The former NBA champion and MVP caught up with For The Win.
There are few people on the planet who mean more to the game of basketball than Julius “Dr. J” Erving, who led the Sixers to a championship in 1983 and was NBA MVP in 1981.
Erving was recently named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. Erving made a massive impact on how the sport was played on the court, especially because his high-flying athleticism inspired the next generation of stars.
His influence off the court was just as important. His career path played a pivotal role in helping merge the ABA and the NBA, and his success after leaving college early bolstered the argument that young players should not be required to play four years in the NCAA before they could turn pro.
Additionally, by signing endorsement deals with the likes of Converse and Coca-Cola, he paved the way for how modern NBA stars market themselves to earn additional revenue.
Erving, who purchased a Coca-Cola bottling firm in 1985, recently starred in a commercial for the beverage company. He caught up with For The Win to discuss the experience, and he also shared some of his other thoughts about the NBA, college basketball, and the award that bears his name.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
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LeBron James has taken more heat over his career than just about anybody who has played in the NBA. His days in the league have all basically come during the time of social media, where it has been easy for nameless idiots who haven’t done anything with their own lives to rip a guy who has done just about everything right in his.
This is what Dr. J had to say to Yahoo’s Chris Haynes: “He’s the guy who has led the charge in terms of super teams being put together. He put together the team in Miami. He put the team together in Cleveland, as well. And put together the team in Los Angeles. So he can pick his own team. I’m not going to pick his team.”
Holy sour grapes, Dr. J!
Listen, putting together top 10 lists of all-time players is always a silly thing to do because there are so many great players and everyone will have their feelings on which guys should make the list and which guys should be left off.
But this is the silliest of all snubs by Dr. J. LeBron is easily one of the top two players to have ever played in the league. It’s Michael Jordan and LeBron James and then everyone else. And if he’s not in one of your top two spots then he has to be in your top 10 because if you leave him off that then you’re just being a hater for no good reason than being jealous of what he’s accomplished.
Has LeBron benefited from playing on good teams? Yes, of course. But if you look back through the history of the NBA you’ll see championship teams all had lots of good players on them. That’s how they won championships!
What LeBron James has accomplished in his career has been incredible and how he continues to play (when he’s healthy) at his age after all the games and battles he’s been in is incredible.
He’s a special talent that we’ve been blessed to have watched for all these years and any top 10 list without his name somewhere in there is just a silly waste of time.
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ESPN’s recent list of top NBA players of all-time featured multiple Nets great, who combined for over 1,000 games in a Nets uniform.
Since all of Julius Erving’s days in a Nets uniform came when the team was in the ABA, Kevin Garnett (No. 20) was the highest-ranked on ESPN’s Top-74 list among those who played for the franchise since it became a part of the NBA.
Of course, Garnett isn’t known for his days in a Brooklyn uniform. Among prominent Nets — again, excluding Erving — Jason Kidd is the highest-ranked at No. 35.
The Hall of Fame point guard certainly wasn’t alone, though. Twenty slots behind Kidd is Vince Cater (55), and there were five other players to dawn a Nets uniform that were featured on the list: Paul Pierce (54), Bob McAdoo (59), Alonzo Mourning (62), Bernard King (69) and Dikembe Mutumbo (73).
Altogether, those eight players logged a total of 1,308 games in a Nets uniform.
The staff at USA Today SMG’s HoopsHype did the math, and it turns out the Nets were among the 10 best-represented teams on ESPN’s list based on games played. New Jersey and Brooklyn came in at No. 8, trailing (from No. 7 to 1) the Bulls, Knicks, Bucks, Spurs, Rockets, Lakers and Celtics.
May 10 marks a major anniversary for the Nets franchise.
With the NBA on hiatus and New York continuing its battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, Brooklyn Nets games will not be played for the foreseeable future.
For the Nets, as much as any team, this comes at an odd time — Brooklyn was battling the Orlando Magic for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference standings. At the stoppage of play, the Nets had a half-game advantage over the Magic.
Since there aren’t any games, each day Nets Wire will highlight impressive individual performances and major moments throughout Nets history:
After the New York Nets took a 3-0 series lead in the 1974 ABA Finals, the Utah Stars forced a Game 5 on May 10 when they won Game 4 97-89.
Willie Wise tried his best to force a Game 6, leading both teams with 34 points, but Julius Erving and the Nets had other plans.
Dr. J scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, finishing with one of New York’s three double-doubles en route to a 111-100 Game 5 win and an ABA Finals title (full box score).
Larry Kenon led the Nets with 23 points. He also finished with double digits in the rebounding column (11). Billy Paultz had the Nets’ third double-double (21 points and 12 rebounds), and he also had four steals.
Biran Taylor scored 19 points in the win and John Williamson logged 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The New York Nets took the lead in the 1976 ABA Finals over the Denver Nuggets on May 6.
With the NBA on hiatus and New York continuing its battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, Brooklyn Nets games will not be played for the foreseeable future.
For the Nets, as much as any team, this comes at an odd time — Brooklyn was battling the Orlando Magic for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference standings. At the stoppage of play, the Nets had a half-game advantage over the Magic.
Since there aren’t any games, each day Nets Wire will highlight impressive individual performances and major moments throughout Nets history:
After the Denver Nuggets won Game 2 of the 1976 ABA Finals to even things at 1-1, the series came to New York for Game 3. David Thompson (32 points) and Dan Issel (25 points and 13 rebounds) were good, but the Nets were better.
Four Nets finished with double-digit rebounds: Tim Bassett (12), Kim Hughes (11), Julius Erving (10) and Rich Jones (10). Erving (31 points), Jones (22) and Hughes (14) each finished in double figures in the scoring column, as well, en route to a 117-111 win and 2-1 series lead (full box score).
Most efficient of all the Nets’ scorers in the win was John Williamson. The guard finished with 28 points on 56.5% shooting (13-for-23).
Julius Erving helped the Nets start the last ABA Finals on the right foot by hitting a game-winning jumper on May 1, 1976.
With the NBA on hiatus and New York continuing its battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, Brooklyn Nets games will not be played for the foreseeable future.
For the Nets, as much as any team, this comes at an odd time — Brooklyn was battling the Orlando Magic for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference standings. At the stoppage of play, the Nets had a half-game advantage over the Magic.
Since there aren’t any games, each day Nets Wire will highlight impressive individual performances and major moments throughout Nets history:
Two years and a day after Julius Erving opened up the 1974 ABA Finals with a 47-point performance in the New York Nets’ win over the Utah Stars, Dr. J did something similar against the Denver Nuggets.
The last ABA Finals began on May 1, 1976, with Denver playing host.
The game was a battle down to the wire. The Nets had the final possession at the end of regulation after Nuggets big man Marvin Webster tied the game at 118-118. Following a timeout, Dr. J caught the inbounds pass and drilled a baseline jumper as the clock wound down, giving the Nets a 1-0 series advantage (full box score).
Rich Jones (18 points), John Williamson (17) and Brian Taylor (12) each finished in double figures for the Nets.
Kim Hughes had 10 rebounds for New York, finishing second only to Erving (12).
Julius Erving was at Barclays Center for the first time ever on Friday, so Brooklyn Nets fans made sure he felt welcome.
Friday was a big night at Barclays Center.
First, Gregg Popovich and the depleted San Antonio Spurs visited the Brooklyn Nets. Last time the two teams met, the Spurs won 118-105 in San Antonio. It was also Brooklyn’s first chance to bounce back from their embarrassing 118-79 against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.
Second, Brooklyn’s matchup with the Spurs marked one of the Nets’ major giveaway nights. In fact, not just a major one, it’s perhaps the biggest giveaway of the 2019-20 season: the first 10,000 fans in attendance got a Julius Erving as Marvel’s Black Panther bobblehead.
So it was only fitting that Dr. J himself was in the building on Friday.
This was actually Erving’s first trip to Barclays Center, so Nets fans made sure the legend felt right at home.
