“Larry Bird was the greatest player I played with but Julius Erving was the most exhilarating”: Bill Walton put Dr.J up there with the likes of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bird

Julius Erving was the most exhilarating player Bill Walton had ever seen along with guys like Larry Bird and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. 

From the moment he stepped foot on NBA hardwood, Julius Erving was something different. The flare, the swag, the confidence, the fro; Erving oozed superstar potential and he more than just tapped into this potential of his when in the ABA and eventually when he made it to the NBA. 

The surgical way in which he dismantled opposing defenses is what earned him the nickname of ‘Doctor J’, with Erving himself saying he wanted to be referred to as ‘The Doctor’. The dunks that he performed were nothing basketball had ever seen on a professional level.

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The ‘rock-a-baby’ was his most iconic and it wasn’t just dunks either. His lift off the floor was enough to have his lay-ups be just as mesmerizing as his dunks, if not more. His one against the Lakers in the 1980 NBA Finals where he was essentially out of bounds had Magic Johnson and company in awe of what they had just seen him do. 

Bill Walton on Julius Erving in comparison to other NBA greats. 

There is a reason as to why the Philadelphia 76ers paid a total of $6 million, an ungodly amount of money in 1976, to acquire Julius Erving from the ABA’s New Jersey Nets. He was the face of that entire league and them fusing with the NBA saw his game reach more eyes than ever before. 

The very first season that Dr.J was in the NBA saw him lead the Sixers to the NBA Finals against Bill Walton and the Portland TrailBlazers. The Blazers would win in 6 games but not without Erving making quite the impression on the ‘77 Finals MVP. [at the 23:00 mark]

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“While Kareem was the greatest player I ever played against and Larry was the greatest player I played with, Dr. J was the single most vibrant and exhilarating and exciting player that I ever saw up close, first hand.” 

“I mean he had the physical gifts but he had the personality and he had the stature and he had the calmness. That majestic level of, ‘I’m Dr.J and nobody else is and I’m coming through here to throw it down.’”