Has there ever been a title team with the league's best 5, 3, 1,2, and best defender?

[Dr.J4ever]

The answer is yes. And it may never have been true before or since the 1982-83 Sixers. One of the true GOAT teams. The 5 of course is Moses Malone who dominated all centers during that era, including KAJ. Dr.J was the best SF in the NBA from at least 1979 to 1983. And the Sixers had the best back court in the NBA with Maurice Cheeks and Andrew Toney. Of course, NBA best 6th man and best defender in the NBA that year was Bobby Jones.

I saw every ball game either live or on TV that year, and their run was spectacular. People forget that the Sixers got off to the best start in NBA history by winning 50 of their 1st 57 ball games. Billy C. proceeded to rest players towards the end which reduced the Sixers over all record to 65-17.

The Sixers then famously( fo-fo-fo) swept through the Playoffs by going 12-1.

Best team ever? No discussion of goat teams should ever be held without mentioning this great team.

[Element]

They're definitely in the conversation for GOAT team. The problem is just that they don't match up too well with the other GOAT teams such as 86 Celtics, 01 Lakers, 72 Lakers etc

I believe on RealGM there was a playoff style tournament project between the GOAT teams and the Sixers were eliminated before the Finals

[D-Wade316]

60s Celtics had the best defenders in all positions.

[Element]

60s Celtics had the best defenders in all positions.

I'd say the 96 Bulls had by far the best trio of defenders on the perimeter, ever

MJ, Pip, Harper and you could even throw Rodman in there against some 3's

[iamgine]

Next season lost in the first round tho...

[chocolatethunder]

I'm a lifelong Sixer fan but I have to say that Mo Cheeks, for as good as he was, was never the best PG in the league. Andrew Toney was a killer for sure but I'm not positive I would have called them the best backcourt in the league. They were an awesome team no doubt but that team to me was a team whose sum of the players were greater than each individual, which is a compliment because they were a real team. They should be in the discussion for greatest team ever and so should the Houston teams that won.

[branslowski]

They're definitely in the conversation for GOAT team. The problem is just that they don't match up too well with the other GOAT teams such as 86 Celtics, 01 Lakers, 72 Lakers etc

I believe on RealGM there was a playoff style tournament project between the GOAT teams and the Sixers were eliminated before the Finals

01' Lakers? Besides Shaq and Kobe, who would you seriously expect to start a franchise with? Naw, too much, who would you expect to be an All Star..Naw too much, who would you expect to score atleast 20ppg?

[Legends66NBA7]

60s Celtics had the best defenders in all positions.

Post-Cousy.

[Element]

01' Lakers? Besides Shaq and Kobe, who would you seriously expect to start a franchise with? Naw, too much, who would you expect to be an All Star..Naw too much, who would you expect to score atleast 20ppg?

How does depth matter lol. Kobe and Shaq were going HAM on whatever kind of team they faced. You got two players combining for at least 60+ every night with the possibility of some 70-80 point nights. You don't need much depth the way these two were tearing s.hit up

[wakencdukest]

The answer is yes. And it may never have been true before or since the 1982-83 Sixers. One of the true GOAT teams. The 5 of course is Moses Malone who dominated all centers during that era, including KAJ. Dr.J was the best SF in the NBA from at least 1979 to 1983. And the Sixers had the best back court in the NBA with Maurice Cheeks and Andrew Toney. Of course, NBA best 6th man and best defender in the NBA that year was Bobby Jones.

I saw every ball game either live or on TV that year, and their run was spectacular. People forget that the Sixers got off to the best start in NBA history by winning 50 of their 1st 57 ball games. Billy C. proceeded to rest players towards the end which reduced the Sixers over all record to 65-17.

The Sixers then famously( fo-fo-fo) swept through the Playoffs by going 12-1.

Best team ever? No discussion of goat teams should ever be held without mentioning this great team.


No way Toney or Cheeks were better than Magic and Isaiah Thomas, Bird was better than the Doc, and Kareem was better than Moses overall, but Moses was a beast that year. You were right about Bobby Jones though.

[Dr.J4ever]

I'm a lifelong Sixer fan but I have to say that Mo Cheeks, for as good as he was, was never the best PG in the league. Andrew Toney was a killer for sure but I'm not positive I would have called them the best backcourt in the league. They were an awesome team no doubt but that team to me was a team whose sum of the players were greater than each individual, which is a compliment because they were a real team. They should be in the discussion for greatest team ever and so should the Houston teams that won.
I misspoke a bit. What I meant to say was only that the Sixers of 1982-83 had absolutely the best back court in the NBA, not Cheeks being the best.

The only back court that could compare was Magic... and who? Cooper? Norm Nixon? No, the Sixers absolutely had the best back court in the league.

[Dr.J4ever]

No way Toney or Cheeks were better than Magic and Isaiah Thomas, Bird was better than the Doc, and Kareem was better than Moses overall, but Moses was a beast that year. You were right about Bobby Jones though.
Yes, Magic was better than Cheeks. Isaiah at the time was not the Isaiah of the late 80's. Thomas was playing on a defenseless 2nd tier team in the Pistons. And no, Bird was not better than Doc at the time. In head to head matches between the two, Doc had better stats and more wins from 1980-83, In the regular season(1980-83 only), Doc was a notch better than Bird too.
Don't forget Bird didn't have a great season in 1982-83, as the Celtics were in some turmoil as they lost to the Bucks early in the Playoffs. Coach Fitch was fired after the season. Doc was surely better than Bird that year. Don't believe all the hype with Bird.

Moses won MVP that season, and thoroughly dominated KAJ in the Finals. In the 1981 season with the Rockets, Moses started dominating KAJ and led an upset of the Lakers. He was truly KAJ's nemesis.

Was KAJ a more complete center? Sure, but Moses was the better center THAT YEAR, and Moses was certainly more dominant.

[iamgine]

They were basically the same team the next season, yet they weren't even close in the regular season (65 wins vs 52 wins) nor the playoff (Championship vs 1st round exit). They were all pretty much still in the prime age and there were no one missing significant amount of games. What happened?

[TimmyDuncan]

They were basically the same team the next season, yet they weren't even close in the regular season (65 wins vs 52 wins) nor the playoff (Championship vs 1st round exit). They were all pretty much still in the prime age and there were no one missing significant amount of games. What happened?

Too much champaigning and campaigning

[wakencdukest]

Yes, Magic was better than Cheeks. Isaiah at the time was not the Isaiah of the late 80's. Thomas was playing on a defenseless 2nd tier team in the Pistons. And no, Bird was not better than Doc at the time. In head to head matches between the two, Doc had better stats and more wins from 1980-83, In the regular season(1980-83 only), Doc was a notch better than Bird too.
Don't forget Bird didn't have a great season in 1982-83, as the Celtics were in some turmoil as they lost to the Bucks early in the Playoffs. Coach Fitch was fired after the season. Doc was surely better than Bird that year. Don't believe all the hype with Bird.

Moses won MVP that season, and thoroughly dominated KAJ in the Finals. In the 1981 season with the Rockets, Moses started dominating KAJ and led an upset of the Lakers. He was truly KAJ's nemesis.

Was KAJ a more complete center? Sure, but Moses was the better center THAT YEAR, and Moses was certainly more dominant.


Hey, I was a big fan of Philly back then, the Doctor was my favorite player in the league until Magic showed up. I just thought Bird was the overall better player, even though I hated his guts. Opinions aside, that was a hell of a team from top to bottom.

[Owl]

No way Toney or Cheeks were better than Magic and Isaiah Thomas, Bird was better than the Doc, and Kareem was better than Moses overall, but Moses was a beast that year. You were right about Bobby Jones though.
If you consider that Norm Nixon was the pg on the Lakers (and conclude that therefore Magic wasn't primarily a pg that year), then Cheeks has a solid case for best pg that year. He was the highest WS/48 and Win Share total amongst (non-Magic) point guards.

Of those (non-Magic) guards above in PER him that could be considered pgs (Gus Williams, Reggie Theus and Isiah Thomas) two aren't clear cut pgs (Theus had the size, scoring mentality and recklessness of a 2; whilst Williams tended to split playmaking duties with the likes of Dennis Johnson, John Johnson and Freddie Brown) and the other (Isiah) was worse that year. Isiah has a very slight edge in PER, which overvalues scorers, and can't account for most defense where Cheeks was terrific and Isiah, at that point, was a bad defender despite getting many steals.

[Owl]

Yes, Magic was better than Cheeks. Isaiah at the time was not the Isaiah of the late 80's. Thomas was playing on a defenseless 2nd tier team in the Pistons. And no, Bird was not better than Doc at the time. In head to head matches between the two, Doc had better stats and more wins from 1980-83, In the regular season(1980-83 only), Doc was a notch better than Bird too.
Don't forget Bird didn't have a great season in 1982-83, as the Celtics were in some turmoil as they lost to the Bucks early in the Playoffs. Coach Fitch was fired after the season. Doc was surely better than Bird that year. Don't believe all the hype with Bird.

Moses won MVP that season, and thoroughly dominated KAJ in the Finals. In the 1981 season with the Rockets, Moses started dominating KAJ and led an upset of the Lakers. He was truly KAJ's nemesis.

Was KAJ a more complete center? Sure, but Moses was the better center THAT YEAR, and Moses was certainly more dominant.
The numbers give Bird a slight edge that year. http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&per_minute_base=36&type=advanced&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=1983&year_max=1983&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&is_active=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&qual=&c1stat=&c1comp=gt&c1val=&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws_per_48 Bird also got a 2nd Team all-Defense nod, whereas, despite some decent stats on that end, Erving (at least in his NBA years) doesn't seem to have been noted for his defense. I'm not saying you couldn't reasonably favour Erving (especially as the better player, rather than, who had the more productive season, which favours Bird because an extra 550 minutes), but it's certainly not a clear cut Erving win.

This was a rare year where Malone was, clear cut, better than Jabbar.

[Dr.J4ever]

They were basically the same team the next season, yet they weren't even close in the regular season (65 wins vs 52 wins) nor the playoff (Championship vs 1st round exit). They were all pretty much still in the prime age and there were no one missing significant amount of games. What happened?
It just wasn't the same team. The Sixers had been on a long run being in 4 Finals since 1977, and the 1983-84 team was showing age. It's as if they poured everything they had in those runs and ran out of gas. Doc, for the 1st time showed a steep drop in just one year. Bobby Jones declined. Andrew started missing some games and started his issues with his injuries that would ultimately cut his career short. Even Moses wasn't at the MVP level anymore. Only Cheeks remained the same player.

[Dr.J4ever]

The numbers give Bird a slight edge that year. http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&per_minute_base=36&type=advanced&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=1983&year_max=1983&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&is_active=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&qual=&c1stat=&c1comp=gt&c1val=&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws_per_48 Bird also got a 2nd Team all-Defense nod, whereas, despite some decent stats on that end, Erving (at least in his NBA years) doesn't seem to have been noted for his defense. I'm not saying you couldn't reasonably favour Erving (especially as the better player, rather than, who had the more productive season, which favours Bird because an extra 550 minutes), but it's certainly not a clear cut Erving win.

This was a rare year where Malone was, clear cut, better than Jabbar.
It's a clear cut Erving when you consider win/lost in both the regular season and the Playoffs. Doc was a huge part in allowing Moses to assimilate to the Sixers. Doc's all around game was perhaps the primary reason the Sixers were who they were that year. When Doc declined the next season, not even a near prime Moses could alleviate the Sixers steep drop from Championship form.