From the Archives: The Rivalries and Records Behind This…

By the 76ers Nightly Desk · Saturday, September 26

Every new name on this roster is walking into fights and standards the franchise set decades ago. Boston, New York, a lone MVP shortlist and a title team that collapsed in four years all still shape what happens next.

76ers Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Did the Celtics rivalry exist before Jaylen Brown ever wore a 76ers jersey?

It's older than any player on this roster. Boston ended Nationals and 76ers seasons in the division finals repeatedly through the 1950s and 60s, including a 1953 quadruple-overtime game that's still the longest in NBA history. Brown switched sides of a fight this franchise has been losing for seven decades — the trade that brought him sent Paul George and four draft picks to Boston.

Does Joel Embiid's MVP have real company in franchise history?

Four players got there first. Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Allen Iverson combined for six MVP awards before Embiid added a seventh for the 76ers in 2023. Only two of those four ever paired the MVP with a title — Chamberlain in 1967, Malone in 1983 — which is the harder half of that list Embiid still hasn't reached.

Has trading away a superstar ever worked out for this franchise?

Once, and it went badly. The 76ers sent Chamberlain to the Lakers after the 1967-68 season for Archie Clark, Darrall Imhoff and Jerry Chambers, and four years later the team cratered to 30-52, missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history just five seasons removed from a championship. Sending Paul George to Boston for Brown runs the same risk in reverse.

Where does the Knicks rivalry rank against Boston's?

Boston has the deeper wound, but New York is the active one. The Knicks eliminated Philadelphia in round one in 2024, then swept them a round further last season. The 76ers open the regular season at Madison Square Garden on October 20, which means the newer rivalry gets to make its case first.

How unusual is it for this roster to include a 41-year-old?

It's unprecedented by a wide margin. LeBron James enters this season at 41, in his 23rd NBA year, on a two-year, $8 million deal signed July 27. Nobody else on the 20-man roster is within a decade of that experience, and he's doing it for a franchise still chasing a Finals trip since Iverson's team lost in five games to the Lakers in 2001.

The verdictThis roster didn't inherit a blank slate — it inherited seventy years of grudges, one dangerous precedent about trading away a franchise's best player, and a five-name MVP list with a title attached to only two of them. Embiid, Maxey, Brown and James now get to add the next chapter.

How many 76ers have won MVP?

Five: Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Allen Iverson and Joel Embiid, combining for seven MVP awards.

What's the 76ers' regular-season opener?

October 20 at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks, airing on NBC and Peacock.