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| Dates | April 14–24 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hall of Famers | 76ers: Wilt Chamberlain (1979) Larry Costello (2022) Billy Cunningham (1986) Hal Greer (1982) Chet Walker (2012) Warriors: Rick Barry (1987) Nate Thurmond (1985) Coaches: Bill Sharman (2004) Alex Hannum (1998) Officials: Mendy Rudolph (2007) Earl Strom (1995) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | 76ers defeated Celtics, 4–1 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Warriors defeated Hawks, 4–2 | |||||||||
The 1967 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1966–67 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and it was the conclusion of the 1967 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion San Francisco Warriors and the Eastern Division champion Philadelphia 76ers. This was the first championship series in 11 years without the Boston Celtics, who were defeated in the Division Finals by Philadelphia, the first time since 1958 and the only time in the 1960s that the Boston Celtics did not win the NBA Finals. It matched two teams who had each relocated in the decade, as the Warriors had moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 1962 and the 76ers had been relocated from Syracuse, New York to replace the void left by the Warriors. Wilt Chamberlain had been the star of the Warriors since joining the team in 1959 (which included an MVP Award) but was traded to the 76ers in the middle of the 1965 season.
Under first-year head coach Alex Hannum (who had been fired by the Warriors the previous season) and an approach to have Chamberlain focus more on defense rather than scoring (which resulted in a shooting percentage of 68.3%), Philadelphia dominated the regular season with a 68–13 record, the most regular season wins in NBA history at the time as Chamberlain won his third MVP award. While they did win in six games, it was a tight affair that saw numerous records set (most notably by Rick Barry, who scored the second most amount of points by a player in a Finals at the time) as Game 1 required overtime and the decisive Game 6 saw the 76ers rally back from a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win the championship.[1][2] With the win, Alex Hannum (who had led the St. Louis Hawks to the NBA title in 1958) became the first coach to win a championship with two different franchises, a mark that has since been matched by just two other head coaches in NBA history.
- ^ "NBA Series Finals Leaders and Records for Points". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
- ^ "1967 NBA Finals Warriors vs. 76ers". Basketball Reference. Retrieved November 29, 2021.