• Julius Erving doesn’t think highly of the current era where players publicly switch franchises to form superteams.
• Damian Lillard and James Harden are in public disputes with their current teams over possible trades
• Erving only played for the Philadelphia 76ers during his 10 years in the NBA
Player movement in the modern NBA has evolved past what LeBron James did in 2010 when he exercised his right as a free agent to sign a contract with the Miami Heat. Despite the controversy behind that move, James did something he was entitled to as a free agent.
Nowadays, top players only move on the basis of trades where they force their home team to send them to specific destinations to create super teams. NBA legend Julius Erving hates this development in the game, as he told Joy De’Angela.
“These guys, the prisoners are running the show and not the warden. A star player on a team is like, ‘screw this city and all the support they’ve given me, and I’m going South. I’m going to Florida, or I’m going to LA, or I’m going to Texas, or I’m going somewhere else.’ These are business decisions, I understand. But they haven’t helped the game. They have not helped to keep the parity within the game when you build these superteams.”
Dame, KD, Super Teams…. Dr. J has thoughts! 😳👀 pic.twitter.com/ZC2FTe8EFs
— Joy De’Angela (@joydeangela) July 28, 2023
Erving spent 10 seasons in the NBA, all with the Philadelphia 76ers. He did play for the New York Nets in the ABA (now Brooklyn Nets) but stayed loyal to the 76ers as a player. He is the last superstar to bring an NBA title to Philly as well, so he must feel vindicated about not team-hopping in the NBA.
Julius Erving Approves Of Damian Lillard And Attacks Kevin Durant
The former 76ers star was asked if he had qualms about Damian Lillard demanding a trade to Miami, where Erving indicated Lillard is justified for the loyalty he showed for over a decade. Funnily, Erving went in on Kevin Durant during this, holding him as a negative example compared to Dame.
“Wherever he goes, he’ll probably finish his career there because of his age and the fact he’s played 12-13 years and he wants a chance to win a championship. He doesn’t think he can get it there, that’s a good reason for him. A guy who’s 26 or 27 just hopping around, look at how many times Durant has hopped around.”
That was a pretty direct attack on what Durant has done with his team moves so far. But KD has two championship rings and Finals MVP trophies that’ll justify his decision, as compared to Lillard’s peak being a sweep loss in the Western Conference Finals up until now.
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