1983 NBA Finals
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| Dates | May 22–31 | |||||||||
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| MVP |
Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers) |
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| Television | CBS (U.S.) | |||||||||
| Announcers | and Bill Russell | |||||||||
| Radio network |
Mutual (U.S.) WFIL (PHI) KLAC (LAL) |
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| Announcers | Tony Roberts and Tom Heinsohn (Mutual) Neil Funk (76ers) Chick Hearn and Keith Erickson (Lakers) |
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| Referees | ||||||||||
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| Hall of Famers |
76ers: Julius Erving (1993) Moses Malone (2001) Lakers: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1995) Magic Johnson (2002) Bob McAdoo (2000) Jamaal Wilkes (2012) James Worthy (2003; did not play) Coaches: Billy Cunningham (1986, player) Pat Riley (2008) Broadcasters: Chick Hearn (2003, contributor) Officials: Darell Garretson (2016) Earl Strom (1995) |
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| Eastern Finals | 76ers defeat Bucks, 4–1 | |||||||||
| Western Finals | Lakers defeat Spurs, 4–2 | |||||||||
| Game 1: | Jack Madden and Ed T. Rush |
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| Game 2: | Darell Garretson and John Vanak |
| Game 3: | Jess Kersey and Jake O'Donnell |
| Game 4: | Hugh Evans and Earl Strom |
The 1983 NBA Finals, also known as Showdown '83, was the championship round of the 1982–83 NBA season. It was the last NBA Championship Series completed before June 1.
The 76ers lost their first two Finals meetings with the Lakers in 1980 and 1982. While Julius Erving played superbly in both series, their frontcourt of Darryl Dawkins, Caldwell Jones and Bobby Jones couldn't neutralize Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. So in the off-season, the 76ers acquired Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets in an effort to solve Kareem, in addition to providing some offense and rebounding to the team. They parted ways with Caldwell Jones, Dawkins, and Lionel Hollins before the season, while giving greater responsibility to high-scoring guard Andrew Toney and backup playmaker Clint Richardson, and adding forwards Clemon Johnson and rookie Marc Iavaroni.
Malone's acquisition paid dividends, as the 76ers won 65 games in the 1982–83 NBA season. Prior to the playoffs, Malone predicted the team would win four games in each of the three rounds, ending it with the statement Fo, Fo, Fo. The 76ers would steamroll through the playoffs, sweeping the New York Knicks 4–0 in the conference semifinals, before overcoming the Milwaukee Bucks in five games of the conference finals. The 76ers were heading into the Finals as confident as ever.
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