Julius Erving: 1983 NBA champion 76ers might be 'greatest playoff team ever'

The NBA has had faces representing the league through every era.

Before LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant in the 2010s, Kobe Bryant in the early 2000s, Michael Jordan and the Phoenix Suns' Charles Barkley in the 1990s , and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s, there was Dr. J — Julius Erving. His high-flying style captivated fans from the 1970s into the early 1980s and has been emulated by players ever since.

Erving hosted the 12th annual Jerry Colangelo Golf Classic last week. The event presented by Colangelo, the former Suns owner, drew Naismith Hall Of Fame inductees and the hall's Class Of 2024 to the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club on Sept. 12-13.

Erving's 46-inch vertical soared and hammered in plenty of all-time greatest dunks during his ABA and NBA careers from 1971-87. He led the Philadelphia 76ers to a sweep of the then-defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the 1983 NBA Finals. He helped drive the NBA into a billion-dollar industry following the 1976 ABA-NBA merger.

Erving spoke to The Arizona Republic about a variety of topics at the event.

Erving on the Jerry Colangelo Golf Classic's importance :

“Jerry Colangelo has been an iconic figure in basketball. And this event has become a staple in terms of attracting the Hall Of Famers, potential Hall Of Famers, the NBA family, Team USA family, and the sponsors that come out are all high-level owners. Operators of multiple types of businesses to connect the Hall Of Fame and our people associated with the Hall Of Fame with those sponsors is a beautiful marriage. Some things work. Some things don’t work, but this is one of the things that works.”

On lack of credit for being a pioneer for NBA players as businessmen, movie stars. (He appeared in the 1979 cult-classic film 'The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh”) :

“I feel as though there’s sometimes been an under-appreciation for the things I’ve been able to touch. In part, I’ve always not really wanted my name, face, and likeness up in lights and to be all over. That wasn’t the goal. The goal was a lot simpler than that. I know for me the under-appreciation at this time is maybe in large part my fault, and my handlers who I’ve had during those years maybe didn’t have the vision to predict and see what today was gonna bring an impact or really how long we’re gonna be around. When I started playing pro basketball, I thought if I had a 10-year career I’d be lucky, but I had a 16-year career (1971-87, ABA and NBA), and that was a long time more than 10, and the end result was ended up in the Hall of Fame. Who knew? You really don’t know."

On his 1983 NBA champion Philadelphia 76ers’ influence for building 'Super Teams' stacked with all-stars (he was critical of the trend in an interview last year):

“Moses (Malone) being the final piece to a team that was always in contention, we went to four Finals in seven years from ’76 to ’83. That’s very much like Golden State’s run in the modern era in the (2010s). They were calling that a dynasty. But making it to the Finals is one thing, winning the Finals is another thing. So the three times we did not succeed probably cuts into the significance and the legacy of those teams. But I think the way in which we won and who we had might make that team the greatest playoff team ever, and we should be in that conversation.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Julius Erving: 1983 NBA champion 76ers might be 'greatest playoff team ever'