To say the NBA has changed since Hall-of-Famer Julius “Dr. J” Erving hung up his Converses in 1987 would be a gross understatement. Today’s perimeter-oriented NBA has evolved to the point where you could argue it’s a completely different sport from the one Erving played in his 80s heyday. And while Erving says he’s embraced some of the league’s stylistic changes, he’s certainly not on board with all of them, particularly the increased prevalence of “load management.”
“I think there are a lot of nights where it’s just a little too easy. Just not enough contact, too many whistles,” said Erving Wednesday while appearing as a guest on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. “I’m not a big fan of load management. I’m like 82 games a year, baby. You know when you sign up, you need to play. If you play 78, 75, that’s okay. But if you sign up to play an 82-game season and you play 50, someone needs to move in and take your spot.”
Erving, who won his lone NBA title with the Sixers in 1983, is also of the opinion that today’s stars have a tendency to overstay their welcome, tarnishing their legacies by hanging around well past their prime. “How long do you play after you don’t have it anymore if you’ve been a superstar? I think the compensation of players incentivizes them to stay way too long and just kind of coast their last three or four seasons,” lamented Erving, who retired as the third-leading scorer in NBA/ABA history, but has since fallen to eighth while being surpassed by Karl Malone, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki. “It’s just playing to get paid. In my situation, I just chose to move on. It was time when I started scoring 18 or 16 points a game. I was a better player than that. I didn’t want to be out there and be a shadow of myself.”
Erving, who regards Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins as the greatest dunker of all-time (Vince Carter and Jordan rank second and third, respectively), says he hasn’t dunked since he was 63, but that’s only because he hasn’t tried. “It’s not the dunk,” insists Erving, who celebrated his 71st birthday in February. “It’s the landing. Landings are the big problem.”
Le Batard also inquired about Erving’s famous on-court confrontation with Celtics great Larry Bird, though the former MVP didn’t have much to offer on that particular subject. “I don’t talk about that. He doesn’t talk about it,” said Erving, downplaying his rivalry with Bird. “It was gone right after it happened. We did a Converse commercial the next day in Boston. People try to keep it alive like it should be a big thing, but it’s not.”
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