1988–89 Philadelphia 76ers season

The 1988–89 Philadelphia 76ers season was the 40th season for the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association, and their 26th season in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Despite finishing with a 36–46 record the previous season, the 76ers received the third overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft, and selected power forward Charles D. Smith from the University of Pittsburgh, but soon traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for shooting guard Hersey Hawkins out of Bradley University, as the team needed more backcourt scoring to complement the inside play of All-Star forward Charles Barkley. During the off-season, the team acquired Ron Anderson from the Indiana Pacers, and signed free agent and rookie point guard Scott Brooks.

With the addition of Hawkins and Anderson, the 76ers won 10 of their first 15 games of the regular season in November, but then struggled losing 9 of their 14 games in December. With starting small forward Cliff Robinson out for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury after only just 14 games, the team signed free agents, rookie small forward Shelton Jones, and Derek Smith. The 76ers held a 26–20 record at the All-Star break, and won four of their final five games of the season, finishing in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 46–36 record, earning the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, and returning to the NBA playoffs after a one-year absence.

Barkley averaged 25.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, while Mike Gminski averaged 17.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1 3 blocks per game, and Anderson played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 16.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. In addition, Hawkins provided the team with 15.1 points and 1.5 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while Robinson contributed 15.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, and Maurice Cheeks provided with 11.6 points, 7.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Meanwhile, Smith averaged 7.8 points per game in 36 games, while Gerald Henderson contributed 6.5 points per game, Brooks provided with 5.2 points and 3.7 assists per game, and Jones averaged 5.0 points per game in 42 games.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Barkley was selected for the 1989 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Meanwhile, Henderson participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, and Jones participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Barkley also finished in sixth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Anderson finished tied in sixth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and also finished tied in fourth place in Most Improved Player voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1989 NBA playoffs, the 76ers faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Atlantic Division champion New York Knicks, who were led by All-Star center Patrick Ewing, All-Star guard Mark Jackson, and Charles Oakley. The 76ers lost the first two games to the Knicks on the road at Madison Square Garden. Game 2 was notable, because the 76ers blew a 10-point lead with approximately two minutes left in the game, as Knicks guard Trent Tucker's three-point shot with less than 10 seconds left gave New York the win at home, 107–106. The 76ers lost Game 3 to the Knicks at home in overtime, 116–115 at The Spectrum, thus losing the series in a three-game sweep.

The 76ers finished 15th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 531,715 at The Spectrum during the regular season. Following the season, Cheeks and David Wingate were both traded to the San Antonio Spurs, while Robinson and Henderson were both released to free agency, and Jones was left unprotected in the 1989 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves expansion team.