May 10, 2020
After spending hours staring at Baseball and Football Reference, we had some fun discussing some of the weirdest wackiest stats and records in the history of the Phillies and Eagles franchises.
Now it's time to turn to basketball and the Sixers.
We've thrown together the 10 most bizarre and interesting accomplishments and mis-accomplishments over the last 75 years of 76ers basketball. Here are our favorites:
Before he had his abilities stolen by the Monstars in Space Jam, Shawn Bradley was a gigantic, 7-foot-6 fouling machine for the Sixers. In his second season, he set a franchise record with 338 fouls (or 4.1 per game).
Who has the highest single-season assist rate in Sixers history? Well, Ish Smith of course. In 2015-16 Smith contributed on 39.9 percent of buckets scored by his teammates while he was on the floor. That's more than the best seasons from Ben Simmons, Allen Iverson or Mo Cheeks.
Not a shocker by any means, Iverson holds eight of the Sixers' 10 highest single-season usage rates. The other two? Joel Embiid in his two most recent seasons.
The Sixers all time three-point field goal percentage list is very interesting. We just want to include it here...
| Player | 3P % |
| Dana Barros | .426 |
| Shake Milton | .413 |
| Kyle Korver | .408 |
| J.J. Redick | .407 |
| Hersey Hawkins | .406 |
| Landry Shamet | .404 |
| Royal Ivy | .389 |
| Hollis Thompson | .389 |
| Willie Burton | .386 |
| Marco Belinelli | .385 |
Few of the players above were really important Sixers. Some were just passing through, like Shamet or Redick. Some were rentals, like Belinelli or Barros. And the one who is currently with the team, Milton, has played 52 total games with the club.
Who leads the Sixers all time in assists per game? That would be Ben Simmons. Who says he’s not a point guard? He is currently averaging 8.0 per game, well ahead of No. 2 on the list Mo Cheeks. Wilt Chamberlain is fourth all-time with 6.8 apg.
Speaking of Wilt, the Hall of Famer had his 100 point game and most impressive seasons as a Warrior, but he did nab 43 rebounds in March of 1965 as a 76er. What many might also be surprised to know is The Stilt is tied for the franchise record in single game assists with Mo Cheeks at 21.
BONUS: In one 1967 game, Wilt went 18-for-18 from the field, but went 6-for-14 from the line. In another game that same season, he went 8-for-30 from the charity stripe.
Since it became a tracked stat in 1996, Al Horford’s +41 plus/minus rating against the Kings this past March is tied with Andre Iguadala (in 2008) for the highest in Sixers history.
BONUS: The worst plus/minus in a single Sixers game ever came from Steven Hunter, who was -48 in a 2007 loss.
Due to the way the NBA scores the MVP Award, Charles Barkley got by far the most votes for first place in 1989-90 but still lost the award to Magic Johnson. Barkley got 38 first votes to Magic’s 27, but the Laker got more second and third place votes which added up enough to land him the distinction. Barkley would controversially beat out Michael Jordan for the award three years later.
The Sixers' 16 wins in a row to end the 2017-18 regular season are the most ever in NBA history — one more than the 1950 Rochester Royals.
And finally, the Sixers have not one, but two of the worst seasons in the history of the NBA. We detailed them both in our recent "Worst Week: Worst teams ever" post, but the 1972-73 Sixers went 9-73, and the 2015-16 team went 10-72. The only modern team close is the 2012 Bobcats, who went 7-59 in a shortened season.
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