Hall of Famer’s Absurd All-Time List Snubs Multiple Lakers Legends
Let's get one thing out of the way... Julius Erving, better known as Dr.J to most, is one of the athletically-gifted and greatest basketball players to ever step foot on the court. Before Michael Jordan and Vince Carter re-defined what it meant to dunk a ball, Erving was in a league of his own when it came to his creativity and finishing at the rim. Three championships and four MVP's spread out among his time in both the NBA and ABA speaks for itself and he's solidified in the history books.
However, the doctor opted to share his opinion on a very, very important subject in basketball history and that is the ten greatest players of all time. Realistically, outside of just winning a championship, a player's ultimate goal when they make the NBA is to crack this list. This means that more often than not, they were succeeding every time they kicked off a new season of their career.
But Dr.J's final top ten choices came out to be very controversial and in place of some names that are accepted widely to stay on there, he had some questionable substitutions.
The Plausible Picks
This list is not in exact order so let's first see the four or five that do make the cut. Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar both hold serious arguments to be the greatest player of all time so those check out seeing that they had the league in a chokehold during both of their long primes and dominated on both sides of the game.
Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, despite playing in an early era of basketball with different competition, both defined what it meant to centers in basketball and with Russell's 11 championships and Chamberlain's ridiculous records, they have to be there.
Finally, Magic Johnson ran the 1980's along with Larry Bird and on top of five championships, he paved the way for all of the big point guards we see today and saved the NBA from bankruptcy.
Kobe & LeBron Would Like A Word
Obviously, Dr.J played decades ago and experienced older competition at a far different level than what we see today. Nate 'Tiny' Archibald being an effective player at just 6'1 is incredible and he was able to become the first player to lead the league in both points and assists. But even with his championship with the Celtics in 1981, his resume does not compare to these other guys.
Karl Malone was one of the most dominant post presences of all time and he's right near the top on the NBA's scoring list but he unfortunately was in his prime the same time as Michael Jordan and could never capture even one ring.
Therefore, how could Erving not save spots for two legends in Kobe Bryant and LeBron James on his list. When we look back at the 2000's and 2010's in a couple of decades, they will be two of the names that define both of those time periods in NBA history.
All of the hardware, records and memories the two have contributed to the game of basketball should grant them a spot on everybody's all-time list. We very well may see players in the future surpass them but for now, they should be safe.
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