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Jason Beede: Basketball legend Julius Erving aka Dr. J is in attendance for tonight's game at Kia Center.
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.”
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.
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."
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
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.
Jorge Sierra: Al Horford tied Julius Erving in playoff blocks for No. 14 all-time. He also moved ahead of Kevin Garnett in rebounds for No. 16 and tied Rasheed Wallace in threes at No. 33.
Matt Barnes: What's the difference between those two in your opinion? Craig Hodges: Right hand. Barnes: Why? Hodges: Because Kobe would be going to the line to shoot two, MJ was going to shoot the and one. So a lot of them knocks that Kobe had to shoot with two hands when that knock would happen, MJ put that bad boy over here. You know what I'm saying? Stephen Jackson: Oh, that's the difference, huh? Okay. Hodges: That is the only difference, it’s that gripper. Him and Dr. J (Julius Erving).
Jorge Sierra: Kawhi moved ahead of Julius Erving in playoff scoring. He's now No. 25 all-time. He passed Luka Doncic in assists at No. 80.
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StatMuse: Jalen Brunson has more 30-point playoff games than Clyde Drexler Patrick Ewing Julius Erving Moses Malone DeMar DeRozan Paul Pierce Jaylen Brown Magic Johnson Chauncey Billups Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Ray Allen Vince Carter Tracy McGrady Dominique Wilkins Klay Thompson pic.x.com/1o7kWPrjku
Jorge Sierra: Rudy Gobert passed Kevin Love in rebounds last night. He's No. 49 in NBA history now. Also: Al Horford is now No. 52 in blocks ahead of Julius Erving and Greg Ostertag.
Jorge Sierra: Kyrie Irving has passed Julius Erving and Glen Rice in scoring. He's No. 78 all-time now. Luka Doncic (age 25) moved ahead NBA75 selection Willis Reed for No. 276.
Julius Erving on if you can build a sustainable winner around Joel Embiid: If he moves to playing one-third of the games, that's not going to happen. And he just got a new contract. You always say it’s not a guy’s fault if his body’s betraying him. But that’s an excuse. When you're running an organization and you're trying to chase for championships, you're trying to be the leader and inspire the other players, you have to find a way.