I was accused of heresy earlier in the week when I called Julius “Dr. J” Erving overrated. My fellow WIP anchor Anthony Gargano who grew as a fan of Dr. J.
He was stunned when I called Dr. J overrated.
I realize there are sacred cows in the city and Dr. J is one of them, but I had good reason for what I had said.
I had been in an argument with a number of veteran Philadelphia basketball fans (Anthony wasn’t one of them) who believe that Doc is on a par with Michael Jordan.
They made this argument vigorously and they aren’t alone. There are thousands of Philly basketball fans who put Jordan and Erving on equal standing.
They also put Dr. J above Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
I disagree vehemently and had to say it on the radio.
I saw Doc play when he was with the Nets and he did things I had never seen a basketball player do. I saw him dunk on entire teams.
He was the most entertaining player I have ever seen. He was also the most graceful player I’ve ever seen play the game but he wasn’t the best that I have seen.
Doc was a great player but he didn’t have the killer instinct that a number of other players in his era had.
Jordan led the Bulls to six championships while Bird led the Celtics to three championships and Magic led the Lakers to five titles.
I’m not saying that Dr. J wasn’t great but I couldn’t put him ahead of Jordan, Bird and Magic.
In his first Sixers season in 1976-77, Doc led the Sixers to a 2-0 lead over the Portland Trailblazers, then Portland came back and won the series 4-2.
They were unable to win a title for four more seasons until the 1982-83, when they won it all by sweeping the Knicks, taking the Bucks out 4-1, then sweeping the Lakers in four straight.
That Sixers team was one of the most talented teams in NBA history, yet they won only one championship. That team included Moses Malone, Andrew Toney, Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks and etc.
There’s no way if you put Jordan, Bird or Magic on that team they would not have let them fall apart the next year and wind up winning only one championship.
