively.1982-83 Los Angeles Lakers Schedule https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/1983_games.html 2026-06-21 Basketball-Reference.com Road to the Finals 1983 NBA playoffs Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference champion) Philadelphia 76ers (Eastern Conference champion)LAL1st seed in the West, 2nd best league recordRegular seasonPHI1st seed in the East, best league recordEarned first-round byeFirst roundEarned first-round byeDefeated the (5) Portland Trail Blazers, 4–1Conference semifinalsDefeated the (5) New York Knicks, 4–0Defeated the (2) San Antonio Spurs, 4–2Conference finalsDefeated the (2) Milwaukee Bucks, 4–1 Regular season series The Philadelphia 76ers won both games in the regular season series: #fff December 5, 1982 Philadelphia 76ers |score1=114 Los Angeles Lakers 104 The Forum, Inglewood, California January 5, 1983 Los Angeles Lakers 120 Philadelphia 76ers |score2=122 (OT) The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaJulius Erving's famous “Rock The Baby” cradle dunk on Michael Cooper occurred during the Lakers versus 76ers matchup on January 5, 1983 at The Spectrum.Jackson Wilton 2023-01-06 Q&A: Forty Years Later, Dr. J Dishes on His Iconic ‘Rock the Baby’ Dunk https://www.si.com/nba/2023/01/06/dr-j-rock-the-baby-dunk-40-years-later 2026-04-22 SI en-US The dunk put the 76ers up by 4 with about a minute and a half left in the game. The Sixers won the game, 122–120, in overtime, sweeping the regular season series versus the Lakers, which is what also occurred in the 1983 Finals. Series summary Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 May 22 Philadelphia 76ers 113–107 (1–0) Los Angeles Lakers Game 2 May 26 Philadelphia 76ers 103–93 (2–0) Los Angeles Lakers Game 3 May 29 Los Angeles Lakers 94–111 (0–3) Philadelphia 76ers Game 4 May 31 Los Angeles Lakers 108–115 (0–4) Philadelphia 76ers The final piece of the Philadelphia 76ers' championship puzzle was completed before the 1982–83 season when they acquired center Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets. They went on to capture their third NBA championship as they won 65 games, and stormed through the playoffs, first sweeping the New York Knicks, and then beating the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. They finally finished it off with a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had defeated them the season before. Said head coach Billy Cunningham, "The difference from last year was Moses."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXZZDc27c28 Vintage NBA - Moses Malone 2008-05-26 ginoongkamote 2026-06-21 YouTube 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, 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.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRBUexBZB4U 1983 NBA FINALS GAME 4 PHI @ LAL 2024-11-03 Stanley Hudson 2026-06-21 YouTube Until the Phillies won the 2008 World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays 4–1, this was the last time a team from Philadelphia in the Big Four leagues won their league's championship.Alumni, fans celebrate Phillies' '08 WS team https://www.mlb.com/news/phillies-celebrate-2008-world-series-team-c288990570 2026-06-21 MLB.com Game 1 #eee May 22 3:35 p.m. EDT The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania CBS Los Angeles Lakers 107 Philadelphia 76ers |score2=113 20–30 37–24 26–31 24–28 Norm Nixon 26 Moses Malone 27 Mark Landsberger 10 Moses Malone 18 Magic Johnson 11 Julius Erving 9 18,482 No. 14 Jack Madden No. 4 Ed T. Rush Philadelphia leads the series, 1–0 Game 2 #eee May 26 9:05 p.m. EDT The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania CBS Los Angeles Lakers 93 Philadelphia 76ers |score2=103 29–26 26–25 20–28 18–24 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23 Moses Malone 24 Magic Johnson 8 Moses Malone 12 Magic Johnson 13 Maurice Cheeks 8 18,482 No. 10 Darell Garretson No. 9 John Vanak No. 12 Earl Strom (alternate) Philadelphia leads the series, 2–0 Game 3 #eee May 29 12:35 p.m. PDT The Forum, Inglewood, California CBS Philadelphia 76ers |score1=111 Los Angeles Lakers 94 21–32 28–20 23–20 39–22 Moses Malone 28 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23 Moses Malone 19 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 15 Moses Malone 6 Magic Johnson 13 17,505 No. 20 Jess Kersey No. 11 Jake O'Donnell No. 25 Hugh Evans (alternate) Philadelphia leads the series, 3–0 Game 4 #eee May 31 6:05 p.m. PDT The Forum, Inglewood, California CBS Philadelphia 76ers |score1=115 Los Angeles Lakers 108 24–26 27–39 31–28 33–15 Moses Malone 24 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28 Moses Malone 23 Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Landsberger, McGee 7 each Andrew Toney 9 Magic Johnson 15 17,505 No. 25 Hugh Evans No. 12 Earl Strom No. 20 Jess Kersey (alternate) Philadelphia wins the series, 4–0 This was the 76ers' last final playoff win until Game 1 in 2001, which also came against the Lakers at their home venue (the newly-opened Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles instead of the Forum in Inglewood). Player statistics Philadelphia 76ers Philadelphia 76ers |- | align="left" | Andrew Toney || 4 || 4 || 36.8 || .423 || .000 || .848 || 2.3 || 5.8 || 1.3 || 0.3 || 22.0 |-! style="background:#FDE910;" | align="left" | Moses Malone || 4 || 4 || 39.3 || .507 || .000 || .660 || 18.0 || 2.0 || 1.5 || 1.5 || 25.8 |- | align="left" | Maurice Cheeks || 4 || 4 || 35.8 || .553 || .000 || .600 || 2.3 || 6.3 || 2.8 || 0.0 || 15.3 |- | align="left" | Bobby Jones Bobby Jones (basketball, born 1951) || 4 || 0 || 26.0 || .568 || .000 || .667 || 4.8 || 2.8 || 2.0 || 2.3 || 12.0 |- | align="left" | Marc Iavaroni || 4 || 4 || 24.8 || .588 || .000 || .375 || 5.5 || 2.0 || 0.3 || 0.8 || 5.8 |- | align="left" | Julius Erving || 4 || 4 || 38.3 || .469 || .000 || .800 || 8.5 || 5.0 || 1.3 || 2.8 || 19.0 |- | align="left" | Clint Richardson || 4 || 0 || 23.0 || .393 || .000 || .750 || 3.3 || 1.8 || 1.3 || 0.3 || 6.3 |- | align="left" | Clemon Johnson || 3 || 0 || 12.7 || .385 || .000 || .000 || 3.0 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 3.3 |- | align="left" | Earl Cureton || 3 || 0 || 6.3 || .333 || .000 || .000 || 1.0 || 0.3 || 0.7 || 0.0 || 0.7 |- | align="left" | Mark McNamara || 1 || 0 || 1.0 || 1.000 || .000 || .000 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 4.0 |- | align="left" | Reggie Johnson Reggie Johnson (basketball, born 1957) || 1 || 0 || 1.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 |- | align="left" | Franklin Edwards || 3 || 0 || 1.0 || .000 || .000 || 1.000 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.7 Los Angeles Lakers Los Angeles Lakers |- | align="left" | Bob McAdoo || 2 || 0 || 21.0 || .409 || .500 || 1.000 || 7.0 || 0.5 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 11.0 |- | align="left" | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar || 4 || 4 || 38.8 || .552 || .000 || .769 || 7.5 || 3.0 || 0.8 || 2.3 || 23.5 |- | align="left" | Jamaal Wilkes || 4 || 4 || 39.3 || .461 || .000 || .571 || 5.8 || 1.8 || 2.0 || 1.3 || 18.5 |- | align="left" | Norm Nixon || 3 || 3 || 36.7 || .405 || .000 || .636 || 2.7 || 4.7 || 1.3 || 0.3 || 13.7 |- | align="left" | Michael Cooper || 4 || 1 || 31.5 || .486 || .333 || .833 || 3.5 || 1.8 || 1.5 || 0.3 || 10.0 |- | align="left" | Kurt Rambis || 4 || 4 || 21.3 || .480 || .000 || .778 || 4.5 || 0.8 || 0.5 || 1.5 || 7.8 |- | align="left" | Mark Landsberger || 4 || 0 || 14.0 || .400 || .000 || 1.000 || 5.0 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 0.5 || 2.5 |- | align="left" | Magic Johnson || 4 || 4 || 44.8 || .408 || .000 || .929 || 7.8 || 12.5 || 1.8 || 0.5 || 19.0 |- | align="left" | Clay Johnson Clay Johnson (basketball) || 3 || 0 || 4.0 || .600 || .000 || .000 || 0.7 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 2.0 |- | align="left" | Mike McGee Mike McGee (basketball) || 2 || 0 || 10.0 || .333 || .000 || .000 || 3.5 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 3.0 |- | align="left" | Dwight Jones Dwight Jones (basketball) || 2 || 0 || 8.5|| .125 || .000 || .000 || 2.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1.0 |- | align="left" | Steve Mix || 1 || 0 || 1.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1983-nba-finals-lakers-vs-76ers.html 1983 NBA Finals - Lakers vs. 76ers Basketball-Reference.com Television coverage The 1983 NBA Finals was broadcast by CBS. Dick Stockton and Bill Russell were the commentators and Brent Musburger was the host, with Kevin Loughery as a pre-game, halftime and post-game analyst. It also introduced a new theme music (composed by Allyson Bellink) for the CBS Sports coverage of the NBA, used an introduction of the NBA arenas (similar to the Boston Garden) until the 1989 playoffs and later revived the second theme beginning in the 1989 Finals.NBA on CBS Russell departed CBS following the series, and was replaced by former Celtics teammate Tom Heinsohn. Russell would later resurface as a color analyst on TBS until 1987. Team rosters Philadelphia 76ers Philadelphia 76ers 1982–83 #C8102E #FFFFFF #1D428A #FFFFFF 10 Maurice Cheeks G 6 1 180 West Texas A&M 1956–09–08 25 Earl Cureton F 6 9 210 Detroit 1957–09–03 14 Franklin Edwards G 6 1 170 Cleveland State 1959–02–02 6 Julius Erving F 6 7 210 Massachusetts 1950–02–22 8 Marc Iavaroni F 6 8 210 Virginia 1956–09–15 45 Clemon Johnson C 6 10 240 Florida A&M 1956–09–12 33 Reggie Johnson basketball, born 1957 F 6 9 205 Tennessee 1957–06–25 24 Bobby Jones basketball, born 1951 F 6 9 210 North Carolina 1951–12–18 2 Moses Malone C 6 10 260 Petersburg (HS) 1955–03–23 31 Mark McNamara C 6 11 235 California 1959–06–08 4 Clint Richardson G 6 3 195 Seattle 1956–08–07 22 Andrew Toney G 6 3 178 Louisiana 1957–11–23 USA Billy Cunningham (North Carolina) USA Matt Guokas (St. Joseph's) USA Jack McMahon (St. John's) Los Angeles Lakers Los Angeles Lakers 1982–83 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 33 C 7 2 225 UCLA 1947–04–16 Michael Cooper 21 G 6 5 170 New Mexico 1956–04–15 Clay Johnson basketball 34 G 6 4 175 Missouri 1956–07–18 Magic Johnson 32 G 6 8 215 Michigan State 1959–08–14 Dwight Jones basketball 13 F 6 10 210 Houston 1952–02–27 Eddie Jordan basketball 15 G 6 1 170 Rutgers 1955–01–29 Mark Landsberger 54 F 6 8 225 Minnesota 1955–05–21 Bob McAdoo 11 C 6 9 210 North Carolina 1951–09–25 Mike McGee basketball 40 F 6 5 190 Michigan 1959–07–29 Steve Mix 50 F 6 7 215 Toledo 1947–12–30 Norm Nixon 10 G 6 2 170 Duquesne 1955–10–11 Kurt Rambis 31 F 6 8 213 Santa Clara 1958–02–25 Jamaal Wilkes 52 F 6 6 190 UCLA 1953–05–02 James Worthy 42 F 6 9 225 North Carolina 1961–02–27 USA Pat Riley (Kentucky) USA Bill Bertka (Kent State) USA Dave Wohl (Pennsylvania) See also 1983 NBA playoffs References External links NBA History Category:NBA Finals Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:1980s in Los Angeles County, California NBA Finals Category:1980s in Philadelphia NBA Finals Category:Basketball competitions in Philadelphia Category:Basketball competitions in Inglewood, California NBA Finals