Julius Erving: MJ Before MJ (With Brian Koppelman)

Book of Basketball 2.0

The Ringer

Sports

4.8 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2020

⏱️ 77 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the second episode of Season 3, Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman explain why Julius Erving kept basketball fun before Bird and Magic arrived, why his barely seen ABA seasons added to his legend, why he eventually became an underrated superstar, and where he ranks in Bill’s Hall of Fame Pyramid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you missed the first two seasons of the Book of Basketball 2.0 podcast, we covered some great
0:04.6	players and great games in season one and we redrafted all the drafts from 1996 to 2010 in season two.
0:11.2	This is season three. We're also brought to you by the Ringer podcast network and the ringer.com
0:16.4	where we are covering all the NBA craziness right now. We're also launching two new podcasts this
0:21.2	week. One is called Recipe Club with Dave Chang. The other is called Gamblers. It's a narrative
0:26.0	podcast by Dave Hill. Hope you check that out. Season three of the Book of Basketball 2.0 podcast
0:32.3	continues. I hope you heard episode one of season three. I'm on Avarsin. This is episode two.
0:38.8	My name is Bill Simmons. This is the Book of Basketball.
0:56.3	It's a Book of Basketball. It's a Book of Basketball. It's a Book of Basketball.
1:11.8	The Book of Basketball 2.0 Julia serving. Julia serving played 16 seasons with the best
1:20.0	ones happening in the Ram Shackle ABA where nobody played defense. The games were never televised
1:27.4	and they barely made it through a final season with six teams. He couldn't win an NBA title until
1:32.4	Moses Malone showed up to save him and Philly. He wasn't as good as Kareem, Bird, Magic or Jordan.
1:38.4	His four peers that mattered most. For the all time forwards, his numbers weren't as good as
1:42.8	LeBron, Durant, Malone or Dirk. He wasn't a very good defender. He couldn't shoot past 17 feet. In
1:48.8	fact, when his friend Peter Vessie once praised a rookie named Michael Jordan to an unimpressed Julius,
1:55.6	a frustrated Vessie told him, Julius, he's you with a jump shot. I get it. Now throw all of it out.
2:03.6	Let's talk about Dr. J.
2:08.0	Stolen, but the doctor, yes, he's got it. We rock the baby in his face with slam dunk.
2:13.2	Let's talk about one of the most influential players ever, along with Mike and Kuzi, Russell
2:18.3	Elgin, Wilk Bird, Magic Jordan, LeBron and Curry. Those 11 guys changed professional
2:24.1	basketball since World War II. He single-handedly carried the failing ABA for three extra years.
	...

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