WEBVTT - TOM's Talks | Julius Erving 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.640 This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:08.440 search seventy Sixers podcast Wherever You Get Your Pots. Julius 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:12.000 Irving is synonymous with the Philadelphia seventy Sixers. He's been 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:14.640 an amazing player that helped change the way the sport 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:17.279 is played and an ambassador of sorts for the game 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:21.680 of basketball worldwide. Doctor j is known for his signature moves, 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:24.919 an NBA championship with the Sixers in eighty three, a 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.000 two time champ in the ABA, an eleven time All Star, 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:29.960 and a lot more. It all led him be an 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.760 inductive in the nixt Smith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:36.240 in two thousand and six. This week's Tom's Talks podcast 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:42.400 is with the Doctor. We'll touch on Julius Irving's illustrious career, 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.080 but we begin with a discussion of today's current events, 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:50.480 specifically the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. Floyd died 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:54.920 shortly after his arrest by a Minneapolis police officer. Irving's 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:58.680 professional career started in Virginia in the Old ABA. It 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:01.600 was there on more than one on occasion where Irving 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:04.320 was pulled over by law enforcements simply on the way 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:08.160 to basketball practice. So Julius speaks on this topic based 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:12.560 on personal experience. That was crazy, man, that was that 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:17.480 was nineteen seventy one, seventy two. I mean it was 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:22.080 it was that long ago. And you know, just watching 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:25.800 the video of this guy getting choked out with officer 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:30.120 who has his knee on his neck and he's saying, 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:32.880 I mean I just felt like going through the TV 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.479 and pushing him, you know, just get just get off 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.680 the guy's neck. I mean this this was life or death, right, 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:44.000 and uh and I got stopped in those days in 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:49.040 the seventies. And you know, not only was it a 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:53.640 nervous time because you know, you didn't know what the 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.960 outcome was going to be, but the ridiculousness of it. 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:02.080 And you know, asking me where do I work? You know, 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:05.800 why do I have s car? Whatever? You know, you're 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:07.640 got stopping me. That's not that's not a reason to 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.160 stop anybody ask them where they work if they have 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.560 a nice car. And and that was truth to be told. 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.560 And so so this has been a problem in our 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:23.160 society for a long time. And you know, so the 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.360 the rioting and the looting and all that kind of 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.480 stuff that just goes in hand with people who are 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:33.320 opportunists trying to take advantage of a situation and and 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:38.359 and doing doing bad things during that time. But it's 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:40.840 not anything new. It's not anything new. I mean when 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.600 I was in high school, you know, just had a 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:49.880 couple of students, fellow students who were teenagers you know, 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:58.440 either get shot or you know, get hurt unjustly from 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.799 you know, be getting roughed up or whatever. So it's 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:06.280 it's yeah, it's a it's an epidemic, and it's uh 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.760 and it's in our society and I hate to see 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:16.280 it be encouraged and fit and unfortunately a lot of 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:20.680 things that are being fit, but being fit by people 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.200 in high places. I know you went through that and 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:25.920 reading your book and getting to know you over the years, 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:28.960 but speaking of that time when you mentioned high school, 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:32.040 and this is a lot more fun and light, and 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:34.239 that is you and your friends would get in the 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.800 car and travel around New York City and find games 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.040 in different parts and obviously a Rutger Park. You became 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:44.400 kind of famous, and that helped launch your career. But 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:48.200 that joy of going to find the best competition and 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:51.600 all being together and and I know you talked about 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:54.880 that and and really think back on that fifty two 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.800 some odd years ago with a with a joy when 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:02.160 you remember how how that was for your ice. Yeah, yeah, 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:04.960 as a teenager. You know, the first time I played 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:09.240 in Rocket Park was after I signed with the Virginia Squires. 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:11.440 I had never played in that park before. So I 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:14.880 literally twenty one years old when I played in Rocket Park. 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.040 But I played in Brooklyn, played in the Bronx, played 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:26.400 in Queens, and played in Long Island. And me guy 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:32.520 named Robert Mayrant and named Lenny Carter Odell cured and 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:36.240 and Leon Saunders, guy who named me the doctor and 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:39.480 I named him the professor man. We used to get 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:43.839 in the car and either my car, Robert's car, or 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:48.040 Leon's car, and we go look for basketball games. We 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:50.640 used from Long Island. We would go to Queens because 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:52.600 you know, we kind of exhausted what was happening in 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.520 Nassau County, right where all the good parks were, and 0:04:56.520 --> 0:05:00.400 and we wanted more. And I think when you want more, 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:04.040 you get more. So ironically one was one story I 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:07.640 can we uh, you know, we used to go there. 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:10.440 We had you know, T shirts, so T shirts might 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.839 might say something about where we're from but it just 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:17.560 might have numbers on them, right, and uh, you know, 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:21.200 we went into we went into Queens and we started 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.919 playing foot called basketball, and at the end of the 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.680 end of the round, you know, the guys said, man, 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:32.520 you know you guys for y'all go back to Brooklyn. 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:37.039 You know, let's let's exchange shirts. Let us at Brooklyn. 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:40.280 We're not from Brooklyn. We're from Long Island. And then 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:43.640 they were so upset because they were like, guys from 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:46.880 Long Island beat us. We thought y'all was from Brooklyn. 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:51.880 So we like, we've changed the shirts. Anyway, then we 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.719 went back to Long Island. So it wasn't about geography, 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:57.800 but there was a perception that, you know, if you're 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.960 from an urban environment, you played better and that you 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:04.880 are better. And that was I old enough for us too. See, 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.520 we were getting recognized by somebody who was closer to 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:11.720 the of the game, you know, New York City right 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.000 that we were, and they thought we were from there. 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:18.279 One thing I liked. And we're going to get into 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:20.840 your time with the Sixers and the eighty three championships 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:23.920 and changing the game a little bit. But again going 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.440 back to a little bit about your early years, in 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:30.280 basketball was whether it was going to U Mass or 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.960 trying out for the nineteen seventy to Olympic team, where 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.320 just to that point right there where you just said 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:39.800 where you were finding out where you fit and like, 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:43.160 oh my, maybe my talents do fit into this level. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.440 But you had a humble approach where in the end 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:48.680 you became one of the greatest basketball players our game 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:51.040 has ever known, but at the beginning you were trying 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.479 to inch your way in there and figure out where 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:57.120 your talents fit in. Speak to that, Yeah, you know, Tom, 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:03.760 I hope that I've been humbled through the whole journey because, 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:09.960 you know, for me, and my mentors told me this 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.160 and encourage this, you know, trying to leave the game 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:16.760 in better shape than it was before you've got you know. So, 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.480 so I think that was always somewhere in my mindset 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.320 that if I could leave it better, then the next group, 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:26.240 the next cool group, they will try to make it 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:31.720 better because if I inspire them, then they're inspired by me. 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:36.200 They will do things that will inspire others. So so 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:41.920 for me, the whole moved to college and going to 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:46.600 U Mass and going to a school different than you know, 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:49.760 the big time schools, the Michigans and North Carolinas and 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:54.320 UCLAs in the world or whatever. Because I graduated high school, 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:57.760 I was pushing six four it's less than one hundred 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:01.640 and seventy pounds, and even though I posted good numbers, 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.560 I was a twenty five point score seventeen rebound to 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:08.360 night guy in high school. And we finished and we 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:12.520 were seventeen and two, and then the first game of 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:16.000 the county playoffs we lost, so we end up seventeen three, 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:19.640 and you know, that was it for high school. It 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:23.160 was it for high school competition, so the college competition 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:31.119 was next. Freshmen weren't allowed to play varsity basketball, and 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:34.040 I probably was able to compete with the varsity basketball. 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:38.559 As you know, the TAA realized and started letting freshman play. 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:41.760 But we were seventeen and as our freshman team, I 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.559 remember the guys. We had a couple of guys from 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:50.280 New Jersey, John Benncourt, Mike pack Here, Bill Kesgin, and 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.320 then we had some Massachusetts guys, and then we had 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:55.320 a couple of Long Island as Me and Rick Vogli 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:59.400 with Vogli with for Salonica played against them in high school, 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.720 so we had to be two guys from Long Island, 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:07.520 and we never lost the game. So may our coach 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:09.040 had a lot to do with that because he was, 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:14.080 you know, he was like Vince Lombardi. He was a 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:18.880 hard driving guy. Peter Broker and uh and Jack Lehman. 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:22.440 When I became a player for Jack Lehman, I played 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:26.120 Bostony for the two seasons, and you know, he he 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:30.559 kind of kept we lit on things because he played 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:34.320 a very controlled the game. But for whatever reason, I 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:36.960 played a lot of minutes and I was very productive, 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.319 you know term the points and rebounds. You know, in 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:44.840 the last year, well both years we got snubbed by 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:48.040 the NC Double A tournament. We went to the n 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:52.120 I t in New York, and so that first year 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:53.959 I remember, but I think we were eighteen and six 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:56.840 and then we were twenty two and two because played 0:09:56.840 --> 0:10:00.000 twenty four games and the NC Double A didn't didn't 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:05.000 recognize Yankee Conference as automatic, and so so I never 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:08.640 got the big head associated with, you know, being a 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:12.800 national champion. And but I did love the game and 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:16.120 I always wanted, you know, my own personal philosophy to 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:19.839 apply if I went somewhere and played, let it be better, 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:24.880 Let it be better. Because I'm there. So that Olympic 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:30.240 development experience. Olympic development experience happened in nineteen seventy in 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:32.840 preparation for the seventy two Games. So I got invited 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:37.000 to the camp as an alternant, and you know this 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.760 is chronicle in the book. As you know, you know, 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:42.160 I go there. There are a lot of players there 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:45.320 who I had heard about and never played against, who 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:48.760 had much bigger names. And I went as an alternant. 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.600 Next thing, I know, the fitting me for USA jacket 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:57.640 to go over and represent the USA. And I'm on 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:02.200 a team you know with Paul West Ball was one 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:06.320 and job Rights and Baptis, these guys with the big 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:11.560 schools and he had Crayton, Tom ms Miller went to Maryland. Whatever, 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:16.360 I'm going on this team and we played thirteen games 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.760 and I'm the leading scorer rebounded on the team and 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:23.880 we had three seven footers. So it was like go figure. 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:28.360 And I think coming back and playing my junior year 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:34.719 in college, somebody out there said I'm going to take 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:37.040 a shot on, you know, getting this kid and getting 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.080 the leave school early, and that had not been a 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:43.320 big thing during that time. Only a few people had 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:47.400 left school early. Spencer Hayward being the first, I believe, 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:51.400 and then I became a part of a statistic in 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:55.120 that regard because I left after my junior year, started 0:11:55.160 --> 0:12:00.880 my pro career with the Virginia Squires the championship and 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.840 Julius you changed the game. And you know, obviously as 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:06.719 a player when you're playing with flair and you can 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:10.000 sense the crowd is enjoying it. But then as you 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:13.920 grew into your pro career and you're soaring and flying, 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.199 you know, and the game became above the rim. And 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.199 that's kind of a landmark deal in the history of 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.640 our game in the early part of the seventies, and 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:26.720 that's and then the game has changed. Basically, not a 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:29.600 lot of people can lay claim to anything like that 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:32.280 in any sport. Do you see it that way that 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:36.200 you helped change the game of basketball? Well, I'm not 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:43.079 seeing the Royal Chiefs per se, but but but there's 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:47.360 a there's a there's an undercurrent there in terms of 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:52.520 people who sports enthusiasts and who acknowledgeable like yourself whatever, 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:58.200 in terms of moments and things that we're change agents 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.960 in the sport and in every sport. You know, Jim 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:11.760 Brown changed football and so so I like to hear 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:15.720 it discussed, and you know, hear my name put in 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:21.400 the equation with Pete Marraich and and I think when 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:25.120 they have at NBA at fifty posted here and I 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:29.359 are kind of like right next to each other, and 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:32.680 and I look at it sometimes when I say, you know, 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.480 he definitely changed the game. I changed the game. And 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:40.800 I think that's why we're together like that. It's just 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:42.680 kind of like a special little thing that I have 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:46.160 with Pete because I liked him. I went to camp 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:50.600 with the Atlanta Hawks when he was there, and just 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:54.920 like with George Gervin and Virginia's stay after practice and 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:56.920 we play one on one and we just had a 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:02.480 good time getting to no One in the sharing our 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:05.720 basketball styles and the things that we brought to the 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:10.000 game that were, you know before perceived to be only 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:13.680 done by the gold Tradas or done for show as 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:17.880 opposed to effect. And I looked at when loss record 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:19.760 and I said, love, you know, I might do things 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.400 at a flash year and a showing, but is adding 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:25.480 up in the wind column and the wind column is 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:29.280 way created in the lost column. And you know, so 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:31.920 that's how I view it. We'll have more of my 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:35.880 conversation with Julius Irving in a moment. In this time 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:40.880 of social distancing, Novacare Rehabilitation is offering physical therapy from 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:44.040 the comfort and safety of your home. Through their new 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:48.840 tele a Rehab program, Novacare will virtually bring their services 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:52.560 to you so you may heal, build strength, and get 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.400 back to the things you love. Tell a rehab let 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:59.240 you easily connect with one of Novacare's licensed therapists through 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:03.320 web based technology that is Hippo compliant. For more information, 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.760 visit novacare dot com. Now back to my chat with 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:10.800 doctor j When you talked about trying to leave the 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.200 game in a better place, everybody looked at you and 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:18.360 still today as this ambassador, this icon of basketball. But 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.840 for like a generation and a half, ten or fifteen years, 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:24.560 the Michael Jordan's like, and then it went on to 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.400 Michael and we've gone through that with the Last Dance 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:31.040 and Kobe and Lebron in other words, a whole slice 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:35.120 of basketball dumb looked up to you. So when Jordan 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:39.080 or people of that generation came up to you and 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.720 you know, you intersected and you could feel that reverence, 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:45.760 that must have been special. And then is the way 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:48.000 you handle it makes it with the grace and the 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:53.080 class and the charisma, just speak to that whole dynamic 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:57.760 about being that guy. I think it's great when when 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.240 they look at you being the godfather, so to speak. 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:03.840 And you know, I go back to my experience at 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:09.160 U Mass when Bill Russell came and it was his uh, 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.480 he just finished went in the NBA Championship as a 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:17.600 player coach for Boston. He retired, and he was a speaker. 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:22.440 He was speaker at UMSS. I'm nineteen or twenty, and 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:27.960 you know, he heard about me and asked me to 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:31.280 meet up with him after his after my practice and 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.200 after his speaking engagement because I didn't hear him at 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:38.360 a speaking engagement. And we met and we went to 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:43.400 the student union and we went in there. It was 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:48.280 probably like eight thirty nine o'clock and when we left 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.440 there it was midnight, you know, And my life was 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:53.800 changed forever. I mean, I sat and I listened to 0:16:53.840 --> 0:17:00.080 this man talk and his wisdom and his sincerity, and 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.240 there was an integrity about him extending the hand of 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:07.280 friendship at that time that I had never experienced. And 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:12.119 I wished and hoped that I could do that for 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:18.760 somebody else, and fortunately I was able to do it 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:20.760 and still continue to do it with Bill, you know, 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:25.600 called one the phone and you know, first thing, he says, 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:30.480 what's up, doctor, and we just take up what we 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.639 left off. So it could be a week before, or 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:37.520 it could be three months before, whatever. And he's he 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:42.480 was that type of iconic figure, and I aspired to 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:46.560 you know, obviously it could win eleven championships thirteen years 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.880 or whatever, but I could extend the hand of friendship. 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:54.719 And they did that too, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan 0:17:55.240 --> 0:18:00.879 and guys big and small like them, Terry Tyler, Quinn Boner, 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:04.879 you know, just guys who said, hey, man, you know 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:07.200 I'm here. If you ever need me, just give me 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:11.040 a call. Grant Hill, just give me a call, see it, 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:15.080 just to see what's up. And you know that there's 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:18.240 a good feeling associated with that in terms of affecting 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:21.840 a few different generations because now at seventy, you know, 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:25.600 you know, forty years past my prime on the court, 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:28.640 maybe forty five years past my prime on the court. 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:33.360 So there's been multiple generations of players who I've met 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:37.360 in some capacity, and I tried to build Russell and 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:39.240 due to them with what they did to me, what 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.119 he did to me, that's awesome and you're great at that. 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:45.120 And during your prime you were an eleven time All 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:47.639 Star and what I love too is you were five 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:52.240 time first team All NB And of course you did 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:55.080 win that championship with the Sixers in nineteen eighty three, 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:57.480 but it was a long time coming, starting in the 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.959 seventy seven finals when you played Portland and then trying 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:03.879 to get there, um just to kind of walk us 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:06.680 through that. I know that's a lot, but to finally 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:09.920 achieve your goal after getting knocked down with a group 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.520 that was primarily able to stay together, and then adding 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:15.240 Moses to finally get you over the hump. But that's 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:17.600 a rare. You don't really find that as much anymore, 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:19.919 where a team is able to, you know, take the 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:23.119 steps and finally punched through. But you were at the 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.679 peak of your powers with the MVP and anyone, and 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.080 just like I said, getting into that finals and winning 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:34.280 an eighty three, well yeah, it's it's interesting because you know, 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:36.760 there's there's like three parts of my career. So there's 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:40.720 the first five years, which the ABA years, and there's 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:45.200 the next eleven years, which is the you know quest 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:48.600 or not the next seven years the quest for the championship, 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:52.440 and then is the four years you know afterwards, in 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:57.000 which we weren't contenders, but you know, we were competitive. 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.159 We were like the spoilers and now and it was 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:05.720 an interesting time. So um, but the eleven years with Philadelphia, 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:08.119 so I look at that as the middle and the 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:14.240 end of my basketball life and the chase in those 0:20:14.280 --> 0:20:20.040 first seven years with going to four finals in seven years, 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:23.240 like you said, it doesn't always happen. And the team 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:25.840 that we had, we had the best record in the 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:30.360 league the first year. We had George McGinnis brother from 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:37.640 another mother, and Doug Collins, Henry Baby Joe Bryant called 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:42.959 Kobe's Kobe's dad, Henry Baby Mike Baby's dad, and Harvey 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:48.719 Catchings to mek A Ketchings dad and so so we 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:53.480 had we had some good h genealogy on that team, 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:57.240 and Gene Hue coached and obviously that that initial team 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:00.440 and we got all the way to the championship, won 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:02.800 the first two games and then lost the next board games. 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:10.040 So that just kind of set the table for it 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:13.679 can get worse or it could get better, and I 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:17.239 think it got worse before it got better, because we 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:20.560 had a void before we really got back to the championship. 0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:22.800 And that's when the team began to evolve and the 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:27.000 team began to change, and you know, instead of Henry 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:29.080 Baby and Doug Collins, you know, we end up with 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:33.720 Marie's cheeks and Andrew Tony his backcourt, with Clid Richardson 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:37.679 and Franklin Edwards as the other two guards leading up 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:40.320 to the seventy three team, but the eighty three team, 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:43.040 and uh, so we ended up with a with a 0:21:43.119 --> 0:21:46.560 makeup with Billy Cunningham coming in and Chuck Daily and 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:50.920 shaping and molding and trimming and cutting and and from 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:55.160 seventy seven to eighty three year window, eighty we got 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:58.800 back and uh and Billy was in charge and uh 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:01.200 and he had the championship experience from the sixty six 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:09.800 sixty seventeen and you know, had infinite coaching wisdom from 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:14.760 playing for Dan Smith and the program in North Carolina whatever, 0:22:14.840 --> 0:22:17.480 and so that's what he knew, and Chuck knew and 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:20.879 Chuck Daily was our excell old guy, and you know, 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:24.520 he was a champion by all the guards. So so 0:22:24.560 --> 0:22:26.680 we had we had leadership on and off the court. 0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:31.399 You know, I think we had to pedigree to be 0:22:31.520 --> 0:22:34.560 a champion, and we just we just we just needed 0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:38.000 that piece that came in eighty three, which was big 0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:42.320 mall and and more more needed us, more needed us. 0:22:42.400 --> 0:22:45.560 He hadn't won any championships in equaly the ABA or 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:50.159 the NBA, and he was a great, all time great 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:52.800 and destined to be an all time great with a 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:55.960 twenty two year career or whatever. But I think he 0:22:56.000 --> 0:22:58.919 needed us as more as much as we needed him, 0:22:59.240 --> 0:23:02.800 and we really needed him, and and during that time, 0:23:04.280 --> 0:23:08.919 i'd like to think about, you know, going three times 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:13.240 in six years and becoming a runner up. There's your 0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:17.000 window close, you know, it's it's that it and that 0:23:17.200 --> 0:23:19.280 as good as it gets. Well, we've got a couple 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:25.560 of ABA championships, NBA, a VP, ABA, multiple vps and 0:23:25.640 --> 0:23:27.879 so and so as that is that is that my 0:23:27.960 --> 0:23:31.240 whole story, because it would be a big board if 0:23:31.720 --> 0:23:38.639 NBA champion wasn't listed with on that resume, and for 0:23:38.760 --> 0:23:40.960 some places it doesn't get listed on the resume, so 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:44.320 it's nothing, nothing that guarantees it. So I was very 0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:49.440 very fortunate to get it in eighty three because there 0:23:49.480 --> 0:23:52.080 wasn't gonna be another shot at getting it unless we 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:54.320 stayed in tack. And we didn't stay in tack because 0:23:54.440 --> 0:23:58.080 you traded Moses. The next year Washington for Jeff Brulin 0:23:58.800 --> 0:24:04.160 Andrew went down, and you know, the next three years 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:06.399 it was just kind of like riding up the stream, 0:24:07.160 --> 0:24:10.919 you know, being a spoiler, being good enough to be 0:24:10.960 --> 0:24:13.800 a playoff team every year, but not really being good 0:24:13.880 --> 0:24:16.840 enough to be a user when you guys went win 0:24:16.920 --> 0:24:19.600 the championship. But I know the and you've lost some 0:24:19.680 --> 0:24:23.879 of your brothers from from those years, um, Moses, and 0:24:24.200 --> 0:24:28.840 but when you fly back from Los Angeles and you 0:24:28.960 --> 0:24:33.600 land in Philadelphia, and just the memories of the parade, 0:24:34.080 --> 0:24:36.879 of being at Bentery Stadium, of going down to Road Street, 0:24:37.400 --> 0:24:41.000 the joy that you delivered after promising to a city 0:24:41.080 --> 0:24:43.960 that you know, we owe you won and finally being 0:24:44.000 --> 0:24:47.200 the champion, I would imagine that was like a magic carpet, right. 0:24:47.840 --> 0:24:51.040 It was a magic carpet, right, Tom, It was. It 0:24:51.200 --> 0:24:55.919 was so special, friends and family in tow uh, you know, 0:24:56.080 --> 0:24:58.879 riding down the streets of Philadelphia to the stadium just 0:24:59.000 --> 0:25:02.399 to just to just to enjoy the moment and celebrate 0:25:02.800 --> 0:25:07.840 that moment you know, there was a lot of social 0:25:07.960 --> 0:25:11.159 unrest going on in Philadelphia during that time, you know, 0:25:11.200 --> 0:25:15.640 with the move group and the elections you know, being 0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:19.679 rigged and so much going on. So I think that 0:25:20.200 --> 0:25:24.920 the championship brought the city together and averted something very 0:25:25.040 --> 0:25:30.480