Doctor J in your Face!

Back in the days before Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins ruled the airways of the NBA,  there was the good Doctor.  NBA wasn't readily available to basketball fans in Indonesia back in the early 80s but we practically devoured any available videotaped games that made their way to us.

Even with our very limited exposure, some players just immediately jumped out and captured our imagination.  Few players do it as well as the good old Doctor J.  He wasn't very old back then, in fact his Sixers were perennial contenders in the late 70s & early 80s after the ABA folded in 1976 and several teams were absorbed into the NBA.  Doc was traded away by the Nets to the Philly Sixers and he immediately made a huge impact - leading the Sixers to the NBA Finals in 1977, but losing to Bill Walton's Blazers.

Back in the mid 80s, I also saw a concert video of Grover Washington Jr at home and Grover wrote a song in homage to Julius Erving called "Let It Flow".  Grover was inspired to write the song after watching the NBA Finals in 1980 and saw Julius Erving made the amazing lay-up from behind the backboard.  Doc made a baseline move from one side of the basket against the Lakers' Mark Landsberger, but Kareem plugged up the middle.  The great Dr J adjusted in mid-air, with all of his body behind the backboard, scooped the ball with one hand, glided until he got the ball on the other side of the basket and layed it in the hoop - while his body is still behind the backboard!! - then he landed on earth.  I didn't see the shot live, so I missed the whole drama & tension of the moment, but even seeing it now on highlight reels - it is still awe inspiring.

"The Lay Up" NBA 1980 Finals

So....How high can Doc Jump?

Way back in the days, I've also seen footage of Doc jumping clear over Artis Gilmore (who is 7'2", by the way) and dunking the basketball.  I"ve been trying to find this footage from the internet, but haven't had any luck doing so.

Most recently, Vince Carter's "Le Dunk De La Mort" over Frederic Weis of France (who is also 7'2") in the 2000 Olympics has been the only one dunk coming close to what Doc did to Art back then, but I have to tell you though - Artis Gilmore is much much scarier player than Weis.  I mean, Art is in the Basketball Hall of Fame!

I'll definitely keep on looking for the footage of Dr J over Artis Gilmore and I'll share it with you as soon as I find it.

Really Larry? You Really Think You can Block Doc's Dunk?

This particular picture I liked because it's Doc jamming one over Larry Bird.  Larry came into the league in 1979 with Doc still at his peak or very close to it.  Larry revived the struggling Celts and had an awesome rivalry with Doc's Sixers.

The Celtics and Sixers took turns making it to the NBA Finals out of the Eastern Conference between 1980-1984.  They last met in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1985 - Celts won.

I even remembered the fight between Doc and Larry.  They were awesome rivals in the East, but after Doc winning the 1983 NBA Championships, you can sense Doc's decline - as the Sixers never again made the NBA Finals for the rest of the 80s.

Parrish Posterized - courtesy of the good Doctor


This picture on the left also attest to the Sixers-Celtics rivalry and a testament to Doc's athletic prowess and his fearlesness.  I mean, a facial Spalding tatoo on the Chief himself?  Gadyamn!

Robert Parrish was the Celtics' center in the 1980s and part of the Celts' original Big Three with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale.  They won 3 titles together and made the finals a total of 5 times.  Parrish is also a Hall of Famer.

Doc's Sixers won 1 title in 1983 over the Lakers and made the NBA finals 3 other times, often through the Celtics, losing the finals to the Portland Trail Blazers once and to the Los Angeles Lakers twice.





I have to admit that many footage of Dr J's incredible athletic feats on the hardwood actually came from his wild ABA days with the New York Nets.  In 5 seasons with the ABA, Doc won 2 championships, 3 MVP awards & 3 scoring titles.  So if you see pictures or footages of Dr J in his Nets jersey (or maybe even in his 'GASP' Squires jersey) - you're in for a treat!  A young awesome Doc in his 20s with his giant 'fro probably dunking over everybody.

Posterized Much?

This picture is Doc in his early Sixers years (note the awesome afro look), probably circa late 70s - dunking over Shelton and looking down on the whole damn rim.  Knowing Doc, this was probably already on the way down to earth.
















A young and awesome looking Artis Gilmore


By the way, this is how a young Artis Gilmore looks (the one that Doc soared on and subsequently posterized) back in the day. 

So before we say today's players are all this and that, I would like to remind all of us of the days past where the pioneers of the game played for much lower exposure.  I'm just so glad that technology allows us to conserve these memories of the past and give us a chance to appreciate the generations that precede us and our heroes.

Respect to Julius Erving and the rest of glorious athletes of the past.  We will never forget how awesome all of you were. 

Peace out!