Philadelphia 76ers Dancer Wallpapers

Description: By the early 1960s, the NBA's Nationals were struggling. Syracuse was the last of the medium-sized cities, but it was too small for a professional team to be profitable. Paper magnate Irv Kosloff bought the Nationals from Denny Biasone and moved them to Philadelphia in 1963. The NBA thus returned to Philadelphia one year after the Warriors had... ( +expand to view full text )

Description: By the early 1960s, the NBA's Nationals were struggling. Syracuse was the last of the medium-sized cities, but it was too small for a professional team to be profitable. Paper magnate Irv Kosloff bought the Nationals from Denny Biasone and moved them to Philadelphia in 1963. The NBA thus returned to Philadelphia one year after the Warriors had left for San Francisco. A contest was held to decide on their new name and the winner was the late Walt Stahlberg. Their name was changed to the "76ers," after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776. The nickname was quickly shortened to "Sixers" by headline writers, and the two names soon became interchangeable for marketing purposes. For their first four years in Philadelphia, the Sixers played mostly at the Philadelphia Arena and Civic Center-Convention Hall, with an occasional game at The Palestra at the University of Pennsylvania. In the 1964-65 season, the 76ers acquired the legendary Wilt Chamberlain from the Warriors; Chamberlain had been a high school legend in Philadelphia and began his career with the Warriors while they still played in Philadelphia. In Chamberlain's first full year back in Philadelphia, the Sixers ended the Boston Celtics' eight-year reign as Eastern Division regular-season champions. The 76ers would push the Celtics to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, with the 76ers trailing 110¨C108 in Game 7. After Hal Greer's pass was stolen by John Havlicek ¡ª an infamous blow to 76ers fans, rubbed in by fabled Celtics announcer Johnny Most when he yelled into the microphone "Havlicek stole the ball!" ¡ª the Celtics went on to beat the 76ers and win another NBA Championship.