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.
No hanging on the rim, no yelling in opponents faces, no striking a pose. Emphatically dunking over you was enough for Doc to say"sit your ass down". Forever a class act, always my G.O.A.T.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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!
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!
Still one of the greatest dunkers ever. Insane athleticism, jumping ability, arm length, agility, finesse, style, grace, and power all while palming the ball.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
The Doc would just dunk and keep it moving. Very classy. Nothing personal. It's just a game. No pointing or nothing. I remember when Bobby Jones(Doc's teammate) performed a crazy dunk on Larry Bird, knocking him down to the floor and he just kept it moving. No staredown, pointing or nothing. As my one suspervisor used to say, "Get in, get out, move on!"
Thay were already shell shocked and demoralized, no need for the clown show antics these privileged punks are allowed today. His game stared them down!
That's true. All you see these days is these young guys beating their chest, raising their shirt, acting like nobody can dunk like them. These guys need to see the older NBA guys. Do a nasty dunk, and get back on D.
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. 🏀
Just think what the Dr could have done if the Euro step was allowed back then. Also, I don't recall seeing the best dunk ever. The rock the baby against Micheal Cooper.
Same here! To this day I love Dr. J's one handed tomahawk dunks. I never really got into two handed dunks. Thankfully my hands were just big enough to palm the ball effectively. Not like Julius though...
Great point. There is more traveling in the game now than ever. Not only is the step back a travel but the double step back (Harden, Dame and many others) is a freaking marathon! Lebron routinely get away with 3, 4, 5 steps, usually on fast breaks, breakaways. There's a video of Big Perk waltzing all over the court from like 8 years ago... something like 9 steps while the officials just stair at him. You have to check that one out. Players hopping, more like broad jumping to create space from the defender. Blatant traveling is allowed all the time and moving your pivot foot all over the place is completely ignored by the refs. The NBA does nothing about it, which is pathetic. Don't even get me started with palming the ball, which is traveling and give the offensive p[layer a huge advantage over the defender. You can run around like it's football, for Christs sake!
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.
