# 1983 NBA Finals
The 1983 [NBA Finals](https://www.edgepedia.org/nba-finals) was the championship series of the 1982-83 NBA season, in which the [Philadelphia 76ers](https://www.edgepedia.org/philadelphia-76ers) swept the [Los Angeles Lakers](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-angeles-lakers) four games to none to win the franchise's third NBA title, its first since 1967.[1](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/1983-nba-finals) • [2](https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone) The series ran from May 22 to May 31, 1983, with the clinching Game 4 won 115-108 in Los Angeles on May 31.[3](https://www.nba.com/sixers/history/76ers-team-history) • [4](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/nba-1983-finals) Center Moses Malone was named Finals MVP.[5](https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1983-nba-finals-lakers-vs-76ers.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Result | Philadelphia 76ers defeated Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 0[1](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/1983-nba-finals) |
| Clinching game | Game 4, May 31, 1983, in Los Angeles: 76ers 115, Lakers 108[3](https://www.nba.com/sixers/history/76ers-team-history) |
| Finals MVP | Moses Malone, 25.8 points, 18.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists per game[5](https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1983-nba-finals-lakers-vs-76ers.html) |
| Rebound matchup | Malone outrebounded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 73-30 over the four games; Malone had 23 boards to Abdul-Jabbar's 7 in Game 4[2](https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone) |
| Season context | Philadelphia finished 65-17 in the regular season and 12-1 in the playoffs[3](https://www.nba.com/sixers/history/76ers-team-history) |
| Lakers injuries | James Worthy fractured a leg in the last week of the season; Norm Nixon and Bob McAdoo were hampered during the Finals[6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83) • [7](https://api-hub.nba.com/news/history-nba-legend-magic-johnson) |
| Ring inscription | Malone's "Fo', Fo', Fo'" prediction, adjusted to "Fo', Fi', Fo'" after one playoff loss, was engraved on the championship rings[2](https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone) |
## Background
Philadelphia had reached the Finals three times in [Julius Erving](https://www.edgepedia.org/julius-erving)'s first six seasons with the team, losing to the Lakers in 1980 and again in 1982 in six games.[6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83) • [3](https://www.nba.com/sixers/history/76ers-team-history) The turning point came when Malone, the league's reigning MVP, played out his option and became available as a free agent; Philadelphia signed him, sending Caldwell Jones and a first-round draft pick to Houston as compensation.[6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83)
The move remade the team. Philadelphia won a league-best 65 games, and Malone won his third MVP award while averaging 24.5 points, 15.3 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 78 games. The starting five also included Erving (21.4 points per game), Andrew Toney (19.7), [Maurice Cheeks](https://www.edgepedia.org/maurice-cheeks) (6.9 assists, 2 steals), and Bobby Jones (9.0), who won the inaugural Sixth Man Award.[2](https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone) • [6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83)
The Lakers, bolstered by rookie forward [James Worthy](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-worthy), the top pick in the 1982 draft, won 58 games and a third Pacific Division title in four years. But in the last week of the season Worthy fractured his leg coming down from a tip-in, a loss that carried into the postseason.[6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83)
## The playoff run
Before the playoffs, Malone was asked how Philadelphia would perform and answered "Fo', Fo', Fo'", meaning the 76ers would win each of the three best-of-seven rounds in four games.[6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83) Philadelphia swept the [New York Knicks](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-knicks) in the conference semifinals, then beat [Milwaukee](https://www.edgepedia.org/milwaukee) in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals, the series that cost the prediction its first syllable.[6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83) • [8](https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1983.html) The Lakers, without Worthy, moved past Portland and [San Antonio](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-antonio), winning the Western Conference Finals over the Spurs in six games.[6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83) • [8](https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1983.html)
Philadelphia's only playoff loss came in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Milwaukee; its final 12–1 postseason record set a championship-run winning-percentage record subsequently surpassed by the 2001 Lakers at 15–1 and the 2017 Warriors at 16–1.[2](https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone) • [16](https://www.nba.com/news/best-playoff-records-nba-history)
## The series
Los Angeles was short-handed throughout. Already without Worthy, the Lakers were without [Norm Nixon](https://www.edgepedia.org/norm-nixon) and [Bob McAdoo](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-mcadoo) for much of the Finals.[6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83) The closest game of the sweep came in Game 2 in Philadelphia on May 26, which the 76ers won 103-93.[9](https://champsorchumps.us/team/nba/los-angeles-lakers/head-to-head/philadelphia-76ers)
**Malone dominated the interior.** He averaged 25.8 points, 18.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks in the series, and outrebounded [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://www.edgepedia.org/kareem-abdul-jabbar) 73-30 across the four games.[5](https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1983-nba-finals-lakers-vs-76ers.html) • [10](https://www.nba.com/sixers/news/date-philadelphia-wins-second-title) • [2](https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone) In the clinching Game 4 he grabbed a team-high 23 rebounds against Abdul-Jabbar's 7.[2](https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone) Julius Erving added 19.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 2.8 blocks per game for the series.[10](https://www.nba.com/sixers/news/date-philadelphia-wins-second-title) Bobby Jones averaged 12 points in the sweep and had 13 points and three steals in Game 4.[11](https://goheels.com/documents/download/2025/10/28/25-26_M-Basketball_Record_Book.pdf) Andrew Toney averaged 21 points in the Finals.[12](https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/encore/ncgre000/00000096/00095387/00095387.pdf)
Philadelphia closed the title on May 31, 1983, winning 115-108 in Los Angeles.[3](https://www.nba.com/sixers/history/76ers-team-history) Coach Billy Cunningham, a member of the 76ers' previous title team in 1967, credited the difference directly: "The difference from last year was Moses. He gave us the consistency inside that the Lakers had always gotten from Abdul-Jabbar. We got that and more from Moses."[6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83)
## Legacy
The championship was Philadelphia's third as a franchise and its first since [Wilt Chamberlain](https://www.edgepedia.org/wilt-chamberlain)'s 1967 team, and it gave Erving his first NBA title.[2](https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone) • [13](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jun-05-sp-6688-story.html) Malone's prediction entered league lore in revised form: because the Milwaukee series took five games, the rings were engraved "Fo', Fi', Fo'".[2](https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone) • [6](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83) The 1982-83 76ers remain a fixture in rankings of the greatest teams in NBA history.[14](https://as.com/baloncesto/nba/celtics-sixers-vuelve-la-rivalidad-historica-que-creo-el-beat-la-f202604-n/) For the Lakers, the sweep delayed a rematch with Boston; they did not meet the Celtics in the Finals until 1984.[15](https://time.com/6301839/winning-time-season-2-celtics-lakers/)
## References
1. [1983 NBA Finals, StatMuse](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/1983-nba-finals)
2. [Moses Malone Player History & Career Recognition, Philadelphia 76ers](https://www.nba.com/sixers/76ers-alumni/moses-malone)
3. [Philadelphia 76ers History: From 1963 to Present Day, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/sixers/history/76ers-team-history)
4. [NBA 1983 Finals, StatMuse](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/nba-1983-finals)
5. [1983 NBA Finals - Lakers vs. 76ers, Basketball-Reference](https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1983-nba-finals-lakers-vs-76ers.html)
6. [Season Review: 1982-83, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/history-season-review-1982-83)
7. [Legends profile: Magic Johnson, NBA.com](https://api-hub.nba.com/news/history-nba-legend-magic-johnson)
8. [1983 NBA Playoffs Summary, Basketball-Reference](https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1983.html)
9. [Los Angeles Lakers vs Philadelphia 76ers History, Champs or Chumps](https://champsorchumps.us/team/nba/los-angeles-lakers/head-to-head/philadelphia-76ers)
10. [On This Date: Philadelphia Wins Second Title, Philadelphia Sixers](https://www.nba.com/sixers/news/date-philadelphia-wins-second-title)
11. [North Carolina Basketball Record Book (Bobby Jones entry), goheels.com](https://goheels.com/documents/download/2025/10/28/25-26_M-Basketball_Record_Book.pdf)
12. [The Daily Reflector, Greenville, N.C., May 31, 1983](https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/encore/ncgre000/00000096/00095387/00095387.pdf)
13. [The History: Lakers-76ers Finals meetings, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jun-05-sp-6688-story.html)
14. [Celtics-Sixers: vuelve la rivalidad histórica, AS](https://as.com/baloncesto/nba/celtics-sixers-vuelve-la-rivalidad-historica-que-creo-el-beat-la-f202604-n/)
15. [The Storied History Behind the Lakers-Celtics Rivalry, TIME](https://time.com/6301839/winning-time-season-2-celtics-lakers/)
16. [Golden State Warriors raise bar for winning percentage in NBA playoffs, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/best-playoff-records-nba-history)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Basketball and court team sports › NBA and WNBA (North American professional basketball) › NBA and WNBA seasons, champions, and records › NBA seasons and team seasons › NBA playoffs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license