76ers All-Time Team: MVP Bigs, Dr. J, and the Answer

9 min readApr 3, 2026

The 76ers practically drip star power. Much like the league’s most prestigious teams we’ve already covered in the Lakers, Celtics, Knicks, and Warriors, the 76ers have a long list of locks and barely enough space to fit all of their legends tidily into one twelve-man squad. It makes for a fun all-time team and some interesting debates!

As a reminder, the one wrinkle for these franchise all-time teams is that players are permitted to appear for only one franchise. I strive to make these teams reflective of general fan and media perception, though it’s unavoidable that my own subjective opinion seeps in too.

76ers Locks

Maurice Cheeks
Billy Cunningham
Joel Embiid
Julius Erving¹
Hal Greer
Allen Iverson
Dolph Schayes

There shouldn’t be any surprises here. Both Cunningham and Iverson spent some time with other franchises, but their Sixers candidacies are still overwhelmingly obvious. I suspect that some readers may cast doubt on Schayes as a lock given his career occurring mostly in Syracuse and due to general bias against older players, but Schayes’ case is ironclad. He was the best player on a title team, he has one of the biggest individual trophy cabinets of any eligible player, and he remains near the top of almost every major statistical leaderboard. He’s a legend and deservedly sits in the lock category.

76ers Locks Despite Other Franchise Claims

Charles Barkley — We’ll be covering the Phoenix Suns in the next article, so I’ll save the rationale for his Suns snub for that space.
Wilt Chamberlain — I went into much more detail about the rationale for Wilt’s designation in the Warriors article, but here’s an abbreviated version. Wilt spent more time with both the Warriors and the Lakers than with the 76ers, but I have no qualms placing him with the 76ers for several reasons. First, he achieved his career pinnacle in terms of team success with the 76ers, famously winning the 1967 championship with a team widely regarded as one of the best ever. Second, he arguably achieved his career pinnacle in terms of individual success with the 76ers. Although his stats weren’t as gaudy as they were earlier in his career with the Warriors, he won three of his four MVPs with the 76ers. Lastly, and this is cheating a bit, the fact that three of his seasons with the Warriors occurred in Philadelphia, as well as the fact that he’s the greatest player to have ever originated in Philadelphia, makes me feel that he needs to be placed with the Philadelphia franchise.
Bobby Jones — There’s little doubt that Jones would be designated to the 76ers, but Denver’s claim to him warrants a mention. Jones was a star in the ABA with the Nuggets and put up his best personal stats in Denver, even earning a few stray MVP votes. Regardless, he played far more of his career in Philadelphia, won his only championship in Philadelphia, and remains beloved in Philadelphia.
Moses Malone — Here’s what I previously wrote about Moses in the Rockets article: Malone spent more of his career in Houston than with any other team. He also won two of his three MVPs as a Rocket, collected three of his six rebounding titles as a Rocket, five of his thirteen All-Star appearances as a Rocket, and four of his eight All-NBA appearances as a Rocket. And yet… I didn’t struggle much with the decision to place him with the 76ers instead. Obviously, this is almost entirely due to his iconic championship win with the Sixers in 1983. It was a dominant team and arguably Moses’ most dominant individual season. It’s what he’s best remembered for. But there are other things to back it up beyond the championship, including the fact that he played 357 GP for Philly and achieved a significant chunk of accolades there as well, even if they aren’t as much as Houston, including an MVP, four All-Star selections, 3 All-NBA selections, and an All-Defensive Team selection. He’s revered in Philly just as much as Houston and I feel that he needs to be a Sixer.

Notable 76ers Designated to Other Teams

Notable names with clearly better cases to represent other franchises include World B. Free, James Harden, Jrue Holiday, and Dikembe Mutombo, but the following players require more explanation:

Archie Clark — Clark had notable stints with the Lakers, Bullets, and 76ers. He spent the largest chunk of time in Philadelphia, but not by a wide margin. Each franchise has a solid case to claim Clark, but I’m designating him to Washington since he unquestionably reached his personal peak there, including his best statistical season and only All-NBA selection.
Andre Iguodala — Iguodala spent way more of his career with the 76ers than the Warriors. He also achieved his only All-Star selection in Philadelphia and posted better individual numbers there. However, his championships and Finals MVP with the Warriors make it impossible for him to be placed with the 76ers at the expense of the Warriors.
George McGinnis — McGinnis played three years for the Philadelphia 76ers and earned two All-Star selections, a First Team All-NBA selection, a Second Team All-NBA selection, and made it to the 1977 NBA Finals. He averaged 21/11/4 and 2 steals per game with the 76ers. It was a terrific run, but also a brief one. He achieved far more success both as an individual and as part of a team while with the Pacers, including a couple ABA championships and an ABA MVP award shared with Julius Erving.
Chet Walker — One of the toughest calls in this whole exercise, I have to admit that this decision was framed a bit by my hunch that Walker had a better chance to make the All-Time Bulls team than the All-Time 76ers team. Here’s what I wrote about Walker in the Bulls article: This was one of the closest calls I’ve had to deliberate yet. Walker played seven seasons with the 76ers. He also won a championship and made three All-Star Teams with Philadelphia. I initially figured that he’d have to represent the 76ers, and I also figured that he’d have a good case to make Philly’s all-time team, but I slowly came around to the Bulls as the preferable team for Walker for a few reasons. First, although he spent more time in Philadelphia, it only amounted to 84 more games played than with the Bulls. Secondly, he achieved more individual success with the Bulls than the 76ers, including four All-Star selections to the three he earned with the Sixers, far better individual stats, and a slightly higher degree of popularity. Additionally, although he didn’t win a championship in Chicago like he did in Philly, his Bulls teams were very competitive, particularly for a relatively young franchise, and he made it to two Conference Finals with the team. Lastly, he was the team’s best performer in many of those playoff runs, most notably as the team’s best player in Game 7 of the legendary 1974 Conference Semifinal against the Detroit Pistons. Altogether, it’s close and can go either way, but I personally lean to Chicago.

Players For Consideration

*All stats for active players as of March 13, 2026*

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Al Bianchi — 687 GP, spent whole career with franchise, top ten in games
Doug Collins — 415 GP, spent whole career with franchise, 2 Finals appearances, 4 All-Star selections
Larry Costello — 615 GP, 1 Championship, 1 All-NBA selection, 6 All-Star selections, top ten in minutes and assists
Samuel Dalembert — 582 GP, top ten in rebounds and blocks
Darryl Dawkins — 448 GP, 3 Finals appearances, top ten in blocks
Bill Gabor — 307 GP, spent whole career with franchise, 1 All-Star selection
Dave Gambee — 475 GP, 1 Championship
Hersey Hawkins — 403 GP, 1 All-Star selection, top ten in steals
Luke Jackson — 522 GP, spent whole career with franchise, 1 Championship, 1 All-Star selection, top ten in rebounds
Caldwell Jones — 482 GP, 3 Finals appearances, 2 All-Defensive Team selections, top ten in blocks
Wali Jones — 454 GP, 1 Championship
Red Kerr — 834 GP, 1 Championship, 3 All-Star selections, top ten in games, minutes, points, and rebounds
Tyrese Maxey — 379 GP, 2 All-Star selections
Aaron McKie — 536 GP, 1 Finals appearance, 1 Sixth Man of the Year award
Steve Mix — 668 GP, 1 All-Star selection, top ten in games and steals
Theo Ratliff — 261 GP, 1 All-Star selection, 1 All-Defensive Team selection
Red Rocha — 279 GP, 1 Championship, 2 All-Star selections
Paul Seymour — 600 GP, 1 Championship, 2 All-NBA selections, 3 All-Star selections, top ten in assists
Lee Shaffer — 196 GP, 1 All-Star selection
Ben Simmons — 275 GP, 1 All-NBA selection, 3 All-Star selections, 2 All-Defensive Team selections
Eric Snow — 452 GP, 1 Finals appearance, top ten in assists and steals
Andrew Toney — 468 GP, spent whole career with franchise, 1 Championship, 2 All-Star selections

There are a lot of great options on this list, but with just one spot available, we’re forced to be judicious in who receives the most serious consideration. To me, there are two names that stand out above the rest: Red Kerr and Andrew Toney. Each player won a championship with the squad, each player earned a few All-Star selections, and each player achieved a degree of popularity with the squad that gives them an appeal that many of the others can’t match. Kerr has the added benefit of having played a whopping 834 games with the team and appearing in the franchise top ten of games played, minutes played, points and rebounds. On paper, he seems like the obvious choice. However, a few things work against him. Firstly, he played so long ago that few modern fans are aware of his significance, whereas Andrew Toney has a much more prominent place in the modern Sixers zeitgeist as a more recent player. Secondly, nine of Kerr’s eleven seasons with the club occurred in Syracuse, not Philadelphia. I personally feel that this shouldn’t be considered negatively, but I do think it matters as a sort of tie breaker in a close call like this. Lastly, Kerr went on to significant off-court success as a broadcaster for the Bulls, arguably becoming more famous in that capacity than as a player. Again, I don’t think this should count seriously against him, but when we’re nitpicking it does come into play for me. Meanwhile, Toney is a Sixer through and through. He didn’t play for the club for anywhere near as long as Kerr, but he did spend his whole career with the team. Furthermore, he has several signature moments that left an indelible mark on the franchise. In short, he’s more well-remembered by contemporary fans than Kerr, so I give him the edge for the final spot.

PG — Allen Iverson
SG — Hal Greer
SF — Julius Erving
PF — Dolph Schayes
C — Wilt Chamberlain
B — Charles Barkley
B — Maurice Cheeks
B — Billy Cunningham
B — Joel Embiid
B — Bobby Jones
B — Moses Malone
B — Andrew Toney

Potential changes on the Horizon

Tyrese Maxey is the big name to watch here. He’s already accrued both the popularity and the individual success to put himself on a trajectory to make this all-time team, and that’s particularly impressive given how high of a bar it is to clear for a team this old, this prestigious, and with this many legends. He’s likely still a few years off and needs to sustain his current pace, but I’m bullish that he could do it, particularly if he’s able to mix in some deep playoff runs with continued individual accolades. VJ Edgecombe also appears to be on his way to joining the For Consideration category, but it’s far too soon to talk about him making the actual team.

25 Years Ago

Joel Embiid obviously would not have been on a 76ers all-time team in the 2000 offseason, though I also feel the same would be true for Allen Iverson. Iverson would have had four seasons under his belt by that point, as well as two All-NBA selections and one finish in the top five of MVP voting. However, he was still a year away from his famous 2001 MVP win and run to the Finals. Altogether, I think he would’ve been a bit too early into his career to crack the all-time team at that point in time. With neither Embiid nor Iverson on the 2000 all-time team, Red Kerr would undoubtedly grab one of the spots, the second is tougher to predict though. I think it would’ve come down to Doug Collins, Larry Costello, or Luke Jackson. Costello is the most decorated of the players, including the most All-Star selections, most games played of the trio, and the only one with an All-NBA selection, though he’s also likely the least well-remembered of the three. Collins doesn’t have a championship like the other two, but he was probably the most popular of the three in 2000, so I’ll go with him for the final spot on the 2000 All-Time Team.

Footnotes

¹ I debated whether to bump Dr. J down to the next section due to his legendary status as the best player in ABA history with the Nets. However, I feel that the broader NBA fandom views him as a 76er and more strongly values his time in the NBA, so I left him in the regular lock section. But still, his time with the Nets deserves recognition: over 250 games played, three MVPs, and two championships!