Lara Price rattled off key touchpoints of the 76ers’ magical 2000-01 season. Allen Iverson’s Sports Illustrated cover. And when he hoisted the NBA Most Valuable Player trophy. And when he stepped over Tyronn Lue during the NBA Finals.
What did those moments have in common, besides the Hall of Fame guard creating them?
“It was in that black jersey,” said Price, the Sixers’ chief operating officer who has worked for the organization for 30 years.
Now the Sixers are officially bringing back the iconic uniform as a “Hardwood Classic” alternate look for the 2025-26 season. It is a component of a season-long 25th anniversary celebration of the 2000-01 Eastern Conference champions, which also will include a themed court and in-game programming and tributes featuring alumni.
“Those historical moments that we had, that uniform was always a part of it,” Price told The Inquirer. “ … That uniform represents all those hurdles that team went through during that season. It’s just associated with everything that team fought for.”
The Sixers will wear those throwback jerseys for the first time in their Nov. 8 home game against the Toronto Raptors. They also will wear them for 13 additional 25th Anniversary Celebration Nights throughout the home slate — including on Dec. 7 against the Los Angeles Lakers, their opponent in the 2001 Finals — as well as for six road games. Replica jerseys will be available for purchase on SixersShop.com beginning Oct. 15, and at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Oct. 17 ahead of the Sixers’ preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Rumors of the black jerseys’ return have rumbled for years. Price acknowledged that including one in star guard Tyrese Maxey’s “museum” to celebrate his max contract last summer was a “tease.” But alternate jerseys must be planned and designed multiple seasons in advance, because of the collaboration required with the NBA and Nike.
And the Sixers wanted to tie it to a milestone.
“We’ve always talked about it, like, ‘What’s the right timing for all these uniforms and how do we bring them back?’” Price said. “This just seemed like the perfect time for it to happen.”
Eric Snow, a guard on that 2000-01 team, told The Inquirer that putting on that black jersey meant “that, no matter what, we would fight.” Price described those Sixers as “The Little Engine that Could” because “everyone just didn’t think we had it in us to make it, and we just kept finding a way to win.” As that team anchored by Iverson and coach Larry Brown earned the East’s top playoff seed — then won seven-game series against the Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks to reach the Finals — Price remembers a feeling that Philly “was just on fire.”
“You couldn’t go anywhere and not see Sixers [paraphernalia],” she said. “ … And the building was deafening. Being in that arena was unbelievable. Since then, I don’t know if I’ve been in such a loud arena.”
Perhaps that is why that team — and the uniform it wore — still resonates today. Snow said that, even while traveling the world, fans “constantly” ask him where they can buy a black jersey. He also is excited for his children, who were not yet born 25 years ago, to experience a Sixers team wearing that look. Ditto for the current roster that “can feel a part of the history,” Snow said.
Price recently witnessed an early glimpse of that when players posed in that jersey for a photo and video shoot. She loved seeing Maxey react with enthusiasm, recognizing its significance to the franchise and city.
And when the Sixers take the floor in the iconic black in November, Price believes it will be “surreal.”
“I’m excited to see what the fans do in-arena when they see it for the first time,” she said. “Because our fans never disappoint. When they love something, they are all-in. And I think this represents a moment in time for a lot of fans that they will never forget.”
25th Anniversary Celebration Nights
At the Xfinity Mobile Arena
Nov. 8: Toronto Raptors
Nov. 9: Detroit Pistons
Nov. 23: Miami Heat
Dec. 4: Golden State Warriors
Dec. 7: Los Angeles Lakers
Dec. 20: Dallas Mavericks
Dec. 23: Brooklyn Nets
Jan. 24: New York Knicks
Jan. 31: New Orleans Pelicans
Feb. 11: New York Knicks
March 3: San Antonio Spurs
March 4: Utah Jazz
March 23: Oklahoma City Thunder