The Philadelphia 76ers (also known as the Sixers for short) are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Home arenas

Convention Hall and Philadelphia Arena (1963–1967)

The Spectrum (1967-1996)

Wachovia Center (1996-)

Franchise history

Syracuse Nationals

Main article: Syracuse Nationals

The 76ers are the NBA's oldest franchise. They began in 1939 as the Syracuse Nationals, an independent professional team. In 1946, they joined the National Basketball League, becoming the largely Midwest-based league's easternmost team. In 1949, the Nationals were one of seven NBL teams that merged with the Basketball Association of America to form the NBA. In 1955, the Nationals (led by forward Dolph Schayes) won the NBA championship.

Welcome back to the NBA, Philadelphia

Philadelphia 76ers logo 1963–1976By the early 1960s, the NBA's Nationals were struggling. Syracuse was the last of the medium-sized cities, but it too was too small for a professional team to be profitable. Paper magnate Irv Kosloff bought the Nationals from 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. The 76ers would push the Boston Celtics to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, with the 76ers trailing 110–108 in Game 7. After Hal Greer's pass was stolen by John Havlicek — an infamous blow to 76ers fans, rubbed in by fabled Celtics announcer Johnny Most when he yelled into the microphone "Havlicek stole the ball!" — the Celtics went on to beat the 76ers and win another NBA Championship.

Source: www.wikipedia.com