Julius Erving shockingly ranks his iconic reverse layup against the Lakers over his majestic ‘cradle the baby’ dunk

Julius Erving was one of the most impressive players of his era, finishing and creating shots that required athleticism beyond anyone’s level at the time. He has an interesting ranking for his most iconic NBA shots too.

Erving is widely considered to be the best player of his era. He played at a critical juncture in NBA history too, and he is credited with being one of the driving forces for the NBA and ABA merger in 1976.

Standing at 6’7″ and 210 pounds, Erving was wildly athletic for his size, making some of the most remarkable shots in NBA history. He played 11 years in the league with the 76ers, leading them to a title in 1983.

“Dr. J” was a force to be reckoned with in the league. He was the scoring champ three times in his career and won three MVPs. Erving made the All-Star team every year, and he has 30,026 points to his name.

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Julius Erving picks his most iconic shot from his Finals appearances

Erving made many iconic plays in his career. In 1980, he had an iconic reverse layup against the Lakers, and then in 1983, he had another “cradle the baby” dunk that rocked everyone.

However, when it came to ranking the two, Erving picked his layup. Understanding the context behind the layup is important too. In game 4 of the Finals against the Lakers, the 76ers faced a tough situation.

They were losing the series 2-1 and in the final quarter of the game, Erving had the ball in his hands with about 7 minutes to go. He drove towards the basket but was quickly cut off and had to go baseline.

Erving barely had any space to make any sort of move when he jumped to attempt a shot, but somehow, someway, he found a way to make it work. He contorted his to score a reverse layup from behind the backboard.

Erving chooses this layup over his other memorable dunk

While the 76ers couldn’t pull out a win in this Finals, they would have their revenge in 1983. However, Erving’s majestic dunk from that game doesn’t rank as highly as the layup for him.

It’s an interesting decision, but of course, Erving only knows best.

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