Philadelphia 76ers

From Hoopedia

1 Franchise Name History
2 Franchise Arenas
3 Franchise Personnel
4 Retired Numbers
5 External Links

Franchise Name History

The NBA franchise actually began in 1949, when six teams from the midwest-based National Basketball League joined the Basketball Association of America to form the 17 team National Basketball Association. One of those teams was the Syracuse Nationals, which eventually became the Philadelphia 76ers.

In the spring of 1963, the Syracuse Nationals were purchased by two Philadelphians, Irv Kosloff and Ike Richman, and the NBA approved the franchise shift formally on May 22.

Original 76ers logo

The franchise then held a contest to name the club and on August 6, 1963, the Nationals changed their name. The late Walt Stahlberg, of West Collingswood, New Jersey, won the contest, of which 500 different suggestions were entered.

Stahlberg was one of several who picked the 76ers. However, his accompanying 25-word explanation was deemed the best by the judges, and he and his wife received an all-expense trip to the West Coast to see the newly named 76ers play San Francisco.

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Franchise Arenas

Arena	Years	Notes
State Fair Coliseum	1949-1951
ar Memorial at Oncenter	1951-1963	Formerly the Onondaga War Memorial
Convention Hall and Philadelphia Arena	1963-1967
Spectrum	1967-1996	Had a home game in Hershey, PA (1971-72)
		Had a home game in Pittsburgh (1972-73)
		Had a home game in Hershey, PA (1973-74)
Wachovia Center	1996-present	Formerly CoreStates Center & First Union Center