NBA Dynasty Series - Philadelphia 76ers - The Complete History

When I heard a DVD collection of this sort was being done on the 76ers, I was excited. I was hoping that I'd be able to see vintage games of the 1967 76ers (a team which I'm much too young to have seen play) in their entirety. I had read and heard a lot about the aforementioned team and was eager to see just how good they were.

After I saw that no complete games were included of the 67 team, I was disappointed, but decided to buy the collection anyway. I figured that since it was a team that many people consider to be the best ever, there would at the very least be some detailed account of their championship run ranging from half an hour to an hour in length. Instead, there are a total of little more than 10 minutes of footage regarding the 1967 team scattered throughout this collection, and much less than that when you consider how much footage is repeated (different features on the team show the same interviews and highlights...I must have seen Wilt Chamberlain shoot the same finger roll over Nate Thurmond at least three times).

While it is possible that the NBA lost some of it's old film and simply had very little material to work with (which may explain why there are no complete games of the 1967 team), it is still inexcusable and they definitely could have done more. MUCH more time is devoted in this collection to the Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson eras (which produced no championships and were mostly mediocre). It shouldn't be this way.

With that said, I found the coverage of the early 80s teams to be pretty thorough. Two classic games in their entirety as well as an hour long video account of the 1983 season and short features on rivalries with the Lakers and Celtics at this time as well as short features on Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks and Moses Malone. You can't complain TOO much about a purchase that allows you to see game 7 of the 1982 conference finals (with Andrew Toney demonstrating why he was the Boston Strangler, and the famous "Beat LA" chant at the end).

The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the original NBA teams and, as this box set so amply illustrates, have had an impressive roster of players through their legacy, from when they were known as the Warriors, up to the present with Allen Iverson. Several documentaries and featurettes explore various aspects of the team's legacy, its triumphs and star players.

There is a treasure trove of vintage footage of players like Wilt Chamberlain and Dr. J in action. Also covered are the classic, individual rivalries, like Chamberlain vs. Boston Celtics' Bill Russell (who jokes, "I never could stop him. But I could put up some speed bumps. That's the best I could come up with."), and franchise ones, like the long-standing grudge matches between the Celtics and the Lakers. Back in the day, these teams played tough, grueling matches with heartbreaking defeats and exhilarating wins on both sides.

Also included are brief looks at key seasons in the team's history, such as the 1966-67 season when they defeated the Celtics and the 1982-83 season when they won the championship. There are also mini-profiles of some of their legendary alumni, like Dr. J and his simply breathtaking style of play. Some of the shots he made seemingly defied the odds (and gravity).

Fans of the Sixers will not be disappointed by this box set. It features a nice mix of team history and vintage games that will have one waxing nostalgic for the glory days when the team was one of the greatest in the NBA.

The "1982 Eastern Conference Finals, Game 7" allows one to watch, in its entirety, the exciting game where the Sixers defeated the Celtics in Boston to go onto the NBA finals.

The "1983 NBA Finals, Game 4" is a very exciting and highly emotional game where Dr. J and the Sixers swept the Lakers to win the championship in one of the all-time great match-ups.

The "1990 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Game 3" sees Barkley score an impressive 34 points to help his team defeat the Chicago Bulls.

A.I. tops Barkley in the "2001 NBA Finals, Game 1" when he scores an astounding 48 points to hand Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers an upset in overtime.

Finally, as an added bonus is the already released Iverson DVD entitled, "The Answer."

As a diehard fan of the 76ers of the 1980's and of Moses Malone in general, I just had to have this DVD. The history of the team was informative and thorough, and the entire championship-winning game vs. the Lakers was well worth the cost of the entire set alone. An added bonus of that game was the commentating of Bill Russell as more often than not the listener/viewer had no clue what he was talking about! He'd babble something totally irrelevant to the game that it's no wonder he "retired" from commentating NBA games. But what SHOULD have been included in this boxed set was the 76ers' prior-season loss of the championship against Los Angeles and, of course, Philadelphia's road TO the championship such as the games of the Eastern Conference finals. Also, to include so much footage of Allen Iverson was a HUGE mistake as no championships were ever won with him on the team. If you're going to include so much of Iverson, do likewise with Dr. J (who won one championship) and Charles Barkley (who also never won a ring but was a great player). All in all, I can honestly say that about three of the five disks were of totally uninteresting games and useless footage, which is really a shame because over the lifetime span of the 76ers, there have been some awesome players who should have been either included or properly featured.