The 2002–03 NBA season was the 76ers 54th season in the National Basketball Association, and 40th season in Philadelphia. During the offseason, the Sixers acquired Keith Van Horn from the New Jersey Nets. The Sixers got off to a fast start winning 15 of their first 19 games, but would then lose 14 of their next 18 games. The team improved on their last season posting a nine-game winning streak at midseason, finishing second in the Atlantic Division with a 48–34 record, with the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers defeated the New Orleans Hornets led by Baron Davis in six games in the first round of the playoffs, but they could not go further in the next round as they lost to the Detroit Pistons in six games. Following the season, Van Horn was traded to the New York Knicks.

This season was head coach Larry Brown's last in Philadelphia as he resigned on Memorial Day, 2003. Brown would later go on to coach the Detroit Pistons, where he helped the team win the 2004 NBA Championship. He led the team to another Finals appearance in 2005. As of 2017, the Sixers have advanced past the first round of the playoffs only once since this 2003 playoff victory over New Orleans (2012, Bulls)

For the first time in his career, Allen Iverson played a full 82-game season. He would have another in 2007–08 while with the Denver Nuggets.

In the 2002 NBA draft, the 76ers drafted Czech swingman Jiří Welsch and forward-center Sam Clancy (Clancy would not play in any games in the NBA). The Sixers also made three trades on draft day. Their first trade was with the Golden State Warriors. They traded their first round pick, Jiří Welsch, for a 2004 2nd round draft pick and a 2005 1st round draft pick. In their second trade, they traded Speedy Claxton to the San Antonio Spurs for Mark Bryant, Randy Holcomb, and John Salmons. Their third and final trade of the night was with the Atlanta Hawks. They traded a 2004 2nd round draft pick and a 2006 2nd round draft pick to the Hawks for Efthimios Rentzias.

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