POLL QUESTION: Should my next video be (1) Doc’s most exciting/stylish dunks, or (2) Doc shooting jumpers and playing defense? Some commenters said Doc’s dunks all look the same, while others said Doc couldn’t shoot, rebound or play defense. Basically, they say Doc’s a one-trick-pony. Let’s test those assertions.
@@mongoslade277 They didn’t start recording blocks as a statistic until the 73-74 season…..so…..Erving was at the very beginning of that statistic starting. Which means that by default Erving had to be top 10 as nobody before him had that stat recorded. Right now, Erving isn’t even top 50 all time.
You will find more video from Erving playing playground games in NYC than of him playing defense, hitting a 3 pointer, or hitting a jumper outside the lane.
The Dr.’s Position Will Never Change.. Never He Brought Style To This Game We Call Basketball… MJ metamorphosis into All That Came Before Him.. The Dr. passed the Torch To MJ..
@@SwishDunkHoop my pops played against him at Rucker park. He showed me the pic about 2 years ago, from someone else Facebook... but anyways.. in the NBA, dr.j had no j 🤷🧱🙈
The NBA is trying to write Dr. J out of history, just like so many other past all-stars. Check this fact out; if you add Dr. J's ABA stats to his NBA stats, he's Top Five in every category EVERY!!!!!
The Doctor is top five in my book regardless of what anybody says he would dominate anybody who crossed his path including lebron I love Kobe but he can’t handle Doc only Jordan would be able to compete
People today don’t realize how inspirational he was to kids growing up in that time. White , Black it didn’t matter…he was a living God. Us kids would play all day long everyday just trying to emulate him. I wish I could go back in time and experience it all over again. Not only that but he was a true gentleman in every sense of the word.
The ultimate gift: He made people happy. :)) Watching Dr. J. was like watching for a magic being in a seance. You knew it was coming but you weren't sure when.
When I did a pitching windup, I was Nolan Ryan, when threw a football, I was Roger Staubach, and when I dunked on my short hoop in the backyard, I was the Good Doctor. There is no greater tribute possible. He was my generation in hoops.
Dr.J's hands gives him absolute control of the ball. That combined with his leaping and athleticism well the rest is history. Although others have similar ability still no one seem to do it better or with his tenacity or excitement.
He held the ball at full arm's length over his head with those massive hands of his, then slammed it down so quickly and forcefully that the defender had no chance.
He double dunk on the Denver Nuggets in one ABA championship game, they called Goal Tending on the Doctor and wave off the points; Dr. J, drove the ball down to the basket and dunked it, but he held onto the basketball, pulled it out of the hoop and dunked it again.
To me its sad that people today dont realize the impact the Dr. had on the game. At that moment in time he shook up the world and is responsible for the surge in the NBA's popularity. GOAT as far as I am concerned.
Poetry in motion. Dr. J had both power and finesse at the same time. I was highly fortunate to see him play from 1977 to when he retired in 1986. Dr. J's number 6 was draped from the balcony in the Boston Garden as a huge sign of respect by the Celtics fans. He was special. Just look at how many times he posterized Kareem Abdul Jabbar!
One thing folks ought to notice -- every one of these dunks was contested, and that made them more spectacular, imo. In-game dunks in today's NBA aren't really earned because most defenders just turn and walk away if they get beat initially. Back when games were more competition than exhibition, defenders weren't worried about being "posterized." They made you earn every dunk and layup.
I watched Dr. J as a teenager and was always amazed how it seemed like he could actually change directions while in the air. It made him almost impossible to guard, no matter the defender's size.
Still one of the greatest dunkers ever. Insane athleticism, jumping ability, arm length, agility, finesse, style, grace, and power all while palming the ball.
Thanks for putting this up. Brings back memories of my dad talking about dr j. Believe it or not your post and it's track has reached my heart tonight. Thanks.
Julius Erving was a natural. He stayed out of trouble, did his thing on the court (without any of today’s attitude nonsense) and was a respected gentleman off the court. He created fans’ love affair with the slam dunk. One of a kind. 🏀
As awesome as Dr. J's dunks were to watch, I'm more in awe of seeing defenders actually play defense. Watching today's game you'd never think defense exists.
A lot of these young cats have no clue ,they think that style of play started with Michael Jordan, even to this day to me Dr.J was the most exciting player to do it
Yes, they are also trying to get rid of Wilt Chamberlain. I think it's because of Wilt's politics (he was a Republican), but he holds so many records that he still gets mentioned occasionally. @@Bluephi22
Back then he was, not now. Love the Doc, but he was NOT more entertaining than the Prime MJ [GOAT]. Doc probably is the best in-game dunker on quality 7 footers in a half-court or full-court setting.
Thanks for doing this. What is unfortunate is that many of his greatest dunks were not televised. I still remember when the Sixers got the "Babe Ruth" of basketball. I got to see him in person several times at the Spectrum. I saw him dunk over Mark Eaton. We were 3 rows back from the court under the basket. I still remember 16,000+ people going nuts after about 3 seconds of silence. Man I miss him. He did things then that guys still can't do today.
Dr. J didn't have today's advantages. He had to dribble. Couldn't take extra steps. Wasn't allowed to carry. Couldn't shove people out of the way. Didn't forearm anyone. Wasn't given " and ones" unless he was actually hacked. In today's NBA, as the league special rules favorite, ...
I grew up watching Doc and my opinion is somewhat biased. But, I'm sorry, those dunks could still be done today because he had such body control. The dunk over Gilmore in the All Star game is my favorite. I watched it live and thought there was no way he was going to dunk over A-Train. He went right up, moved it just a tad bit right and . . .BOOM!
Great video this had a lot of dunks I remember but don't usually find on RU-vid. As I was in high school in the 70's and lived close enough to Philadelphia to get the games on TV it brought back good memories.
Those were great. However his best dunking years were in the ABA. I watched his games that were on local tv in the New York area. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be many tapes of those games and his truly magnificent dunks.
Dr. J was the undisputed greatest ABA player. He's the only player to be MVP of the ABA and NBA. And he averaged 26 points and 20 rebounds in college. You can easily make the case for Julius Erving being a top-5 overall basketball player. And why do so many people impugn Dr. J's defense while giving Larry Bird a pass? The Doctor averaged a combined ABA/NBA 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks; Bird's NBA averages were 1.7 and 0.8.
Julius Erving was the Funky Fly Freshest man to ever handle a basketball. Others have the stats.....but NONE will EVER have the flat-out coolness of Dr. J. HE'S DR. J and they are NOT. WORD
His game did the talking; not once did he ever dance around like an immature idiot, or even stare down a dude or start flexing like Lebron does. Such class.
Best player to watch ever in my opinion. The b-ball looked like he was carrying a softball in his hands. Just loved watching him in the old aba days with the nets. It felt to me like those days were more fun to watch.😃
This brought back a lot of memories. I remember Doc doing a windmill dunk over Elvin Hayes. Dr J said, Elvin Hayes didn't speak to him for years after that dunk. I wish someone could find that dunk.
Me too!! I've heard that it occurred in the 1978 Playoffs but I can't find it. I've seen a black-and-white picture of it. Doc didn't have one of his best series in that round though. The Sixers came into it rusty with a long break between games. They were struggling with too many one-on-one players that year. And Elvin Hayes started bullying and shit-talking George McGinnis, who never really recovered from his icy 1977 Finals. The next year, the Sixers traded McGinnis to Denver for Bobby Jones. What a great deal for Philly!
this is THE definition of explosive. dunking on all star HOF centers as well. fans enamored with todays game who forego having Dr J in a "top" 5 or 10. THIS is what they didn't get to witness. Doc's ABA games were the same against Gilmore, Malone, etc. plus the Dr could school you with his defense. glad i could watch him during his prime.
My favorite player, with Larry Bird a close second. Of course, I know Jordan is considered by many the GOAT, and I don't dispute that - but as a 63 three year-old guy, the era that includes Dr. J, Larry Bird, Kareem, Magic Johnson, etc. remains my favorite. Jordan is part of that era - after it got started. I'm just commenting on how entertaining Dr. J was - and I think he was doing things that Jordan emulated - adding his own style.
It was his grace that set him apart. He looked like he was swinging to the basket on a rope, just casual, like it was easy. Didn't look fast, but it was so fast. Explosive guys usually have a choppiness to their motion, but Dr. J moved in loops, like he was doing Tai chi. Kawhi is the closest thing lately. I idolized Dr. J but knew he was way above anything I could achieve. Like he was from another dimension.
Doc was unique in that a lot of players thought he was going shot a hook-shot because he was so far away from the basket but he would dunk it because of his verticality and flexibility.
This is NOTHING compared to what he did in the ABA! I lived in St.Louis when we had the Spirits and Dr. J would come to town and have the home town fans rooting for him. Early in his NBA career he would occasionally show off the high wire act, but he was at his most spectacular in the ABA.
For sure! He held a basketball in one hand like it was a grapefruit. He was one of the greatest fast break dunkers ever. He dunked over everybody...Bill Walton said that half of Dr J's highlight reel was videos of Julius dunking over him!
Doc never got called for traveling while doing these dunks. He had such an explosive first step, all he needed was one more to totally humiliate the guy trying to stop him. He was one of a kind.
He is the main reason why the NBA and the ABA merged. He is the main reason why along side Gervin, Thompson, and Gilmore they brought the Slam Dunk Contest. He is the OG of flight. An NBA 35th, 50th and 75th Anniversary Team member.
Imagine if that man’s knees weren’t messed up. I love the fact that most of his dunks were posterizing. And he had no left hand either. Everyone knew he was going right, and still couldn’t stop it! Best nickname too. When you can pull out the ol, “the Doctor is operating…” My fav BB player of all time.
I think he was the goat of dunking , definitely the prettiest and most graceful on and off the court, a tremendous player and man. Talk about a human highlight.
My two favorite players were Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Dr. J Irving. Docs dunks were legendary. I remember the ABA vs. NBA all star game. Doc took off from the foul line and dunked. I think Doc took off twice from the foul line and dunked. He was the greatest dunker of all time with style and grace. There are some other players that were good too. Of course Michael Jordan. Darnell Hillman and Connie Hawkins. I remember Connie picking up a loose ball with one hand and dribbling done court, hid the ball behind his back and brought the ball from behind his back and dunk the ball. Doc says he used to watch Connie Hawkins. Both had huge hands.
The sad thing about people that discuss basketball now, this is what they see of Dr. J and how great he was, but this is Dr. J past his prime. Most of his youth and best years was in the ABA. And then when he got to the 6ers they weren’t very good originally.
I agree. Plus they didn't have ESPN or NBA TV to show off his highlights 24/7 back in the day. The dunk over Michael Cooper in 1983 is one of the best dunks besides Jordan's dunk on Ewing in 1991.
He will always be my favorite basketball player of all time and he will always be the greatest basketball player to play the game. There is no one that will ever be better than him. Not then and not now. I actually enjoyed watching basketball then. Now I can't stand the game.
In the same way Bird was unstoppable with the pull up jumper Dr. J was when he was going for that dunk!!! He was unstoppable once that high flying ignition switch was engaged because he just would climb to whatever heights needed over the tallest defender and that dunk was going to happen!! I could watch the Doctor dunk all day and not get tired or bored of watching!! The GREATEST DUNKER OF ALL TIME AND NOT TO BE REPLACED EVER IS DR. JULIUS IRVING!
Dunking is the worst stat in basketball. Try to find a video with Erving making a jumper, rebounding, or playing defense but that would be a very short video
@@williamgullett5911 you don't know basketball ball he hit game winning jumpers ,he used to average double figures in rebounds also he was one of the best in steals and blocks , you do your research on the Dr.
