Rumors

Stephen Jackson: After the merger, you land in Philly with the 76ers, is a crazy story. They say the Knicks could have had you, but they decided to take $3 million in cash. Is that true? Julius Erving: They took the money from the Nets because the Nets were invading on their territory after the merger had happened. Nets were in their territory. So the NBA created a territorial invasion clause or whatever and Nets had to pay them. So the Nets had to get something for me. So they got $6 million from the Sixers and then my contract was $6 million. Jackson: So no Knicks. Would you like to be there? Would you love to be there? Erving: Knicks would have been great. I could have stayed in the same house. I had a house over in Nassau County and started my family. So that that would have been ideal. Knicks would have been a different story. Milwaukee would have been a different story. Playing with Kareem and Oscar. The Hawks would have been different. I never signed with the Knicks or the Milwaukee Bucks, but I did sign with the Hawks. I signed with the Squires, signed with the Nets, I signed with the Sixers. So, I had four different contracts during my career.

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Julius Erving: When we got the opportunity to get Moses because he was disgruntled, it just changed everything. And I think I think from day one and Maurice Cheeks said it best. He said from day one in practice he said I knew we were going to win the championship, just the first practice cuz this man when he showed up for practice he was already sweating, cuz some guys take a long time to get warmed up and all that kind of stuff. Moses was drenched. I didn't even want to get near him and we used to laugh about that. Yeah, he came and and he established himself and the city fell in love with him because of his work ethic, not his talent, and the talent was like hidden behind his work ethic because he get on that baseline, he could hit the jump shot, he made his free throws close to 80 percent, hits you on the fly, outlet passes and go song or whatever. So, he did all and everything and he was he was all and everything to us cuz we had all the pieces.

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This decision was a welcome step toward honoring the AAFC and the important legacy it bequeathed to pro football. At the same time, the NFL’s recent decision underscores the need for the NBA to take the same action regarding ABA statistics. Like the AAFC, a number of Hall of Famers got their start in the ABA, including Julius Erving, Dan Issel and Moses Malone. Just as the AAFC contributed to the development of pro football, the ABA greatly influenced pro basketball, helping popularize the dunk and 3-point shot, twin staples of the modern game.

New York Times

Adam Aaronson: Dr. J rings the bell tonight.

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SiriusXM NBA Radio: Did @Hoophall Julius Erving foresee how big the three-point shot would become in the NBA? He tells @BGeltzNBA the way NBA players take long shots now is an innovation.

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Julius Erving won his second All-Star MVP, leading the East to a 132-123 win. His excellence is still fresh in his peers’ minds. But Gaye’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” is often what they think of when asked about 1983. The players on the court didn’t know he’d be performing, and they definitely didn’t know it would be a modernized version of the song. “That became probably one of the most recognized national anthems — never heard it sung like that before,” George Gervin remembered. “They announced ‘Marvin Gaye’ and we were like ‘Aww yeah.’ He’s a creative master, and the way he sung it, ain’t nobody else could sing it like he did.”

New York Times

Still, in 1983, no one was as good as Erving. “Magic, he had a great game even though we lost. Kareem played well. Isaiah Thomas played well, and of course, Dr. J was Dr. J,” Thompson said. “Doc was still good for a game like that. He could still get up and could show that he was the best player on the floor. He could do some things that other people couldn’t do with his big hands, the way he could move the ball around.” One play, in particular, stood out to him. “He had one dunk on my friend, Artis Gilmore,” Thompson said.

New York Times

Jason Beede: Basketball legend Julius Erving aka Dr. J is in attendance for tonight's game at Kia Center.

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He is normally the most jovial of characters. He laughs often, and sometimes he’s the only one who knows why he is laughing. He wears colorful beaded necklaces and bracelets, and they rattle as he enthusiastically tells stories of dinners with Michael Jordan, golfing with Julius Erving, the latest book Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has sent him, or his most recent hang with one of his favorite people, Shaquille O’Neal. But he turns serious and emotional when the subject turns to his two fights — the Supreme Court case and his push today to have that ruling recognized. “My clock is ticking, and I don’t want to go out like this,” Haywood said. “The one thing I want, and I’ve been asking now for the last four years, is to have my name on the ruling: it’s the Spencer Haywood Rule. There are 480 players in the NBA, and 468 of them don’t know who the f— I am. I want the players to know there was once somebody who cared enough to put their life and career on the line. “But, they don’t know.”

New York Times

Matt Barnes: What similarities did Michael Jordan and Dr J have, whether it be energy or style of play… George Gervin: Energy and drive, you know? I mean, the drive was just in practice, they had the same drive as they played in the game. Man, I mean, it helped me to see what I needed to do in the beginning with Doc in order to keep up, and then with Mike, it helped me see that I had my turn. You know what I'm saying? I mean, if that makes sense. You know what I mean? It's like, had a good run.

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Kyrie Irving: "I'll give you another name, right? That we're not going to allow people to revise history: Hakeem Olajuwon. Salams to my big brother, man. Salams to Hakeem. We're not going to let people pretend like Hakeem was not that. Before there was a Tim Duncan, there was a Hakeem Olajuwon." "Now, I'm not comparing the two—I'm not. But I'm saying before there was a Kobe, there was a Mike. Before there was a Mike, there was a Julius Erving. You guys gotta really just put it in perspective how I'm saying these things."

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Netflix: Shaq reveals his top 10 greatest NBA players of all time 👀 Watch one of the all-time greats make his next play on Power Moves with Shaquille O'Neal premieres June 4.

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Promoting a documentary series streaming on Netflix, Power Moves with Shaquille O’Neal, Shaquille O’Neal went into revealing his all-time Top 10 list. Sharing his opinion on the best-ever NBA players, 53-year-old Shaq initially listed himself in tenth place, but quickly moved on to present his ten favorites. The turned-basketball analyst reserved first place for Michael Jordan. In addition, he did not name his partner in the brand new Netflix series, Allen Iverson. Shaq’s all-time Top 10: 1. Michael Jordan 2. Kobe Bryant 3. LeBron James 4. Magic Johnson 5. Bill Russell 6. Wilt Chamberlain 7. Larry Bird 8. Hakeem Olajuwon 9. Tim Duncan 10. Julius Erving

EuroHoops.net

Bill Cartwright: When I came to the league, uh, who are the guys that I admired? I'm playing against Wes Unseld. I'm playing against Dan Issel. Here's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Here's Jack Sikma. My second game I played against Julius Erving. And by the way, I blocked his shot. I couldn't believe I blocked his shot. So when I came to the league, those guys were my heroes. So now I come to Chicago, it's like what… People are like, "What was it like to play against Mike?" And I'm like, “He was a good young player." So to me, my heroes are the guys that I played and saw when I was a kid. Rest of you guys are just young kids. You guys are young kids. I couldn't be enamored by you young kids. Because I saw John Havlicek play, right? Bob Cousy. I met Bill Russell when I was in high school. So I was supposed to be impressed by these young guys? Get out of here. My heroes are behind me. 

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