Q & A with Marc Iavaroni

Q: What are some of your most vivid memories from that season?
Iavaroni: One, the fact that I was going to be playing with a very special group of guys. They were special individually, but more importantly, they were special collectively, because they had been through so much heartbreak, losing in the Finals a few times before. Two, there was an incredible optimism because we acquired Moses Malone, and there was a real special energy there. It was a selfless energy, because Moses came in and the first thing he said was, "It’s Doc’s [Julius Erving] show and I’m here to make it better." To be around these type of guys was a very special for me. They didn’t make me feel like an outsider. They made me feel like I was good enough to be there. That came in training camp, it came from Moses, it came from Doc. They always made me feel like I was good enough.

Q: Was the consensus feeling in training camp that it was definitely the Sixers’ year?
Iavaroni: I can’t really say I remember that feeling. I do remember there being incredible excitement around training camp. There was a tremendous amount of commitment, because they had been so close to the grand prize. You never had individual things getting in the way. I remember it being a very collective energy.

Q: Was it a tight locker room?
Iavaroni: It wasn’t like people went out and hung out with each other all the time. I do remember there were some very strong egos in there, but everybody felt very comfortable. We would laugh at each other. Moses was a real comedian, and he found the perfect foil in Andrew (Toney). Everybody was comfortable in their own niche. It wasn’t like anyone was trying to establish themselves. These were established people who knew who they were and what their game was about. And it just came together.

Q: Were you surprised at how the team marched through the playoffs?
Iavaroni: I can’t even recall the expectations. I just know that every game against the Knicks, even though we swept them, was a dogfight. That probably prepared us for the next round, where the Bucks were not easy, even though we won that series in five. And every game in the Finals against the Lakers, they were up going into the fourth quarter.

Q: Where does that team rank in history?
Iavaroni: We might not have been the best, but it was among the best. Somebody pointed out to me recently that we didn’t have a great bench, but in my opinion we did. One, was because I started and Bobby Jones was a great player off the bench. Clemon Johnson was a very underrated, but very efficient player. He was the perfect complement to Moses, because he could block shots and he could make shots. And then we had very underrated people in Clint Richardson and in Earl Cureton and Franklin Edwards, who weren’t household names either, but they helped out a lot.