1996–97 Philadelphia 76ers season
The 1996–97 NBA season was the 76ers 48th season in the National Basketball Association, and 34th season in Philadelphia. After two seasons at Georgetown, point guard Allen Iverson was selected first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1996 NBA draft. Iverson quickly established himself as one of the premier point guards in the NBA averaging 23.5 points per game. He was named 1997 Rookie of the Year and was a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team. During the offseason, the Sixers acquired Don MacLean from the Denver Nuggets and signed free agents Mark Davis, Lucious Harris and Michael Cage. The Sixers played around.500 in November with a 7–8 start to the season. However, they struggled and lost 23 of their next 24 games, including 11 and 13-game losing streaks posted respectively. The Sixers lost ten of their final eleven games, and finished sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 22–60 record.
The team also moved into the new 20,000 plus seat CoreStates Center, after calling The Spectrum home from 1967 to 1996. Head coach Johnny Davis and General Manager Brad Greenberg were both fired after Iverson's first season with the club and replaced by Larry Brown, who resigned by the Indiana Pacers. Following the season, MacLean, Harris and Cage were all traded to the New Jersey Nets.Offseason
NBA Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 1 | Allen Iverson | | | Georgetown |
| 2 | 31 | Mark Hendrickson | | | Washington State |
| 2 | 32 | Ryan Minor | | | Oklahoma |
| 2 | 48 | Jamie Feick | | | Michigan State |
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Season schedule
Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average
| Player | GP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | AVG |
| Allen Iverson | 76 | 312 | 567 | 157 | 24 | 1787 | 23.5 |
| Jerry Stackhouse | 81 | 338 | 253 | 93 | 63 | 1679 | 20.7 |
| Derrick Coleman | 57 | 573 | 193 | 50 | 75 | 1032 | 18.1 |
| Clarence Weatherspoon | 82 | 679 | 140 | 74 | 86 | 1003 | 12.2 |
| Mark Davis | 75 | 323 | 135 | 85 | 31 | 639 | 8.5 |
| Don McLean | 37 | 140 | 37 | 12 | 10 | 402 | 10.9 |
| Rex Walters | 59 | 107 | 113 | 28 | 3 | 402 | 6.8 |
| Scott Williams | 62 | 397 | 41 | 44 | 41 | 362 | 5.8 |
| Lucious Harris | 54 | 71 | 50 | 41 | 3 | 293 | 5.4 |
| Doug Overton | 61 | 68 | 101 | 24 | 0 | 217 | 3.6 |
| Michael Cage | 82 | 320 | 43 | 48 | 42 | 151 | 1.8 |
| Mark Hendrickson | 29 | 92 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 85 | 2.9 |
| Adrian Caldwell | 27 | 111 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 72 | 2.7 |
| Mark Bradtke | 36 | 68 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 59 | 1.6 |
| Frankie King | 7 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 2.9 |
| Joe Courtney | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3.0 |
Award winners
