2008-09 News and Features

Sixers Unveil 1983 Championship Court

by Ingram Carpenter

Today, Hip-Hop and the Hare Raisers unveiled the newly refurbished 1983 championship court in anticipation of the Sixers final home game at the Spectrum on Friday, March 13th. It is sure to be a special night as the Sixers plan to honor the history of Sixers basketball during the time the team called the Spectrum home.

The unveiling of the court marked the final step in an intricate process completed by longtime Sixers fans to recreate the court from the 1983 championship season. Brothers Mike and George Chiemelewski were given a major challenge by the Sixers: take the fans of the team and lovers of the Spectrum back in time. The task? Restore the basketball floor to the glory days of the 1983 season, the last time the Sixers won the NBA championship. These crafty 30 year veterans have worked on floors for the Big Five, other college teams, and various NBA and WNBA teams. They were definitely up to creating a little magic to honor the last Sixers game at the Spectrum.

The entire process took between two and three weeks. The floor was stripped of all previous coating by sanding it down to the bare, original wood at 1/64th of an inch. Next, the stencils were designed, printed, and placed in the appropriate places. The same paint colors from the 1983 floor were used to create the most authentic replication. After painting the logos and designs in a progression of white, red, blue, and black, the floor was left to dry for roughly a week. The final step called for two coats of polyurethane to give the floor the recognizable darker shiny coating.

Very few differences are noticeable from the 1983 floor. The charge lane at the bottom of the lane is new, as are the alleyways marking where photographers can sit. Pinstripes now go through the logo at the center of the court to mark precisely where half-court lies. Everything else, from the intricacies of the center logo to the 76ers circles beside the lanes, is exactly the way it appeared when the Sixers were the champions of the NBA.

Both Mike and George have a history with the Spectrum and have the souvenirs to prove it. From Mike’s first ticket stub and magazine from an Elton John concert to an original bottle of wine given to employees from the first year of the Spectrum, the brothers have a close tie to Philadelphia’s sport and entertainment landmark. When asked what he has enjoyed most about the project, Mike got a bit nostalgic. “I have always loved the Spectrum and it has been an honor for both my brother and me to work on this floor. It has been great to restore the floor back to how I remember it in 1983 and I think it is the perfect send-off for the Sixers.”