In a career filled with spectacular plays and memorable moments, one play by Julius Erving stands out as equal to, if not greater than, all the rest.
Julius Erving flies in
for his famous move
in the 1980 Finals.
It came during the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the 1980 NBA Finals, when Erving's Philadelphia 76ers were battling the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers had won two of the first three, and the Sixers needed a win at home to even the series.
Game 4 was close into the fourth quarter, when Erving scored on a drive that anyone who saw it will never forget. He started with the ball on the right side, guarded by Mark Landsberger, a slow-footed but burly Laker forward. Erving used his quickness to beat Landsberger to the baseline and rose toward the rim, a layup or dunk in his sights.
Suddenly, Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stepped into Erving's path, determined to block the shot or foul while trying. Dr. J, already in the air, shifted his body away from Abdul-Jabbar, a movement that took him behind the backboard and seemingly out of position to make a play. But as he hung in the air and glided past Abdul-Jabbar, Erving slid his body just enough to the left so that he could reach his long right arm back toward the basket and somehow score on a reverse layin.
The crowd was stunned into silence before erupting in cheers. The Lakers simply were stunned.
"Here I was, trying to win a championship, and my mouth just dropped open," said Lakers guard Magic Johnson, then a rookie. "He actually did that! I thought, 'What should we do? Should we take the ball out, or should we ask him to do it again?' It's still the greatest move I've ever seen in a basketball game, the all-time greatest."
Erving's basket helped the Sixers pull out a 105-102 victory, but the Lakers went on to win the Finals in six games.
This is why basketball is my favorite sport. There's an artful grace to it, split-second decision making as well as constant movement.
Sho'nuff Joined: Nov 06, 2005 Posts: 12038 Threads: 186 Located: ...aaaaaand here come the pretzels!
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:38 pm Post subject:
Most overrated shot:
Michael Jordan's mid-air handswitch layup. He had an open lane to the basket, and had no reason to switch hands, other than to showboat.
_________________ Recent films: Step Brothers - 5/10 Harold and Maude - 9/10 Inception - 10/10 Freaks - 8/10 Wild at Heart - 7/10 Black Dynamite - 8/10 The Children's Hour - 8/10 Baby Doll - 9/10 Some Like it Hot - 10/10 Tootsie - 9/10 Waco: The Rules of Engagement - 7/10 Alice in Wonderland (2010) - 5/10 - The Graduate - 10/10 I Love You, Man - 8/10 Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical - 8/10 Oliver! - 10/10 Inglorious Basterds - 7/10 Shutter Island - 8/10 The Conversation - 10/10 Midnight Cowboy - 9/10 The Lives of Others - 10/10 Raging Bull - 10/10 Avatar 3-D - 7/10 Food, Inc. - 9/10 Waltz With Bashir - 10/10 The Proposition - 9/10
DrunkenSuperman No underwear Joined: Oct 02, 2006 Posts: 10190 Threads: 142 Located: Somewhere nude
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 7:01 pm Post subject:
Sho'nuff wrote:
Most overrated shot:
Michael Jordan's mid-air handswitch layup. He had an open lane to the basket, and had no reason to switch hands, other than to showboat.
Sho'nuff Joined: Nov 06, 2005 Posts: 12038 Threads: 186 Located: ...aaaaaand here come the pretzels!
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:03 pm Post subject:
DrunkenSuperman wrote:
Sho'nuff wrote:
Most overrated shot:
Michael Jordan's mid-air handswitch layup. He had an open lane to the basket, and had no reason to switch hands, other than to showboat.
He thought he saw a block coming.
He thought wrong.
_________________ Recent films: Step Brothers - 5/10 Harold and Maude - 9/10 Inception - 10/10 Freaks - 8/10 Wild at Heart - 7/10 Black Dynamite - 8/10 The Children's Hour - 8/10 Baby Doll - 9/10 Some Like it Hot - 10/10 Tootsie - 9/10 Waco: The Rules of Engagement - 7/10 Alice in Wonderland (2010) - 5/10 - The Graduate - 10/10 I Love You, Man - 8/10 Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical - 8/10 Oliver! - 10/10 Inglorious Basterds - 7/10 Shutter Island - 8/10 The Conversation - 10/10 Midnight Cowboy - 9/10 The Lives of Others - 10/10 Raging Bull - 10/10 Avatar 3-D - 7/10 Food, Inc. - 9/10 Waltz With Bashir - 10/10 The Proposition - 9/10
Registered iciners do not see these ads. Please log in or register.
