Julius Erving spend the last 11 years of his NBA career playing for the Philadelphia 76ers. In that time, Dr. J took his team to the NBA Finals four times. However, he lost 3 out of those 4 Finals, and the constant pain of multiple Finals losses was something he couldn’t bear.
The 74-year-old made an appearance on The Mark Jackson Show where he talked about how losing three NBA Finals in a span of six years broke his heart. Fortunately, the right help arrived in Philadelphia in 1982 when they acquired Moses Malone. His arrival helped Dr. J and his squad get over the hump and finally win the championship.
Erving said that getting into the Finals wasn’t an issue for his team. He made his Finals debut in the 1976-77 season, just one year after he joined the franchise. However, they ended up losing to the Portland Trail Blazers in six games. Three years later, the 76ers were in the final in the 1979-80 season and then again in the 1981-82 season. On both occasions, they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
He said, “We were already getting to the Finals. We got to the Finals three times without Moses and we just couldn’t get over the hump. That last time, man…after ’82, my heart was broken…I was just like, ‘This ain’t gonna happen’. Just the two ABA Championships, they’re gonna have to suffice. But if you play in the NBA and you don’t win the NBA Championship, there’s a stigma associated with it.”
While Dr. J was prepared to accept his fate that he would only remain a two-time ABA Champion, Malone joined the franchise in 1982 to bring an NBA title to Philly. He took over several key responsibilities, including scoring and rebounding, and ended up winning the FMVP for his performance.
Malone changed the outlook of the 76ers
Malone proved to be the missing piece in an otherwise great 76ers team. Before the 1983 playoffs began, he made a bold prediction that his team would sweep every opponent on their way. The results were very similar to his prediction. The 76ers had a clean sweep in the Conference Semifinals against New York.
They lost only one game, Game 4, in the Conference Finals against Milwaukee and were back on track for the Finals to beat the Lakers 4-0. Malone led the league in rebounds and came up as a reliable scoring option for the 76ers. He also formed a dynamic duo with Dr. J, making them the strongest team in the league.
According to Stat Muse, he averaged 25.8 points, 18 rebounds, and two assists while shooting 50.7% from the field in four games in the 1983 NBA Finals. For his historic run, Malone was given the FMVP. After that, he stayed in Philly till 1986 and came back for one season in 1993. He retired from the game in 1995.
