20 Second Timeout

"Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association" Examines the ABA's Impact on Sports and Society

"Time has marched on, but the memories are forever."--Julius Erving speaking about the ABA  

George Karl, Julius Erving, and Common are the executive producers for Amazon Prime's four part documentary "Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association."

Episode one ("Change is Coming") emphasizes the differences between the established National Basketball Association (NBA) and the upstart American Basketball Association (ABA) that was founded in 1967. Anyone who dismisses the ABA as a minor league does not know or understand basketball history; as I noted in my recap of the 2026 Legends Brunch, "Many Hall of Famers started their careers in the ABA, including four-time MVP/three-time champion Julius Erving, three-time MVP/one-time champion Moses Malone, two-time MVP/three-time champion Mel Daniels, one-time MVP/one-time champion Artis Gilmore, one-time MVP/two-time champion George McGinnis, three-time champion Roger Brown, four-time scoring champion George Gervin, David Thompson, Bobby Jones, and Louie Dampier." It should be emphasized that in the 1977 NBA All-Star Game (the first All-Star Game after the ABA-NBA merger), 10 of the 24 All-Stars had played in the ABA, which is remarkable considering that the ABA was a much smaller league than the NBA; the concentration of high level talent in the ABA is undeniable.

Episode one begins with some quotes that place the ABA's significance in historical context. Gervin declared, "The ABA was the first integrated workplace in America." Bob Costas--who began his broadcasting career as a play by play announcer for the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis--noted, "A legend is something that has an element of mystery. The ABA may be the last significant legend in American sports." Erving said, "[There is a] responsibility for those who come to the other side of this to tell the story." 

Mack Calvin asserted, "When you look at it, the NBA was a dying, boring, stale professional sport." In general, I agree with the notion that the ABA was more entertaining than the NBA, but I would add that the greatness and the skills of the best NBA players of that era--including but not limited to Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Oscar Robertson--should not be overlooked or diminished. Erving himself has consistently said that his all-time five "was, is, and always will be" that quintet, with Connie Hawkins as the sixth man. 

George Mikan, who was honored as the greatest basketball player of the first 50 years of the 20th century, served as the ABA's first commissioner, and he minced no words about the ABA being in a money war versus the NBA. Much of the narrative arc of episode one is framed around "ABA Attack," the league's plan to seize market share from the NBA to force a merger between the two leagues, much as the AFL rose to prominence a few years earlier and eventually forced a merger with the NFL. The first prong of the attack was "Steal a Star." 

Rick Barry was the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 1965-66 after averaging 25.7 ppg and 10.6 rpg, and he won the NBA scoring title in 1966-67 (35.6 ppg) en route to leading the San Francisco Warriors to the NBA Finals, where they lost to a dominant Philadelphia team featuring Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Chet Walker, and Billy Cunningham. 

Barry jumped to the ABA after the 1966-67 season even though a court upheld the reserve clause in his contract with the Warriors, which meant that he would have to sit out the 1967-68 season before suiting up for the ABA's Oakland Oaks. 

Barry scoffed at the notion that today's players are better than players from his era, noting that when he played he did not have access to strength coaches, agility coaches, or dieticians the way that modern players do. He said that one would have to "be on drugs or something" to not understand how much better players from his era would do in today's era than they did in their era when they had no access to modern sports science. Barry said that he was not arrogant, but that he was--and is--confident because confidence "is the key to great success."

With Barry ineligible for the 1967-68 ABA season, the ABA activated the second prong of its attack: "Welcome Castoffs."

Connie Hawkins was blackballed by the NBA after being falsely implicated for being associated with infamous college basketball fixer Jack Molinas. Hawkins played in the American Basketball League and then for the Harlem Globetrotters before the ABA welcomed him in the league's inaugural season. As I noted in my obituary for Hawkins, he "led the Pittsburgh Pipers to the 1968 ABA title, averaging 30.7 ppg in seven games versus the New Orleans Buccaneers. Hawkins averaged 29.9 ppg, 12.3 rpg and 4.6 apg during the 1968 playoffs after averaging 26.8 ppg, 13.5 rpg and 4.6 apg during the regular season. Hawkins was the league's top scorer during the regular season, playoffs and Finals." Hawkins soon settled his lawsuit versus the NBA, after which he signed with the Phoenix Suns and made the All-NBA First Team in 1970.

One of my few quibbles with "Soul Power" is that Roger Brown's story of exile and redemption was not told in parallel with Hawkins' story. Like Hawkins, Brown was blackballed by the NBA before being embraced by the ABA. Brown won the 1970 ABA Playoff MVP after leading the Indiana Pacers to the first of their record three ABA titles (1970, 1972-73), and he remained loyal to the Pacers even after the NBA lifted its ban against him. Brown is the quintessential ABA player: he was cast aside by the NBA, he played his entire pro career in the ABA, and his accomplishments were ignored for far too many years before he was finally inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. "Soul Power" included highlights of Brown's play and cameo appearances by his daughter and grandson, but did not explain that Brown had overcome significant obstacles just like Hawkins did. Erving was one of many Hall of Famers who spoke highly of Brown to me, so I am surprised that Brown's story was not done justice in "Soul Power." I understand that every documentary has space/time limitations that inevitably cause some good material to end up on the cutting room floor, but the story of the ABA cannot and should not be told without prominently mentioning Brown.

Barry had an immediate impact in his first ABA season, leading the league in scoring in 1968-69 (34.0 ppg), but he only appeared in 35 games due to injury. The Oaks won the 1969 ABA title thanks to the efforts of Warren Jabali, who earned the 1969 ABA Playoff MVP award after averaging 28.8 ppg, 12.9 rpg, and 2.9 apg as the Oaks went 12-4 during the postseason. Episode one devotes significant coverage to not only Jabali's basketball prowess but also his militant attitude (or what was perceived to be his militant attitude). Jabali passed away on July 13, 2012, so in death as in life he seems condemned to have other people speak for him and define him. I strongly encourage anyone interested in learning about Jabali to read my tribute to him, including a full-length interview from 2005.

The ABA suffered a setback when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) chose the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks over the ABA's New York Nets; he told each league to make their best offer, and the Bucks made the better offer. The ABA subsequently tried to offer more than the Bucks had offered, but Abdul-Jabbar kept his word to take the best first offer. 

With Barry injured, Hawkins jumping to the NBA, and Abdul-Jabbar spurning the ABA for the NBA, the ABA desperately needed a flagship player. Episode two ("Growing Pains") begins by focusing on the third prong of the ABA's attack: "Draft Underclassmen." The NBA had a rule against signing any player before his college class graduated, but the ABA's Denver Rockets drafted and signed 20 year old Spencer Haywood in 1969 after he led Team USA to the 1968 Olympic gold medal and excelled as a sophomore for the University of Detroit in 1968-69 (32.1 ppg, 22.1 rpg). Haywood's family picked cotton in Mississippi, and the ABA created a "hardship" exception for drafting underclassmen.  

Haywood authored one of the most dominant rookie seasons in pro basketball history, winning Rookie of the Year, All-Star Game MVP and regular season MVP honors in 1969-70 after leading the ABA in scoring (30.0 ppg) and rebounding (19.5 rpg). He joined Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld as the only players in pro basketball history to win Rookie of the Year and regular season MVP in the same season.

Haywood's contract with the Rockets proved to be worth far less than the advertised value of $1.9 million. After the team refused to make things right, Haywood jumped to the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics in 1970. Haywood's college class had not yet graduated, so rival NBA teams sought an injunction to prevent Haywood from playing in the NBA. This set off a legal battle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Haywood won in court, and this changed the game forever on the court. "Hardship" is now called "early entry," as the modern NBA has done away with the pretense that teenagers are only being drafted if they can prove that their families are suffering financial hardship. Seven subsequent "early entry" players became members of my basketball Pantheon: Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James.

With Connie Hawkins and Spencer Haywood both jumping to the NBA, the ABA desperately needed a new, young superstar. This led to the fourth prong of the ABA's attack: "Draft the Doctor Now."

Julius Erving (also known the Doctor or Dr. J) won three ABA regular season MVPs (1974-76), three ABA scoring titles (1973-74, 1976), and two ABA championships (1974, 1976) while establishing himself not only as the greatest player in ABA history but one of the greatest players in pro basketball history--but he did not look like a superstar as a high school player: Erving arrived at the University of Massachusetts in 1968 as a 6-3, 165 pound forward before growing three inches and gaining at least 30 pounds. Like many players who reached their final height later in life, Erving developed multi-positional skills: he could handle the ball and pass like a guard, but he could also rebound and play inside.

After the Supreme Court compelled the NBA to permit Spencer Haywood to play, the league still was not drafting underclassmen, so the ABA had an opportunity to swoop in and obtain the Doctor's services. The Virginia Squires signed Erving in April 1971, after he completed his junior year at UMass.

As a young player, Erving's most dominant skill was rebounding, and he already had an unselfish mindset well beyond his years: he had the ability to be a dominant scorer, but he was not obsessed with scoring. Charlie Scott was the Squires' primary scoring option during Erving's rookie season (1971-72), and it was obvious that Scott was chasing the scoring title, so Erving averaged 15.7 rpg (third in the league) while scoring 27.3 ppg as the second option. Scott jumped to the NBA's Phoenix Suns late in the season after he had clinched the scoring title (34.6 ppg, setting the ABA single season scoring record), and then Erving averaged 33.4 ppg in the final 10 games of the regular season, with three games of at least 40 points. In the playoffs, Erving averaged 33.3 ppg, 20.4 rpg, and 6.5 apg, one of the most dominant state lines ever posted by a rookie in postseason play. 

In "Soul Power," Costas explained Erving's impact: "With all due respect to other great ABA players, Dr. J is what gave the league credibility outside league cities and outside the core of ABA fans because even the franchises that did consistently well operated outside the notice of most American sports fans. So, a lot of it took place, relatively speaking, in the shadows."

If there had been any doubt about the quality of the ABA initially, by 1971 it was clear to any objective observer that the ABA's best players could match up with the NBA's best players, as demonstrated in the two ABA-NBA Supergames played in 1971 and 1972. Although the NBA All-Stars won the first game 125-120 and the second game 106-104, it was eye-opening for the casual fan (and for the NBA itself) to see just how competitive the interleague matchups were. 

After the NBA was forced to realize how good the ABA players were, the NBA began a counter-attack to the ABA's attack, and the first prong of that counter-attack was "Poach the Players." The NBA shifted from a haughty position of asserting that ABA players were not that good to an aggressive position of trying to sign ABA players to NBA deals.  

Rick Barry and Julius Erving only faced each other once in a playoff series, and Barry's New York Nets prevailed 4-3 over Erving's Squires in the 1972 ABA Eastern Division Finals. The Nets faced the Indiana Pacers in the ABA Finals. Roger Brown outscored Rick Barry 32-23 in game six as the Pacers won the series, 4-2. Brown led the Pacers in playoff scoring (20.5 ppg) in 1972, but Freddie Lewis (19.2 ppg) was named the 1972 ABA Playoff MVP. "Soul Power" noted that the Pacers were not only successful on the court, but they proved to be a unifying force within an Indianapolis community that had previously been divided along racial lines. The Pacers' players comprised a close-knit group that remained close-knit decades after they retired. Larry Brown, who was a three-time ABA All-Star before becoming a Hall of Fame coach, said, "I wish our world was like the Pacers' locker room. It's all about can you play and are you a decent human being. Do you care about the people that sit next to on both sides. That's the only thing that matters."

Barry jumped back to the Warriors after the 1971-72 season, making it all the more imperative for the ABA to not lose Erving, which led to the second prong of the NBA's counter-attack: "Steal the Doctor." 

Episode three ("Icarus") shines the spotlight on Erving, one of the greatest and yet most underrated players in pro basketball history. Five-time ABA All-Star Ralph Simpson made a bold statement early in the episode: "I don't never think there will be another Dr. J. I think there will be another Michael Jordan. Doc did things that were just incredible, that defied human nature." Simpson echoed what many players who played with and/or against Erving have told me: Erving, particularly when he showcased his full talents in the ABA, had something that no other player ever had. The respect, even awe, that fellow professional basketball players have for Erving is rare. I have spoken with many professional basketball players, and I cannot think of a player who is more revered by other players than Erving. 

Larry Brown, who coached against Erving in the ABA and in the NBA, said, "When he went to the NBA, Julius was great. Everybody recognized him as being one of the great players ever. They didn't really see the true Julius when he was in the ABA." 

After his sensational rookie season, Erving took a closer look at his Virginia contract and--much like Spencer Haywood did--realized that the deal was not quite as good as it had seemed at first. Erving and his representatives disputed the validity of the contract with the Squires, and Erving signed a contract with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks--but then the Milwaukee Bucks selected Erving (whose college class had now graduated) with the 12th pick in the 1972 NBA Draft. Erving joined forces with Pistol Pete Maravich in some preseason games with the Hawks before a three judge panel ordered Erving to return to the Squires. Erving had a sensational second season with the Squires, averaging a career-high 31.9 ppg to win the first of his three scoring titles. After the 1972-73 season, the cash-strapped Squires traded Erving and Willie Sojourner to the New York Nets for George Carter, Kermit Washington, and cash considerations. The Nets then signed Erving to an eight year contract reportedly averaging $350,000 per season, making Erving one of the highest paid pro basketball players at that time.

In his three seasons with the Nets, Erving won three regular season MVPs, two ABA titles, two ABA Playoff MVPs, and two scoring titles. Erving led the Nets to the 1974 ABA championship, averaging 28.2 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.8 spg and 1.4 rpg during the Finals in a 4-1 win over the Utah Stars. "We won the first time we went to the Finals," Erving said. "And most teams don't win the first time they go to the Finals. It was one of my greatest thrills in my whole career." The 1973-74 Nets had the youngest starting lineup in pro basketball (average age: 22.6 years old), and they are perhaps the most underrated championship team in pro basketball history: the Nets went 22-3 down the stretch--10-1 to finish the regular season and 12-2 in the playoffs. The Nets tied the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks' pro basketball record for best playoff winning percentage (.857), a mark that stood until Erving's 1983 Philadelphia 76ers went 12-1 (.923); in an expanded playoff format, the 2001 Lakers went 15-1 (.938), and then the 2017 Warriors went 16-1 (.943).

The fifth prong of the ABA's attack was "Unconventional Leadership." The Spirits of St. Louis, the team that hired young broadcaster Bob Costas straight out of Syracuse and that dethroned the Nets 4-1 in the 1975 playoffs, were owned by the Silna brothers, who were barely older than the squad's star players. Kentucky Fried Chicken owner John Y. Brown and his wife Ellie owned the Kentucky Colonels. Ellie led an all-female board of directors that ran the team; at that time, it was unprecedented for women to have an active and controlling role in the operation of a professional sports franchise. Ellie hired Hubie Brown (no relation), and that proved to be the key move for a team that had repeatedly fallen short despite having a talented roster. The Colonels won the 1975 ABA Finals versus the Pacers in yet another chapter of that storied rivalry. Hubie Brown used a 10 man rotation, installed a strong defense, and got the most out of Hall of Famers Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel, and Louie Dampier. 

The Colonels challenged the 1975 NBA champion Golden State Warriors to a winner take all game, but the Warriors declined, which speaks volumes about the relative strength of each league at that time; the sixth prong of the ABA's attack was "Just Kick Their Ass," which is what ABA teams did to NBA teams in preseason games that were played with great intensity. Any pretense about the NBA's alleged vast superiority over the upstart ABA falls apart when considering that the ABA teams beat the NBA teams more often than not in head to head play: in 1974, the ABA went 15-10 versus the NBA, followed by a 16-7 edge in 1975 and a 31-17 advantage in 1976.

Episode three ended by cramming in a lot of information in the last five minutes, with scant details. The seventh prong of the ABA's attack was "Steal the Refs," and the eighth prong of the ABA's attack was "Steal Their Biggest Legend," referring to Wilt Chamberlain, who the San Diego Conquistadors signed in 1973 as a player/coach. Chamberlain's player rights were still owned by the L.A. Lakers, so Chamberlain coached the Conquistadors in 1973-74 but did not play for them. The ninth prong of the ABA's attack was "Secret Drafts." ABA executives signed college players to secret contracts so that the players could maintain their college eligibility while also being legally bound to play for a particular ABA team. The episode concluded by noting that in 1975 the New York Nets and Denver Nuggets--two of the league's most stable and successful franchises--had petitioned the NBA for membership without informing the other ABA teams. Dan Silna, co-owner of the Spirits of St. Louis, stated that he had been "betrayed by my partners," and Erving called it "Mutiny on the Bounty."

Episode four ("Party's Over") chronicled the end of the ABA, culminating in the ABA-NBA merger during which four ABA teams (Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs) joined the combined league while the players from the remaining ABA teams were placed into a dispersal draft. 

Before the ABA's demise, the league tried everything it could do to survive. The 10th prong of the ABA's attack was "Draft High Schoolers." The Utah Stars signed Moses Malone straight out of high school in 1974, and he had an immediate impact as a rookie, averaging 18.8 ppg and 14.6 rpg (fourth in the league), including a league leading 5.5 offensive rebounds per game--the first of nine times that Malone led the ABA or NBA in that category.

The 11th prong of the ABA's attack was "Find New Basketball Fans." The league struggled financially overall, but Denver and San Antonio developed loyal fan bases, and that carried over after both teams joined the merged league in 1976.

The 12th prong of the ABA's attack was "The First Slam Dunk Contest." The ninth and final ABA All-Star Game featured the hometown Denver Nuggets--who had the best record in the league--facing All-Stars from all of the other teams. The Nuggets won, 144-138. The halftime show was the first official Slam Dunk Contest, with Julius Erving, David Thompson, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin, and Larry Kenon squaring off for the crown. Thompson was an incredible leaper and he did some spectacular dunks, but Erving stole the show with his last dunk: he trotted from one free throw line to the other end of the court, cradling the basketball like a softball in his huge hands, and then he turned around, ran back where he came from, took off with his foot straddling the free throw line, and threw down the clinching dunk. Erving had previously dunked from the free throw line in games, but this particular free throw line dunk became an iconic symbol of his special talents and of how he embodied the free spirited nature of the ABA.

Erving's Nets captured the 1976 ABA title in the league's final season. In The Ultimate "Five Tool" Players, I explained why Erving's 1975-76 campaign is one of the greatest single season performances in pro basketball history:

Julius Erving put up the first--and most impressive--five-tool season. In 1975-76, he led the ABA in scoring (29.3 ppg) and ranked in the top seven or better in the league in each of the other four categories. He also placed eighth in two point field goal percentage and seventh in three point field goal percentage. Erving actually came very close to being a five-tool player in each of the three previous seasons, missing by just .6 apg and .2 spg in 1972-73, .8 rpg in 1973-74 and .6 spg in 1974-75. All of that was just a warm-up for Dr. J’s final dramatic operation in the ABA, when he led the New York Nets to the 1976 championship over the Denver Nuggets, topping both teams in all five statistical categories during that series: 37.7 ppg, 14.2 rpg, 6.0 apg, 3.0 spg and 2.2 bpg. Performances like that inspired the two quotes that best summarize Erving’s impact on the game: ABA Commissioner Dave DeBusschere once said, "Plenty of guys have been ‘The Franchise.’ For us, Dr. J is ‘The League’"; Pat Williams, the 76ers General Manager who acquired Erving shortly after the 1976 ABA Finals, later said of Erving, "There’s never been anyone like him, including Michael. If Julius was in his prime now, in this era of intense electronic media, he would be beyond comprehension. He would blow everybody away." 

After the Nets celebrated in their locker room, Erving decamped to the shower, and there is a striking series of photos of him sitting in the shower by himself, still wearing his uniform. Sitting on a couch looking at those photos nearly 50 years later, Erving said, "I think basketball has always been an escape from the real world. So I think sitting in the shower on the floor, that was like the preparation for going back to reality. Knowing this is the swan song of the ABA, it was like just looming over you. With all the joy and excitement of playing basketball, and winning trophies and all that, there is this flip side--the sadness associated with the ABA being done."

The 13th prong of the ABA's attack was "Surrender." The league had fought the good fight for nine seasons, but had never obtained a national television deal or any other revenue source large enough to keep battling against the NBA. The ABA started the 1975-76 season with nine teams, but the Utah Stars and San Diego Sails folded before the end of the campaign while the Virginia Squires limped to the finish line with a 15-68 record and then folded after not being able to make payroll. The NBA refused to accept more than four ABA teams in the merged league. The Kentucky Colonels accepted a little more than $3 million compensation from the surviving ABA teams. The Silna brothers owned the Spirits of St. Louis, and they had some leverage as the last ABA team left out of the merger, because the merger could not proceed until all underlying claims had been resolved. The Silnas negotiated a deal to receive $2.2 million in compensation for their players who were signed by NBA teams, plus a 1/7th share of each of the surviving ABA teams' visual media revenue in perpetuity. "In perpetuity" is the key concept here; based on the buyout the Colonels accepted, it appears that the NBA valued the media rights portion of this deal at around $1 million--but as the NBA became more popular and the league's media rights soared in value, the Silnas and their lawyer Donald Schupak pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars before the Silnas reached a confidential settlement with the NBA in 2014 to end the payments. That settlement was reportedly worth $500 million.

Each of the four surviving teams paid $3.2 million to join the NBA. The Nets also paid over $4 million to indemnify the New York Knicks. Erving claimed that Nets' owner Roy Boe had promised to renegotiate his contract if a merger took place, but Boe (1) asserted that he had not made such a promise and (2) did not have sufficient financial resources to pay more to Erving. Thus, the Nets sold Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers for around $2.5 million, and the 76ers then signed Erving to a six year deal worth around $3.5 million. Steve Austin was the fictional "Six Million Dollar Man," but Erving had become a real life $6 million man at a time when $6 million was a lot of money to pay to acquire any athlete--even an athlete as extraordinary as Erving, who 76ers' General Manager Pat Williams termed the "Babe Ruth of basketball" to convince the team's owner Fitz Dixon to acquire Erving. In the first post-merger season, Erving won the 1977 All-Star Game MVP and led the 76ers to the NBA Finals, where they took a 2-0 lead versus the Portland Trail Blazers before dropping four straight games. Erving won the 1981 NBA regular season MVP award--becoming the only player to win a regular season MVP award in both leagues--before teaming up with Moses Malone to lead the 76ers to the 1983 NBA title.

"Soul Power" concludes by focusing on the shameful way that the NBA shortchanged ABA players regarding pension payments. The NBA may not have a legal obligation to pay any more money than it has already paid to retired ABA players, but the NBA has abrogated its moral responsibility in a manner that is a blot on the league's name that can never be wiped out. For decades, the NBA dragged its feet, clearly waiting for as many retired ABA players to die off as possible to limit the amount that the league would pay out. In 2022, the NBA finally took some minimal steps to help retired ABA players, but the limited benefits provided are a drop in the league's vast bucket of money and not nearly enough to make up for decades of neglect. "NBA Cares" is an empty slogan papering over the reality that the NBA cares most about maximizing its profits; the NBA not only failed to credit ABA players with their years of service in the ABA, but it shortchanged the "pre-65ers," the players who laid the groundwork for the NBA to become a multi-billion dollar business. 

Scott Tarter, an attorney from Indianapolis who grew up watching the Pacers and later got to know many of the retired ABA players, is the CEO of Dropping Dimes Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping retired ABA players.

Other than the unnecessary disrespect directed toward the great NBA players of the 1960s and the omission of the details of Roger Brown's story, "Soul Power" provides a compelling narrative tracking the ABA from its humble beginnings to its on court greatness to its sad demise--but it should be noted that the ABA did not really die: the legacies of Connie Hawkins, Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, Spencer Haywood, Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, Moses Malone, George Gervin, and other great players who began their professional careers in the ABA are interwoven into basketball history, and the modern game borrowed/stole a lot from the ABA, including the three point shot, the Slam Dunk Contest, and a wide open style of play. 

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Supplementary Materials 

Those interested in learning more about the ABA should check out NBA TV's 2006 documentary "The Last Night of the ABA" focusing on game six of the ABA Finals but also providing a lot of meaningful background and context about the ABA.

The 2008 NBA TV show "Game to Remember: Game Six, 1976 ABA Finals" featured Erving and his New York Nets teammate Brian Taylor reminiscing about the ABA's final game.

For many years, I vigorously advocated for Roger Brown to be inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, an honor that he received posthumously in 2013. Here is more information about Roger Brown:

Roger Brown: Ankle Breaker and Shot Maker (December 27, 2004)

Interview with Ted Green, Producer of "Undefeated: The Roger Brown Story" (October 30, 2012)

Roger Brown is Finally Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame! (February 16, 2013)

The Neon Presents Special Screening of "Undefeated: The Roger Brown Story" on Thursday August 15 (August 13, 2013) 

Labels: ABA, Artis Gilmore, Connie Hawkins, Hubie Brown, Indiana Pacers, Julius Erving, Kentucky Colonels, Mel Daniels, New York Nets, Oakland Oaks, Rick Barry, Roger Brown, Spencer Haywood, Virginia Squires

posted by David Friedman @ 12:55 PM

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Julius Erving as Viewed by his Contemporaries, Part II

In my October 3, 2013 article Julius Erving as Viewed by his Contemporaries, I quoted several people--including coaches Adolph Rupp, Kevin Loughery, and Babe McCarthy--who praised Erving as a great all-around player and great clutch performer. Since that time, I did in depth archival research of articles published throughout Erving's pro basketball career, and it is fascinating to see how Erving was perceived and described during those years. This article focuses on 1972-74, covering Erving's first three professional seasons.

Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers recognized Erving's greatness very quickly. When Erving was a rookie during the 1971-72 season, Rick Barry predicted that Erving would become the greatest forward of all-time: "He's almost reached that point already. He's blessed with everything it takes to be number one: jumping ability, speed, soft touch, big hands, desire to excel, and the great attitude" (quoted in Pete Vecsey's February 5, 1972 New York Daily News column). Carl Braun compared rookie Erving to Elgin Baylor--at that time widely considered to be the greatest forward of all-time--and concluded that Baylor was stronger but Erving was faster. Braun added that Erving was not only a great forward but Erving was versatile and skilled enough to become the best guard in pro basketball: "Like Jerry West, you don't 'stop' Erving, he just has an off night" (quoted in Jerry Cassidy's April 27, 1972 article in the New York Daily News). Even before Erving won the first of his two ABA titles, Willis Reed called him "the best young forward I've ever seen," a quote mentioned in Dave Anderson's October 1, 1972 syndicated column discussing the bidding war for Erving's services.

Gary Long's April 6, 1972 Miami Herald article included quotes from two of Erving's Virginia Squires teammates. After rookie Erving tied the ABA single game playoff scoring record with 53 points as his Squires defeated the Floridians 118-113, Ray Scott--who played 10 years in the NBA before joining the Squires--said, "There's never been anyone in the NBA like him. There's nobody I can compare Julius with. He's first. What's really beautiful is he's still learning, and he's willing to learn." Adrian Smith, the 1966 NBA All-Star Game MVP who joined the Squires after a 10 year NBA career, declared, "In my 11 years in pro basketball, I've never seen another guy come into the game like this one."

Milwaukee Bucks' Coach Larry Costello called Erving "probably the best forward playing basketball today," and Chicago Bulls' Coach Dick Motta asserted that Erving is "the best basketball player around" (both quotes are from a syndicated UPI article published on September 24, 1972).

A little while later, Motta said of Erving, "The man has to be the most exciting basketball player I've ever seen. He means 25 percent, no make that 30 percent, more power to the team he plays for." Motta added, "If Milwaukee gets Erving, everybody can pack it up for the next 20 years. Teaming him with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would mean the end of any real competition in the NBA." Those quotes appeared in the October 12, 1972 edition of The Atlanta Constitution when Erving was under contract with the Squires, had signed a deal with the Atlanta Hawks, and had been drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks. Erving played for the Hawks in the 1972 preseason before a court ruling sent him back to Virginia, where he played one more season before being traded to the New York Nets.

Atlanta Hawks' Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons called Erving--who was not even halfway through his second pro season--"the most spectacular player I've ever seen play the game, and I've seen a few...For example, Spencer Haywood of Seattle was All-NBA last season, and he can't do HALF the things Erving can on the court" (quoted in Dave Hicks' December 3, 1972 column in The Arizona Republic).

In his August 4, 1973 New York Daily News column, Dick Young wrote (in his trademark staccato style, with some missing definite articles), "It was off-the-record at time, but I suppose it's okay to tell now: About a year ago, Al McGuire was asked to name best basketball player in land. 'Julius Erving,' he said. 'And Number 2 is Rick Barry.'" Note that McGuire expressed that opinion before Erving joined the New York Nets. During Erving's three seasons with the Nets, he won three regular season MVPs, two ABA titles, two ABA Playoff MVPs, and two scoring titles (to go along with the scoring title he won in 1973 with the Squires, averaging a career-high 31.9 ppg).

In an August 9, 1973 Highland Park News and Journal article, Bob Guerrero raved about Erving's first Los Angeles appearance after Erving scored a game-high 31 points in the Ralph Bunche Memorial Basketball Benefit that pitted Erving's Pro All-Stars (including Connie Hawkins, Charlie Scott, and Paul Westphal) versus a UCLA Alumni team featuring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, and Mahdi Abdul-Rahman. The Pro All-Stars won 143-105, and Guerrero was very impressed by Erving: 

He's said to be the best forward in professional basketball and may well be one of the best cagers of all-time...

Dr. J, as he's known around the ABA and the rest of the basketball world, defies description on the basketball court and might be a combination between a Walt Frazier and Elgin Baylor.

At 6-7 he lacks the size of a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or a Wilt Chamberlain, but plays defense with the abilities of a Bill Russell in his prime.

Erving has an unlimited assortment of shots only because he reacts to the pressure of the defensive player after it is applied and can usually be seen sailing or twisting toward the basket with two or three other players trying to stop him.

What he does with a basketball is usually seen just once, he may have as much trouble describing his shot[s] as people who saw them from the stands.

UCLA has long been noted for basketball excellence, having dominated the college game for the past 10 years almost as regularly as the sun coming up, with players like Jabbar, Keith Erickson, Sidney Wicks, Lucius Allen, Curtis Rowe, and company.

But never in the history of Pauley Pavilion has a star the magnitude of Julius Erving done his thing, whatever it may be, with a basketball.

Erving made the All-Defensive Team once in his 16 season professional career, but he ranks among the all-time leaders in both steals and blocked shots, and his teams regularly ranked among the league leaders in points allowed and defensive field goal percentage, so it is interesting that Guerrero heaped such praise on Erving's defense after watching Erving play in an exhibition game. It is also noteworthy that Guerrero called Erving the biggest star to ever play in Pauley Pavilion right after mentioning Abdul-Jabbar's record-setting UCLA career.

A September 4, 1973 article by Ralph Trower of the The Journal Times (Racine, Wisconsin) quoted Jim Chones--a member of the ABA's 1973 All-Rookie Team--declaring, "Erving is the best I've ever seen."

Even at a young age, Erving had a thoughtful approach to his craft. An October 21, 1973 New York Daily News article by Kay Gilman quoted Erving explaining how he developed his unique playing style: "I'm a Pisces. I have a wild imagination and I've always been one to experiment. I used to watch games on TV. My palms would sweat and I'd think of moves no one else had done. I'd learn by watching good guys and bad guys. I'd dream up fantastic moves and then go out on the court and make them work. Some of them took a long time. I'm underweight. I'm not going to be able to jump higher or run faster. Eventually I will slow down. I've got to magnify my strengths--my quickness and my moves. It's called experience."

Erving did not brag, but he always had justified confidence in his abilities. Responding to a question early in his career, Erving said, "Am I the best? Well, I haven't seen them all, but the ones I've seen sure can't do the stuff I can do."

Advertising by definition involves some degree of hype/promotion, but it is worth noting that early in the 1973-74 season the San Antonio Spurs called Erving "one of the best forwards to ever play the game" in a newspaper ad for tickets to the upcoming Spurs-Nets game. Tickets for that game were available for $5, $4, and $2!

Despite all of the accolades and despite his gaudy statistics, Erving focused on team success, not personal glory. Prior to the Nets' October 31, 1973 game versus the Denver Rockets, Erving told reporters, "There are two ways you can determine how well you played. How you feel, and what the stat sheet says. I go by how you feel." Erving scored 38 points on 13-21 field goal shooting in a 107-104 loss, and afterward he said, "How good can you feel about losing?" The Nets started 4-1 in 1973-74, but then lost nine straight games, including a 121-109 setback versus the Kentucky Colonels on November 2, 1973. After that game, Erving said, "I don't care about my own performance. I'm terrifically disappointed because we lost. Nothing else mattered."

It has become fashionable to speak of a star player's "gravity," most notably in reference to Stephen Curry, so it is important to emphasize that Curry is not the first player whose greatness drew extra defensive attention that created open shots for his teammates. Early in the 1973-74 season, Nets' center Billy Paultz said, "Erving has only helped me. Julius opens things up for me, because when Dr. J goes one on one to the basket, he either forces a foul or a double team. If my man tries to double team, that leaves me open for a short jumper." 

In a November 13, 1973 Memphis Commercial Appeal feature article, Woody Paige wrote of Erving, "...he has averaged close to 30 points a game and 15 rebounds a game, and most say he can be the best forward ever to play; others claim he already is. It is said that two doctors influenced basketball: Dr. James Naismith invented it, and Dr. J is making it an art."

In a December 3, 1973 UPI report filed after the Nets defeated the Carolina Cougars, 121-103, Cougars forward and 1973 ABA MVP Billy Cunningham--who became Erving's coach with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1977--said of Erving, "He's sensational, one of the best ever." Erving had 32 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, six blocked shots, and four steals versus Cunningham and the Cougars. In that same report, Nets Coach Kevin Loughery declared, "I've been in basketball a long time, and I've never seen anyone play better than Doc has in the last 10 games. He hasn't just been scoring or rebounding. He's been everywhere." 

Erving's reported salary for the 1973-74 season was $300,000, which ranked third in the ABA and tied for eighth in pro basketball. In the January 4, 1974 edition of the Holland Evening Sentinel (Michigan), Leo Martonosi opined, "We feel that the 'pro jocks' are overpaid and they eventually could kill the goose that laid the 'Golden egg.'" If Martonosi thought that athletes making more than the President earned ($200,000 a year at that time) was a problem, what would he have thought of today's athletes who earn tens of millions of dollars per year?

As noted above, Erving was an excellent defensive player even though he only received one All-Defensive Team selection. After Erving held Dan Issel--at that point the ABA's leading scorer--to 12 points as Erving's Nets defeated Issel's Kentucky Colonels 83-82 in a December 19, 1973 game, Loughery said of Erving, "That's the real superstar...He has such tremendous pride...people don't recognize his defensive ability because he's also a top scorer." Erving finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots, and two steals. Per Doug Smith's December 20, 1973 Newsday recap, Erving scored 16 fourth quarter points, including the game-winning jump shot from the foul line area.

A January 20, 1974 AP story noted that Erving ranked among the league leaders in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, steals, assists, and field goal percentage, and contained this Loughery quote about Erving's impact: "I've never seen anyone better. In overall ability, he's as good as anyone I've ever seen. He does so much offensively and defensively, and he's also a leader in his own quiet way. The guys look to him. He's tremendously coachable and that makes it easier for me. He not only has unique talents, he's a unique guy."

A February 27, 1974 L.A. Times article by Dwight Chapin quoted Loughery raving about Erving: "He's the best and most exciting forward in pro basketball. And even though he's only 23, he's a leader. I mean a real leader. You know what he can do on the court. Off the court, he's one of the nicest guys you'd want to be around." Erving transformed the Nets into winners not just with his superior basketball skills but also with his leadership. Erving explained, "The reputation of the Nets last year was that if you got up on them early, they'd start squabbling among themselves. They were losers. From the minute I knew I was coming here I was preparing myself to stop that. I knew I'd have leadership responsibilities. There has to be criticism among the players, but I guess what I've tried to do is make it constructive and cut down on meaningless griping. I don't think you should cuss a guy out for missing a pass. You should boost him up by saying something like, 'It's all right. We'll get it next time.' And when something goes wrong in a game or there's a flareup at practice I know it's easier for me to be the one who apologizes. A guy who the public doesn't consider such a big star might feel, 'Damn, I'm not going to bow down to the blankety-blank just because he's the big shot around here.' But for me it's no problem to go over and say I'm sorry."

In that same article, Doug Moe--a three-time ABA All-Star who later became an assistant coach in the ABA and a head coach in the NBA--said of Erving, "He comes at you with those long, open strides, and you have a tendency to keep backing away because you think he's not really into his move yet. If you keep backing, if you fail to go up and challenge him, he'll simply glide right by you."

A March 25, 1974 article in the Greeley Daily Tribune (Colorado) described a 112-100 Nets victory over the Denver Rockets during which Erving scored 21 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and "brought the crowd to its feet in the first half when he slam dunked the ball on a fast break. He left the floor at the free throw line, cocked the ball behind his head, then rammed it through the hoop." I have heard some people suggest that the slam dunks from previous eras were "basic" compared to what players do today; the next time any player dunks from the free throw line in a game, feel free to make note in the comments section of this article. 

After Erving scored a game-high 43 points on 19-26 field goal shooting, grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, and dished for a team-high six assists in the season finale--a 102-96 win over the Denver Rockets that clinched the Eastern Division title for the Nets--Loughery said, "During the last month, Doc has been the best forward I've seen. He can't do any more than he has already done."

In 1973-74, Erving's unselfish leadership and great all-around play--he finished in the top ten in scoring (first, thus notching his second consecutive scoring title), rebounding (seventh), assists (sixth), field goal percentage (ninth), steals (third), and blocked shots (third)--helped the Nets post a 55-29 regular season record before going 12-2 in the playoffs en route to the franchise's first championship. The Nets tied the pro basketball record for best playoff winning percentage set by the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks. That mark stood until Moses Malone and Erving led the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers to a 12-1 postseason run in 1982-83 (the current record is 16-1, held by the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors). 

Erving won the first of his four regular season MVP awards, and as he accepted that honor he said, "My goals were to rise to the top and realize my God-given talents to their greatest potential and to make whatever team I'm playing for a winner. One of the things I want to do in my career is to be acknowledged as one of the best players who has played the game." Erving singlehandedly won several games for the Nets during the last month of the season, prompting Loughery to declare, "In all my years in professional basketball I've never seen a better player than Doc was during that time."

As the 1974 ABA playoffs began, Kentucky Colonels coach Babe McCarthy said, "The Doctor is the most dynamic player in the American Basketball Association. He can do things with a basketball that you thought no mortal man ever could." During the regular season, Erving hit a game-winning shot versus the Colonels that all but clinched the regular season Eastern Division title for the Nets; he scored 41 points on 16-25 field goal shooting in that 114-112 overtime win on March 16, 1974. Eight days later, Erving had 33 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, and yet another game-winning shot as the Nets beat the Spurs, 99-97.

The April 14, 1974 edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader included this quote from Larry Brown, then the Carolina Cougars' coach: "Julius does things with a basketball that must be seen to be accepted. He's 6-7 and he plays like he's 7-7. Or he's quick enough to play like 5-7. He has his own style and nobody else has it. I don't think there's a better player anywhere." 

In the first round of the 1974 ABA playoffs, the Nets faced Erving's previous team, the Virginia Squires, and won the series 4-1 as Erving averaged 26.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 6.0 apg with shooting splits of .562/.400/.737. The Nets swept the Kentucky Colonels in the Eastern Division Finals as Erving averaged 29.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg, and 3.0 apg with shooting splits of .515/.667/.733.

Erving had a game-high 30 points and a team-high 14 rebounds in New York's 89-87 game three win versus Kentucky, capping off his performance by hitting the game-winning shot at the buzzer over Hall of Fame center Artis Gilmore. After the game, McCarthy said, "When the pressure is on and the chips are down, he might be as good as anybody in the game."

Here is a photo of Erving's game three game-winning shot:

After Erving scored a game-high 47 points to lead the Nets to an 89-85 victory over the Utah Stars in game one of the 1974 ABA Finals, the postgame conversation focused on whether Erving had already established himself as the greatest forward of all-time. Loughery said, "Baylor was the best for a longer time, but Doc is a better all-around player than Baylor ever was. Doc can do everything Baylor could do on offense and more, and he plays much better defense." Utah Coach Joe Mullaney declared, "I've seen him have a few other games like this. He's just the best there is. He never throws up a bad shot, and when he's looking to the basket he's just unstoppable." Erving's scoring outburst fell just six points short of the ABA single game playoff scoring record that he shared with Roger Brown. 

In a May 2, 1974 syndicated column, Dave Anderson quoted legendary coach Adolph Rupp, who called Erving "The Babe Ruth of basketball." Rupp also said, "Up until now, I always thought Jerry West was the greatest basketball player I ever saw, with Oscar Robertson right behind him, but I think right now that Julius Erving is the best." One of the things that set Erving apart from other great players is that, even as a young pro, he proved capable of playing forward, center, and guard. Anderson quoted Loughery: "We used Doc at center when Billy Paultz was hurt and Doc did well. We haven't used him at guard too often, but if we did he'd be an All-Star guard. At center, his size might hurt him but he's a leader. If he was a center, he'd be right there when they picked the All-Star center." It is notable that Erving not only dominated game one offensively--shooting 19-29 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw line--but in the final six minutes of the game he took the defensive assignment on Jimmy Jones, and held the All-ABA First Team guard to just one point. Erving's defense and positional versatility are inexplicably ignored or diminished when today's "experts" talk about the greatest basketball players of all-time.

Erving scored a game-high 32 points as the Nets won game two, 118-94. The Nets trailed 94-91 near the end of the fourth quarter of game three, and Loughery drew up a play for Erving to attempt a three point shot. That play call may surprise those who believe the fiction that Erving was not a good shooter or that he only became an adequate shooter later in his career, but the reality is that Erving shot .395 (17-43) from three point range that season; he would have led the league in three point field goal percentage but for the fact that he was just short of making the minimum number of three point field goals (20) to qualify for the leaderboard. It is very important to note that only 15 ABA players made at least 20 three point field goals that season, and Erving's total of 17 3FGM ranked 19th in the league; this was long before "stat gurus" contrived "advanced basketball statistics" to support the argument that every shot attempt should be a layup, a free throw, or a three point shot. Loughery explained why he called the play for Erving: "Doc is by far the best in the league on three pointers." The "by far" description is an exaggeration--Louie Dampier shot .387 (48-124) from beyond the arc that season, just a shade worse than Erving while attempting almost three times as many three pointers as Erving--but it would no doubt surprise many "experts" that Erving was a reliable enough three point shooter that his coach drew up a play for Erving to shoot a three pointer when his team trailed by three points in an ABA Finals game. The Stars guarded Erving tightly to prevent him from getting a shot off, but after Wendell Ladner missed a three pointer the Nets secured the rebound and Brian Taylor drained a three pointer to send the game to overtime. The Nets won 103-100 as Erving led the team in scoring (24 points), rebounding (13), and assists (seven).

In a May 9, 1974 article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bill Lyon wrote:

...there is growing opinion that Erving is the best player--ABA, NBA, or interplanetary--to ever slam dunk his way along a baseline. 

Billy Cunningham, who has been a star in both the ABA and the old, established NBA, says point blank: "He's the most exciting player I have ever seen."

Testifies Dave DeBusschere, probably the NBA's finest defensive forward: "He's the best basketball player there is right now. I expect him to go and become the greatest who ever played the game." The reason DeBusschere was smiling when he said that was he has signed a 10-year contract to become the Nets' general manager, starting next year.

Willie Wise of Utah, who tried to guard Dr. J for one half and "held" him to 12-for-14 from the field in the first game of the ABA title finals, just shook his head:

"Baby, if he's not the best, then I'm in for a REAL treat."

Adds a slightly awed writer who has covered Dr. J regularly:

"I gave up trying to describe his moves. Even the average ones are semi-incredible; the rest they ought to get on tape and ship right to the Hall of Fame."

On a ho-hum, so-so night Erving, playing forward, will score 30 points, grab a dozen rebounds, deal out a handful of assists and, at the other end of the court, produce perhaps 10 turnovers with steals and blocked shots. His total worth, offensively and defensively, what points he accounts for and what points he denies the opposition, may approach 75 in a game.

The Stars avoided a sweep by winning game four, 97-89. Erving scored a team-high (but series low) 18 points on 9-22 field goal shooting. In a UPI article dated May 10, 1974, Wise pushed back against any assertions that he had stopped Erving: "Actually, nobody stops Erving. He just had a bad shooting night. All anyone can do is wave, shout, and carry on in the hope that he'll miss a few."

That would turn out to be Erving's second lowest point total in an ABA or NBA Finals game; he scored at least 20 points in 31 of his 33 career Finals games, and his streak of 26 straight Finals games with at least 20 points is second all-time to Michael Jordan's 35 game streak. Note that Stephen Curry, who is often lauded as a Pantheon-level player, failed to score at least 20 points in eight of his 34 NBA Finals games. 

With the Nets on the verge of winning the title, DeBusschere praised Erving's ability to draw fouls by driving to the hoop, and he mentioned an underrated aspect of Erving's game: "He's quite a playmaker...some of those passes just went bang, bang, bang."

After Erving's New York Nets defeated the Utah Stars 4-1 in the 1974 ABA Finals, the Associated Press' Bert Rosenthal wrote a May 12, 1974 article including some interesting quotes about Erving. Utah Coach Joe Mullaney said, "He's just a fantastic player. He's exceptionally gifted. He has a unique talent. He has that real long body, a soft touch on his shots, amazing physical equipment, and he's so unselfish, something you rarely see in a player of his caliber." Arnie Ferrin, then the Utah Stars' general manager, declared, "He's as good a basketball player as I've ever seen. Obviously, he's the best forward in the game." 

In the 1974 ABA Finals, Erving averaged 28.2 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.8 spg, and 1.4 bpg with shooting splits of .513/.333/.750. In 1974, Erving led the ABA in playoff scoring for the third straight time (27.9 ppg) while also averaging 9.6 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.6 spg, and 1.4 bpg. Championship teams tend to have experienced veterans, but the Nets featured the youngest starting lineup in pro basketball.

In a May 16, 1974 UPI article, Milton Richman cited Rupp calling Erving the Erving the best basketball player ever, and Richman concluded, "For Julius Erving, or Dr. J as everybody calls him, I have the feeling this is only the beginning. I can't ever remember a young man his age accomplishing and accumulating so much, so quickly, and still staying unspoiled." 

Perhaps Dan Issel put it simplest when asked his opinion about Erving, as quoted in the May 23, 1974 Kentucky New Era: "I think he's the best basketball player in the world today."

Labels: ABA, Artis Gilmore, Billy Cunningham, Dan Issel, Dick Motta, Doug Moe, Julius Erving, Kevin Loughery, Larry Costello, New York Nets, Rick Barry, Utah Stars, Virginia Squires, Willie Wise, Willis Reed

posted by David Friedman @ 8:25 PM

7 comments

Stephen Curry is the 30th Member of Pro Basketball's 25,000 Point Club

On Saturday March 8, Stephen Curry joined pro basketball's 25,000 point club while scoring a game-high 32 points as his Golden State Warriors won at home versus the much improved Detroit Pistons, 115-110. The NBA and its media partners count Curry as the 25,000 point club's 26th member because they stubbornly refuse to acknowledge ABA statistics, thereby wrongly excluding Julius Erving (who scored 30,026 career points), Dan Issel (27,482), George Gervin (26,595), and Rick Barry (25,279).

Curry joins Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, John Havlicek, Reggie Miller, and Jerry West on the list of players who scored at least 25,000 points while playing for one franchise. 

Curry ranks fifth among active players on the career scoring list, trailing only LeBron James (the NBA's career scoring leader who is also the sole member of the 40,000 point club), Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook. DeMar DeRozan needs to score 123 points to be the next member of the 25,000 point club. Chris Paul is 2158 points short, but the soon to be 40 year old has not scored 1000 points in a season since 2020-21 so it seems unlikely that he will join the 25,000 point club.

Curry, West, and Russell Westbrook are the only 25,000 point club members who are shorter than 6-4, which is yet another reminder of how much size matters in pro basketball. As I discussed in my article about Westbrook joining the 25,000 point club, Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, West, and Havlicek were the "charter" members of the 25,000 point club, and then the club added six members in the 1980s: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Dan Issel, Elvin Hayes, George Gervin, Moses Malone and Rick Barry.

Even though the 25,000 point club is not as exclusive as it used to be, joining the club is still meaningful: a player who averages 25 ppg and plays in 80 games per season for 12 years would fall short, highlighting the combination of durability and high level productivity that it takes to surpass 25,000 points.

Labels: Dan Issel, George Gervin, Golden State Warriors, Jerry West, Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry

posted by David Friedman @ 2:28 PM

10 comments

The 2025 NBA Legends Brunch Honors Oscar Robertson, Gary Payton, and Rick Barry, and Features a Panel Discussion With Run TMC

The Legends Brunch is the most meaningful and special NBA All-Star Weekend event; it is important to acknowledge and honor the people who built the sport. I had the privilege of covering the Legends Brunch in person from 2005-2010, and every year that was the highlight of All-Star Weekend for me, along with attending the ABA Reunions in 2005 and 2006. 

Ernie Johnson is the perfect host for the Legends Brunch, and he consistently hits the right notes in terms of when to be serious and when to be humorous. This year ends TNT's four decades of covering the NBA, and during his traditional Legends Brunch poem Johnson expressed gratitude for TNT's long run, and appreciation to the production crew behind the scenes that makes sure everything runs smoothly.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Oscar Robertson. Silver called Robertson "A man of dignity, character, and respect." During a video tribute for Robertson, John Havlicek said that Robertson is the best player he ever played against, quite a statement from a Hall of Famer who spent 16 NBA seasons playing against many of the greatest players of all-time, including Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Julius Erving. Abdul-Jabbar, who played with and against Robertson, termed Robertson a "pioneer in the game of basketball."

During his acceptance speech, Robertson emphasized that his guiding thought has always been, "Situations in life should be as fair as possible." Robertson said that this principle impacted both how he played the game--keeping his teammates involved--and how he worked to represent the players' interests when he served as the President of the Players Association from 1965-74; his friends Jack Twyman and Tommy Heinsohn persuaded him to accept the latter role, and Robertson was one of the "NBA 14" who filed a lawsuit that paved the way for the huge guaranteed salaries that today's NBA players take for granted. Robertson, Archie Clark, Dave Bing, Dave Cowens, and Dave DeBusschere later founded the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA). Robertson said that as a player and as a retired player he sought to partner with the NBA team owners as opposed to having an adversarial relationship with them. Robertson thanked Chris Paul for his role with the Players Association to help the retired players finally obtain health insurance in 2016. Recalling the Legends Brunch's humble beginnings, Robertson looked at the large assembled audience and concluded, "This is magnificent!"

Damian Lillard presented the Hometown Hero Award to Gary Payton. Lillard is a Bay Area native who said that when he was a kid he was inspired by Payton, who was already an established NBA player. Payton said that he is sad that his mother and father did not live long enough to see this moment. He acknowledged that other Bay Area natives--including Jason Kidd, Antonio Davis, and Brian Shaw--could have received the honor instead of him. Payton emphasized the importance of giving back to the community, mentioning that the reason that he took the head coaching job at College of Alameda is that he seeks to positively influence the community, particularly young people.  

Stephen Curry introduced the program's always poignant "In Memoriam" segment. He spoke briefly about Jerry West, Bill Walton, Dikembe Mutombo, and Al Attles. Then, a video tribute accompanied by live music honored other Legends who passed away within the past year. I was a Philadelphia 76ers fan growing up, so three names in particular caught my attention and brought back memories: Pat Williams (the general manager who built the 76ers' 1983 championship team), Joe "Jellybean" Bryant (Kobe's father, who played for the 76ers from 1975-79), and Harold Katz (the 76ers' majority owner from 1981-1996).

Julius Erving, the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1977 and 1983 and an All-NBA First Team member for the 76ers' 1983 championship team, presented the Legend of the Year award to Rick Barry, who spent nine of his 14 professional seasons playing in the Bay Area (eight during two separates stints with the Warriors, plus one with the ABA's Oakland Oaks). Erving said that Barry is "as iconic for his scoring ability as for his style" and that Barry was "a player ahead of his time." Erving added that Barry, who is six years older than he is, "was one of my heroes, and he is still one of my heroes." Erving noted that Barry shared the proceeds from his 1967 All-Star Game MVP award with his teammates, inspiring him to do the same thing. Erving mentioned how often he and Barry spent time together, including going to Israel, coaching in the "Big Three," and doing Spalding commercials. 

During the video tribute to Barry, one of the clips showed Barry saying that he wanted every game to come down to the last 10 seconds with the ball in his hands. Barry also declared that you play the game to be a champion.

After Barry joined Erving on stage, Barry mentioned that his speech was supposed to last just four minutes, and he scoffed that asking him to limit his remarks that way is like asking him to only take 10 shots in a game because he would just be warming up by that point. Barry said that he feels an "extreme sense of gratitude" for receiving the Legend of the Year award. He looked around the crowd, and singled out several people from his journey, including his wife Lynn, who he credited for helping him mellow out during the past 34 years. He also mentioned his oldest son Scooter, who was born just a few months before he won the 1967 All-Star Game MVP. Barry pointed out Clifford Ray, the starting center on Golden State's 1975 championship team, and he said that there is "no one in the world I would rather run the pick and roll with." 

Barry recalled that his father once told him "The older you get the faster the years go by," and he said that those words have proven to be true. Barry reflected on how it feels to be an octogenarian, and he reminisced about the 1967 NBA All-Star Game. Barry did not mention that he scored a game-high 38 points on 16-27 field goal shooting, but he focused on the overall talent level present in that contest and how competitive the players were. Barry noted that 13 of the 20 1967 NBA All-Stars are on the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List; that group includes Pantheon members Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, and Jerry West. Barry recalled that East Coach Red Auerbach was ejected. It is also worth emphasizing that the East attempted 37 free throws and the West attempted 26 free throws in a 135-120 West win. The concept of the league's best players playing hard, playing defense, and committing fouls in an All-Star Game is unimaginable to a generation of players who have been led astray on All-Star Weekend by LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry (as correctly emphasized by Sirius XM NBA Radio host Brian Geltzeiler during the Saturday morning show that he hosts with Sam Mitchell).

Barry said that he can't stand load management and he mentioned that he hated blowouts during his playing career because his minutes would be limited in such games. Barry still misses playing because he loves to compete, and he said that the NBA should add a designated free throw shooter rule so that he can make a comeback (Barry led the league in free throw shooting seven times, and currently ranks eighth in career free throw percentage at .893). Barry's competitive fire is limited these days to fly fishing and pickleball.

The Legends Brunch concluded with a panel discussion with Run TMC hosted by Bob Costas. Ernie Johnson introduced the discussion by saying that he always wanted to be like Costas but never quite measured up. Costas returned the compliment by noting that Johnson had carved his own path as one of the best of all-time.

Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin only spent two years together as Golden State teammates (1989-91) but during that short time they formed lifelong friendships while etching a permanent place in the hearts of fans who fondly recall their on court exploits. The trio's name--a play on words combining the first letters of each of their first names along with the name of legendary rap group Run DMC--was chosen as a result of a fan voting contest. During the panel discussion, Mullin noted that he had "seniority" and knew as soon as he heard the Run TMC option that it was by far the best one. Mullin, who is from Brooklyn, went to high school with Run DMC founding member Darryl McDaniels.  

The trio's short tenure ended when Coach Don Nelson traded Richmond for Billy Owens. Costas recalled that Nelson later called the deal a "no brainer--I had no brain when I made the trade." The Warriors reached the second round of the playoffs in Run TMC's final season together and they did not advance that far in the postseason again until 2007, when Nelson--during his second stint with the franchise--coached the "We Believe" squad that upset the number one seeded Dallas Mavericks. The players were understandably upset that Nelson broke up their trio, but Mullin noted that Nelson "was a visionary" who played small ball and exploited matchup advantages in unconventional ways that he learned during his playing days with the Boston Celtics when the Celtics had a fast team featuring the relatively undersized Dave Cowens at center. Mullin also praised Al Attles for being a mentor to everyone in the Warriors organization, and he spoke about how much he cherished the "brotherhood" that he shared with Hardaway and Richmond through good times and bad times. Mullin said that he felt like he never had an athletic advantage at any level during his basketball career, so he had to rely on his teammates to help him. Hardaway said that Mullin is way too modest, noting that Mullin was a three-time Big East Player of the Year during the Big East's glory years. Hardaway said that Mullin's work ethic and superior conditioning set a great example for him and for Richmond. Hardaway gave a shout out to Archie Clark as the inventor of the crossover move that Hardaway made famous as the "UTEP two step" or "killer crossover." Richmond is the most soft-spoken of the trio, but he told a funny story about receiving some trash talk from Hardaway after he had a poor shooting night and then returning the favor a short while later after Hardaway had an even worse shooting night--0-17 from the field in a December 27, 1991 game versus Minnesota. Hardaway emphasized that the Warriors won that game anyway, and then he had a big performance in his next game (30 points on 13-21 field goal shooting as the Warriors beat the Lakers).

The 2025 NBA Legends Brunch hit the ball out of the park (to use a mixed metaphor), but here is one suggestion for the 2026 edition: resume giving out the Bob Lanier Community Impact Award, named in honor of the Hall of Fame center who played for Detroit and Milwaukee. That award was first presented to Pau Gasol at the 2023 NBA Legends Brunch, and then Jalen Rose received the award last year, presented by Hall of Famer Dave Bing. It is not clear why that award was not presented this year. Lanier devoted his post-playing career to community service and to encouraging players to participate in community service, and his legacy deserves to be honored and remembered.

Selected Previous NBA Legends Recaps:

The 2024 NBA Legends Brunch Honors Tamika Catchings, Jalen Rose, Reggie Miller, and Larry Bird While Also Featuring ABA Panel Discussion (2024)

NBA Legends Brunch Honors Bill Russell, Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Pau Gasol (2023)

Jerry West Gives Powerful Speech After Being Honored as NBA Legend of the Year (2022)

Legends Brunch Honors Alonzo Mourning, Five Great Mavs (2010)

NBA Legends Brunch Honors Phoenix' Rich Basketball History (2009)

Labels: Chris Mullin, Damian Lillard, Gary Payton, Julius Erving, Mitch Richmond, NBA All-Star Weekend, NBA Legends Brunch, Oscar Robertson, Rick Barry, Tim Hardaway

posted by David Friedman @ 10:24 AM

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Lou Carnesecca Radiated Joy and Humor During His Hall of Fame Coaching Career

Lou Carnesecca, who passed away on Saturday November 30 at the age of 99, spent his entire Hall of Fame coaching career in New York City. Carnesecca had a 526-200 record in 24 seasons as St. John's coach, leading the Johnnies to postseason play each year--including winning the 1989 NIT title and reaching the 1985 NCAA Final Four. He tried his hand at the professional level for three seasons, leading the ABA's New York Nets to a 114-138 record before returning to St. John's. 

Carnesecca was a great coach, but he knew how to put competition in proper perspective: "Victories, defeats, they'll soon be forgotten, but the relationships that you build with the people you come into contact with will last a lifetime. So, it’s important we remember that. The game is important, but it's only a small part of your life."

He downplayed his considerable role in the success that his teams consistently enjoyed: "I don't do anything. If I could coach, I would coach my guy to score a basket every time. That would be my strategy. When you're young, you think you're a genius. You think you know everything about coaching basketball. Hey, let me tell you something about basketball. I'm coaching the Nets, see. I got Rick Barry and he takes us to the ABA championship [series]. The next year, I got the same players, same plays, only I don't got Rick Barry. And we lose [54] games."

Carnesecca's coaching mentor was Joe Lapchick, who posted a 326-247 record from 1947-56 with the New York Knicks, reaching the playoffs in each of his first eight seasons before resigning midway through his ninth season. Lapchick coached St. John's from 1936-47 and 1956-65, finishing with a 334-130 record that included four NIT titles. Carnesecca worked as an assistant coach for Lapchick before succeeding him in 1965, and the successful program built by Lapchick did not miss a beat.

Like many college coaches before and after him, Carnesecca followed the siren call--and the money--of pro basketball, jumping to the Nets in 1970. Carnesecca, who believed that pro teams should not draft college players who still had eligibility, refused to sign Julius Erving when Erving was an underclassman at the University of Massachusetts, and he then coached against Erving when the Nets defeated Erving's Virginia Squires 4-3 in the 1972 Eastern Division Finals. Rookie Erving averaged 30.7 ppg and 21.0 rpg in that series, prompting Carnesecca to say of Erving, "He's the most exciting pro ever. He creates. It just flows out of him. He has great imagination on the court. You can talk about this guy like a poet. He's a poet, an artist."

Carnesecca will forever be associated with the Big East Conference, which is an interesting historical twist considering that he opposed the conference's creation because he thought that it would force St. John's to tread a tougher path to the NCAA Tournament. The three-time Big East Coach of the Year (1983, 1985-86) led St. John's to five Big East regular season titles (1980, 1983, 1985-86, 1992). The Big East was arguably the toughest conference in the country in the mid-1980s, and Carnesecca more than held his own while competing against Hall of Fame coaches leading teams stacked with Hall of Fame players.

If you followed basketball at any time from the 1960s through the 1990s, you will never forget Carnesecca's demonstrative sideline demeanor, his garish sweaters, and how consistently good his teams were. He was a colorful character, but his charisma should not obscure the fact that he was a highly successful coach for a long time.

Labels: Big East, Joe Lapchick, Julius Erving, Lou Carnesecca, New York Nets, Rick Barry, St. John's

posted by David Friedman @ 10:46 PM

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Remembering Al Attles, Who Served the Warriors for Six Decades as a Player, Coach, General Manager, and Ambassador

Al Attles passed away on Tuesday at age 87. He won the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's prestigious John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, and he was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2019. Attles spent over 60 years with the Warriors franchise as a player, coach, general manager, and team ambassador, a span of service with one franchise unmatched in league history.

At just 6-0, 175 pounds Attles may not have looked fearsome at first glance, but his hard-nosed style of play and his refusal to back down from any opponent earned him the nickname "The Destroyer" during an 11 year playing career with the Warriors, who he joined in 1961 when the franchise was still located in Philadelphia. The Warriors moved to the Bay Area in 1962. Attles averaged double figures in scoring four times, but he made his mark as a scrappy player who did the little things to help his team win. He ranked seventh in the league in assists in 1967-68 when league leaders were determined by totals, not averages. Although he was not a prolific scorer, Attles ranked in the top 10 in field goal percentage three times (1961-62, 1962-63, 1965-66).

Attles played with some of the greatest players of all-time, including Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, and Nate Thurmond. Attles scored 17 points on 8-8 field goal shooting during Chamberlain's 100 point game, and he averaged 10.9 ppg playing alongside Chamberlain for the 1964 San Francisco Warriors team that lost 4-1 to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Attles averaged 7.4 ppg and 3.9 apg playing with Barry and Thurmond as the 1967 San Francisco Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals, where they lost to Chamberlain's Philadelphia 76ers. 

Attles became the Warriors' player-coach with 30 games remaining in the 1969-70 season, and he led the Warriors to a 41-41 record as a player-coach in his final season as a player in 1970-71. The San Francisco Warriors became known as the Golden State Warriors prior to the 1971-72 season, when Attles guided the team to a then franchise-record 51 wins. In 1974-75, Attles coached the Warriors to a 4-0 NBA Finals sweep of the Washington Bullets. Rick Barry played like Superman during that campaign, but the Warriors would not have triumphed without Attles' excellent coaching. Barry made this statement after Attles passed away: "My heart is heavy today with the loss of my mentor and friend. Al was my roommate during my rookie season in the league. He taught me valuable lessons on being a professional that couldn't be learned on the court. Later, as our coach during the 1975 championship season, he exemplified leadership, togetherness and a keen strategic ability that enabled us to succeed at the highest level. We shared so many wonderful and memorable moments together. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Wilhelmina, and his entire family. He will be dearly missed."

Attles coached the Warriors through the 1982-83 season, and he still holds the Warriors' franchise record for most coaching wins (557). Attles joined the Warriors' front office after his coaching career, spending three years as the team's general manager before filling various other roles. In recent years, he was the team ambassador. He is one of only six players whose numbers have been retired by the Warriors franchise; his number 16 hangs in the rafters alongside the numbers of Rick Barry (24), Wilt Chamberlain (13), Tom Meschery (14), Chris Mullin (17), and Nate Thurmond (42).

Labels: Al Attles, Golden State Warriors, Nate Thurmond, Philadelphia Warriors, Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 9:01 AM

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Russell Westbrook Joins the Elite 25,000 Point Club, and is the Second Player With 25,000 Points/9000 Assists/8000 Rebounds

Last Friday night, Russell Westbrook joined pro basketball's 25,000 point club after scoring 23 points as his L.A. Clippers defeated the Detroit Pistons, 136-125. According to the NBA and its media partners, Westbrook is the 25th member of the 25,000 point club--but ABA statistics should be counted by the NBA just like AFL statistics are counted by the NFL, so the truth is that the 25,000 point club has 29 members. Julius Erving (30,026 career points, ranking eighth all-time), Dan Issel (27,482 points, 13th), George Gervin (26,595 points, 18th), and Rick Barry (25,279 points, 26th) are the ABA players who are excluded by the NBA, while former ABA player Moses Malone is docked 2171 points but still makes the "official" cut.

Just as it has become more common for players to score 60 points or even 70 points in a single game, it is more common for players to score more than 25,000 career points. The 1977-78 Official NBA Guide (published the season after the ABA-NBA merger) lists the NBA's All-Time Top Scorers. The 25,000 point club had four members at that time: Wilt Chamberlain (31,419 points), Oscar Robertson (26,710 points), Jerry West (25,192 points), and John Havlicek (25,073 points). As I discussed after Vince Carter became the 26th member of the 25,000 point club on November 21, 2018, this club used to be ultra-exclusive (note that in 2018 LeBron James had not yet surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the regular season career scoring list):

Younger fans may not realize that the 25,000 point club used to be even more exclusive. The "charter" members, so to speak, are Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and John Havlicek, who founded the club from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s. In the 1980s, the club added six members: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who is still the all-time scoring leader), Julius Erving, Dan Issel, Elvin Hayes, George Gervin, Moses Malone and Rick Barry. The club has since more than doubled in size. This is similar to the dramatic increase in the number of chess players who have at least a 2600 FIDE (International Chess Federation) rating; there were just 15 such players on the first official rating list in 1971 but by 1991 there were 33 and by 2004 a 2600 rating was not enough to earn a top 100 spot in the world rankings. Chess ratings are affected by the composition of the entire pool of players (it is easier to gain points when there are more players who have high ratings), while pro basketball point totals are affected not just by skill but also by rules changes, style of play changes, training advances that have extended careers and other factors. 

In 1977, even the 20,000 point club was very exclusive, including only (in addition to Chamberlain, Robertson, West, and Havlicek) Elgin Baylor (23,149 points), Hal Greer (21,586 points), Walt Bellamy (20,941 points), and Bob Pettit (20,880 points).  

Although the 25,000 point club is less exclusive than it used to be, tallying 25,000 points is still a milestone accomplishment: if a player averages 25 ppg and plays in 80 games per season for 12 years, he will be 1000 points short of 25,000, so it is obvious that all of the 25,000 point scorers combined high level production with durability.

Westbrook has won two scoring titles (2015, 2017), but he made his mark as an all-around player who is an elite scorer, rebounder, and passer. He and LeBron James are the only players in pro basketball history to have at least 25,000 career points, at least 9000 career assists, and at least 8000 career rebounds. Westbrook led the NBA in assists three times (2018-19, 2021), he became pro basketball's career triple doubles leader in 2021--breaking Oscar Robertson's record of 181--and he currently has 198 career triple doubles. Nikola Jokic ranks second among active players with 120, trailing only Westbrook, Robertson, and Magic Johnson (138). LeBron James (110) and Jason Kidd (107) are the only other players who amassed at least 100 career triple doubles.

It is baffling and inexcusable that so many media members use any excuse to bash Westbrook. Not only is Westbrook one of the most talented and accomplished players of all-time, but he also embodies all of the best values of a professional athlete: He shows up for every game, he plays hard, he accepts whatever his role is, and he is a great teammate. Westbrook has played in all 48 of the L.A. Clippers' games this season, and he has enthusiastically accepted a bench role that would cause many players of his status--and even players of a lesser status--to complain and sulk. 

Westbrook's critics remind me of a line from the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer; the chess prodigy's father in the movie notes that his son is better at playing chess than most people will be at anything they do. Russell Westbrook is better at playing basketball than most people will be at anything, and that goes double for many of the credential-wearing people who pose as journalists. The way that the L.A. Lakers and LeBron James' media sycophants treated Westbrook during Westbrook's brief time with the Lakers was despicable, and it is noteworthy that the legendary Hubie Brown stood out from the crowd by praising Westbrook. 

It is fitting that with Westbrook playing a key role the Clippers are now fighting for the number one seed in the Western Conference while the Lakers--who supposedly improved themselves by trading Westbrook last season--are struggling to qualify for the Play-In Tournament. The Lakers made a fluky run to the Western Conference Finals last year, but--as happened with other teams that made fluky playoff runs, including Portland (2019 Western Conference Finals) and Atlanta (2021 Eastern Conference Finals)--the Lakers are now showing their true level in terms of defense and professionalism; Westbrook was not causing the Lakers' problems, and getting rid of him did not solve their problems.

Labels: Dan Issel, George Gervin, Julius Erving, L.A. Clippers, LeBron James, Moses Malone, Rick Barry, Russell Westbrook

posted by David Friedman @ 10:21 AM

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