April 24, 1967: The NBA Championship was won on this day. The Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Francisco Warriors, 125-122 at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, just south of the San Francisco city line. This was Game 6 of the Finals, and it capped one of the greatest seasons in NBA history.
The Sixers got off to a 41-3 start, and set an NBA record with 68 wins, and had 5 Hall-of-Famers: Wilt Chamberlain (finally winning his 1st NBA title, after being the best player in the league since his arrival in 1959), Hal Greer, Chet Walker, Larry Costello, and "sixth man" Billy Cunningham. Head coach Alex Hannum and general manager Jack Ramsay were also elected. Matt Guokas Jr. was a key reserve. His father, Matt Guokas Sr., was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles' 1948 and '49 NFL Champions.
The Sixers actually lost their 1st Playoff game, to the Cincinnati Royals of Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas and Jack Twyman, but won the next 3 to take the series. It would be in the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston Celtics that they truly made their mark.
They would have to. The Celtics had already eliminated the Philadelphia Warriors in 1958, again in 1960 (Chamberlain's rookie year), and again in 1962, after which they moved to San Francisco, and then beat them in the 1964 NBA Finals.
They had beaten the Syracuse Nationals in the Playoffs in 1957, 1959 and 1961. In 1963, the Nats moved, replacing the Warriors, becoming the Philadelphia 76ers. In 1965, the 76ers traded for Chamberlain, but the Celtics famously beat them in Game 7 of the Eastern Division Finals, when, as Celtic broadcaster Johnny Most put it, "Johnny Havlicek stole the ball!" And the Celtics beat the Sixers in the Division Finals again in 1966.
So the 2 teams that had called Philly home were 0-for-their-last-9 in Playoff series against the Celtics, 0-5 as Philadelphia teams, and Chamberlain was personally 0-5. And the Celtics had won the last 8 NBA Championships, and 9 out of the last 10. It was time to rewrite NBA history.
In Game 1 at the Convention Hall of the Philadelphia Civic Center, Greer had 39 points. Chamberlain had 24 points, 32 rebounds, 13 assists, and, although this stat wasn't counted in that era, 12 blocked shots. Chamberlain had an unofficial quadruple-double, against Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics, in the Playoffs. The 76ers won, 127-113.
Game 2 was at the Boston Garden. Walker led the 76ers with 23 points, while Chamberlain had 15 points and 29 rebounds. The 76ers won, 107-102. Game 3 was back in Philly, and while Havlicek led all scorers with 33, Greer had 30; while Chamberlain had 20 points and a whopping 41 rebounds, still a Playoff record, and a figure today's best rebounders are lucky to have in a week. The 76ers won, 115-104. In Game 4, the Celtics took to their parquet floor and staved off elimination, 121-117.
Game 5, on April 11, was the '67 76ers' masterpiece. Havlicek scored 38, but Greer scored 32, Chamberlain 29, Walker 26, Jones 23 and Cunningham 21. Wilt also had 36 rebounds and 13 assists. The final score was Philadelphia 140, Boston 116.
Roy S. Johnson of Sports Illustrated, arguing for the '67 76ers as the greatest single-season team of all time on a 1996 ESPN broadcast titled The Great Debate, said that the Sixers had swept the Celtics out of Convention Hall and into the Schuylkill River. Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, a native of nearby Trenton, New Jersey, but a few weeks away from graduating from Boston College when this game was played, was actually at the game, and had watched enough of both teams to know them well. As Johnson made that reference, Ryan made a choking gesture -- not to suggest that the Celtics had choked, but that the 76ers had strangled them.
(Ryan's nominee for the best team ever was the 1986 Celtics. Other panelists suggested the 1983 76ers and the 1987 Los Angeles Lakers, but none chose the team that had sparked the debate, the 1996 Chicago Bulls. They also discussed the 1965 Celtics, the 1970 New York Knicks, the 1972 Lakers, and the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers.)
After beating their most hated rivals, the Finals would be anti-climactic, despite the fact that it would be against the San Francisco Warriors, the former Philadelphia team. It was similar to such later "If we can do that, this will seem like a piece of cake" moments as the 1980 U.S. hockey team coming off their Olympic upset of the Soviet Union, and needing to beat Finland for the Gold Medal; and the 2004 Boston Red Sox, having finally beaten the arch-rival New York Yankees, having to face the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
And it wasn't going to be easy. Wilt had been replaced as the Warriors' center by Nate Thurmond, one of the few opponents he admitted to having trouble with. And they had Rick Barry, who had become one of the game's best shooters.
The 1st 2 games were in Philadelphia. Game 1 went to overtime, but the 76ers won, 141-135. They also won Game 2, 126-95. The series went out to the Coast, to the Grand National Livestock Pavilion, popularly known as the Cow Palace, just over the San Francisco City Line, in Daly City, California. With Barry scoring 55 points, the Warriors won Game 3, 130-124. But the 76ers won Game 4, 122-108, despite Barry's 43. Back in Philly, the Warriors won, 117-113, thanks to Barry's 36.
Game 6 was played at the Cow Palace on April 24. Barry had 44 points. But Chamberlain had 24 points and 23 rebounds; Jones, 27 points; Walker, 20 points; Cunningham, 17 points; Greer, 15 points; Jackson, 13 points and 21 rebounds; Guokas, 9 points. The 76ers won, 125-122.
Wilt Chamberlain had won his 1st World Championship. And he spent the night in San Francisco, on the edge of the Summer of Love. I wonder how he spent it.
Cunningham would coach their 1983 NBA Champions. Matt Guokas Jr. was a broadcaster for the '83 76ers. The team has never won an NBA title without Cunningham and Gukoas being involved.
The Warriors had won the NBA Championship in 1947 and 1956, while playing in Philadelphia. Chamberlain played for them from 1959 to 1965, including their 1962 move to San Francisco. The Syracuse Nationals, who had won the NBA Championship in 1955, moved to become the 76ers in 1963. The Warriors changed their name to the Golden State Warriors in 1971, and have won the Championship in 1975, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. So the Warriors have won 7 titles, the 76ers have won 3, and Philadelphia has won 4 -- but none since 1983.
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April 24, 1967 was a Monday. Croatian basketball star Dino Rađa (his name usually written in English as Dino Rajda) was born on this day. And this was also the day of the 1st spaceflight tragedy, the death of Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. I have a separate entry about that event.
The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 2 and 3. The series was tied, 1-1, and the Toronto Maple Leafs ended up beating the Montreal Canadiens in 6 games.
And there were 3 games played in baseball:
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 7-4 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Pete Rose went 2-for-2 with 2 walks.
* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Lou Johnson singled Wes Parker home in the bottom of the 13th inning. Lou Brock went 3-for-6 with a walk, 3 stolen bases, and 2 RBIs.
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