No. 9 - Julius Erving

Dr. J – easily one of the greatest nicknames in sports.

The epitome of cool. People dunked before but Julius Erving, perhaps still more than any other player, made it a weapon. He won the first slam dunk contest ever held in 1976, in the last year of the ABA – famously becoming the first player to successfully jump and dunk from the free-throw line. And then he did the free-throw line dunk again when the NBA started their own slam dunk contest in 1984 at the age of 33, which is an advanced age for dunkers. The dunk contest is another in a long list of things the NBA stole from the ABA over the years.

The common wisdom now is that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson saved the NBA when they entered the league in 1979. They really were just taking the torch from Dr. J, who instantly became the biggest name in the league when the NBA and ABA finally merged after 1975-1976 season. There were three teams dominating basketball in the early 1980s – Bird’s Celtics, Johnson’s Lakers and Erving’s 76ers. At least one of those three teams played in the NBA Finals every year from 1980 to 1989. The Bird-Dr. J matchups captivated the public as much as Magic-Bird.

As with anything, though, greatness fades with time. Elgin Baylor brought body control and hang time to the NBA. Connie Hawkins took it another step with his huge hands. Dr. J used his ability to just jump over people to fashion on offensive game all his own. Then Michael Jordan took the game above the rim to another level, and LeBron James came along to settle the argument over greatest small forward.

Erving, though, remains a top 10 player because he dominated two leagues and played at a high level for a long time. There are some who discount his ABA years. He won three ABA MVPs and two ABA championships with the New York Nets. His two greatest seasons in my system – both over 400 points – came with the Nets. But Erving would still have been a top 25 player in this system just on his NBA numbers.

He was 26 when the leagues merged, with five pro seasons under his belt. He led Philadelphia to four NBA Finals, winning one. From 1976-1977 to 1982-1983, he scored at least 275 points in my system and scored more than 300 four times. He was league MVP in 1980-1981 when he was 30 years old, beating out Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone and George Gervin. Magic finished 11^th in the voting. He got MVP votes in eight of his 11 NBA seasons.

As little as you hear about Erving now, he still ranks highly in several advanced stats.

Advanced Stats – career ranking (regular season)
PER	20th
Win Shares	13th
Box +/-	11th
VORP	9th

Erving appeared in seven ABA/NBA Finals. His first NBA Finals appearance was against Bill Walton and the Portland Trailblazers. That 76ers team featured Erving, George McGinnis, Darryl Dawkins and Lloyd B. Free. It was a collection of stars, while Portland was a pass-and-cut team. For probably the only time in his career, Erving was the black hat. Portland’s win in six games was seen as the triumph of the team over the individual. It was unfair because Erving sacrificed his game to keep the egos together.  

In the final analysis, Erving was one of the biggest winners in pro basketball history. His teams made the playoffs all 16 years that he played. His regular season winning percentage was 65.3 and his playoff winning percentage was 59.8. That ranks as the 24^th and 27^th best winning percentages of players in the top 100. Here’s where his career playoff advanced stats rank.

Advanced Stats – career ranking (playoffs)
PER	25th
Win Shares	10th
Box +/-	20th
VORP	11th

I’ve admitted that Dr. J was my first favorite player. The first game I watched on TV was Dr. J in the finals against Bill Walton, dominating in a losing cause. It kills me that in this ranking he finished behind Larry Bird. Still, the Doctor, who can still dunk in his 60s, checks in as the No. 3 small forward in history.

Julius Erving bio info
Career	1971-1987
Games	1,243
Points	24.2
Rebounds	8.5
Assists	4.2
FG Pct.	50.6%
All-Star games	16
NBA/ABA MVPs	4
NBA/ABA titles	3
Playoff seasons	16
Playoff games	189
Points	24.2
Rebounds	8.5
Assists	4.4
FG Pct.	49.6%
Hall of Fame	1993

Top 100 rankings
	Points	Top 100 ranking
1-year	451.01	10th
5-year	1,939.29	10th
10-year	3,445.40	10th
Career	4,892.53	7th

               

Julius Erving at his peak
1975-1976	Erving	Top 5	Points
PER	28.7	25.49
Win Shares	17.7	15.04
Box +/-	10.4	8.02
VORP	10.1	7.64
Total Advanced Stats	66.9	56.20	119.05
Playoff PER	32.0	25.36
Win Shares	3.7	2.55
Box +/-	12.5	7.69
VORP	1.6	1.26
Total Advanced Stats	49.8	36.86	135.11
Reg. Season Win %	65.48		65.48
Playoff Win %	61.54		61.54
MVP Voting (75 points)	32/35		68.57
Playoff MVP (25 points)	25.0		25.00
Total Score (x 95%)			451.01

               

Erving’s 10 greatest seasons
1975-1976	451.01
1973-1974	411.24
1980-1981	368.72
1981-1982	360.61
1979-1980	347.71
1982-1983	336.23
1971-1972	307.63
1976-1977	298.46
1977-1978	287.71
1978-1979	276.25

Career winning percentage
	W	L	Pct.
Regular Season	815	434	65.25%
Playoffs	113	76	59.79%