Julius Erving made the headlines earlier this week when he went against LeBron James and NBA superteams. The Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers legend has shared his animosity toward these squads in recent times, even calling out the Nets for ‘buying a championship’ like the Los Angeles Lakers.
More recently, he went after James, who has been part of superteams during his career, leaving him out of his two all-time squads. He joined Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports and created two big teams, but none of them included the King. Why? He’s not a fan of LeBron creating superteams. As simple as that.
“He’s the guy who has led the charge in terms of superteams being put together, when he put them together in Miami. He put together a team in Cleveland as well, and put together a team in Los Angeles. He can put together his own team — I ain’t gonna pick his team,” Erving said on the podcast.
This is curious and ironic, knowing that LeBron named him one of the best three players in NBA history in 2013. During an interview, the then Miami Heat player was asked to name the top 3 players ever, and he had a hard time picking the next two (then three) after naming Michael Jordan.
“Michael Jordan… Michael Jordan… Wow, this is though… Michael Jordan, Dr. J and Larry Bird. You only gave me 3? Yeah, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Dr. J. (…) Can I get four? Uh, Magic [Johnson].”
He went with MJ, Erving, Bird, and then Johnson. Although Dr. J wasn’t as successful as other players of his era, he left a huge mark on the game and inspired plenty of players that came after him. It’s curious that he feels that way about LeBron when everybody knows superteams have always existed.
Well, he said what he said and earned a lot of attention with his words from people defending Bron and his decision over 18 years of his career.
