As Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, V.J. Edgecombe and the rest of the Philadelphia 76ers celebrated their seemingly improbable Game 7 victory over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Saturday, the year 1982 was brought up.
That was the last time the Sixers had beaten the Celtics in a playoff series. That 120-106 win also was in a Game 7, also in Boston. It was in the Eastern Conference finals, not the first round. And the Sixers, not the Celtics, were the team that took a 3-1 series lead.
Another fact worth mentioning is that the team’s journey to that victory on May 23, 1982, began at Franklin & Marshall College on Oct. 2, 1981.
That was the fourth of 17 straight seasons, 1978-94, that the 76ers held training camp in Mayser Gymnasium.
And what a run it was.
The Sixers announced on July 28, 1978, that they were moving camp from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Montgomery County, to F&M.
The impetus for the change was the Tartan playing surface at Ursinus, which was tough on the players’ legs, according to Sixers general manager Pat Williams.
Coach Billy Cunningham scouted at least 10 sites, settling on F&M, which he had toured that June with Diplomats lacrosse coach Ross Sachs.
“This is a good area and the facilities are excellent,” Williams told Marv Adams of the Intelligencer Journal.
It also was away from distractions.
“I really think that Billy wanted a week with his team where he could totally concentrate on basketball,” Williams said to Dave Caldwell of the New Era. “And I think Billy thought that Lancaster was a nice, quiet place away from the city where we could really get something done.”
That team, which stayed at the Treadway Inn, just off Oregon Pike, practiced twice a day: 10 a.m.-noon and 5 p.m.-7 p.m. The late practice was open to the public for free.
Much of that 17-season stretch coincided with a memorable era of Sixers basketball.
The 1982-83 team won the franchise’s last NBA title. The 1979-80 and 1981-82 teams lost in the NBA Finals.
Hall of Famers Julius “Dr. J.” Erving, Bobby Jones, Mo Cheeks, Moses Malone and Charles Barkley all took the floor at Mayser.
Among the coaches were Hall of Famer Cunningham, Matt Guokas and Jimmy Lynam.
Erving and Malone took center stage for a photo op on the first day of camp in 1983. With the team coming off the 1983 championship, the Sixers were named “honorary alumni” of F&M by new college president James K. Powell.
“This is getting a college degree the easy way,” Powell told the 6-foot-10 Malone, who didn’t attend college, as he handed him his mortarboard.
“No sweat,” big Mo replied, as reported by Ed Klimuska of the New Era.
Another famous episode came on Oct. 7, 1990.
About 7,000 season-ticket holders showed up on that Sunday afternoon — when the Philadelphia Eagles were off — for the Sixers’ Meet the Team Day. Mayser only seats 3,200.
With the line snaking around campus, it was time for Plan B.
The Sixers opted to have fans watch one half of basketball, empty the gym, then have those still in line watch the second half. As it was, it was reported that at least 1,000 fans were turned away without getting to see Barkley and Co.
When asked if people were upset, Sixers PR director Zack Hill told the Intell’s Paul Bomberger, “You’re darn right they were.”
Four years later as the Sixers opened camp, there were rumors that it would be the last at F&M.
On Oct, 12, 1994, Shawn Bradley stood at midcourt trying to answer a challenge from coach John Lucas. If the 7-foot-6 center could hit the shot, practice and camp would be over.
The shot banked in, which also ended an era.
The rumored move from F&M was made official on July 6, 1995, with the announcement the Sixers would hold training camp at the University of Delaware.
“It’s disappointing because they’ve been here for so long,” F&M men’s hoops coach Glenn Robinson told Bill Carroll of the New Era that day. “But it’s amazing they were here that long.”
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