1998–99 Philadelphia 76ers season

The 1998–99 NBA season was the 50th season for the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association, and their 36th season in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.

The 76ers received the eighth overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Larry Hughes out of Saint Louis University. In the off-season, the team signed free agents Matt Geiger, George Lynch and Harvey Grant, and later on re-signed former 76ers forward Rick Mahorn in late February. At mid-season, they traded second-year forward Tim Thomas, and Scott Williams to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Tyrone Hill. The 76ers won six straight games after a 4–5 start to the regular season, and had their first winning month in five years by winning 8 of 13 games in February, on their way to qualifying for the NBA playoffs for the first time in eight years, finishing in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 28–22 record, and earning the #6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

After playing point guard for the previous two seasons, Allen Iverson moved into the shooting guard position, and led the league in scoring averaging 26.8 points, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team. In addition, Geiger averaged 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, while Theo Ratliff provided the team with 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and Hughes contributed 9.1 points per game off the bench. Meanwhile, Eric Snow became the team's starting point guard, and provided with 8.6 points, 6.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game, and Lynch averaged 8.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.

Iverson also finished in fourth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Snow finished in second place in Most Improved Player voting, and head coach Larry Brown finished in second place in Coach of the Year voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1999 NBA playoffs, and Iverson's first ever playoff appearance, the 76ers defeated the 3rd–seeded Orlando Magic in four games, in which Iverson recorded a playoff career-high of ten steals in a 97–85 Game 3 home win over the Magic. However, the 76ers were swept in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals by the Indiana Pacers in four straight games.

Following the season, Grant and second-year guard Anthony Parker were both traded to the Orlando Magic, who released Grant to free agency, and Mahorn retired after playing in his second stint with the 76ers.