Julius Erving Talks NBA, 76ers, LeBron, Dunk Contest, NTL and More in B/R Interview

NBA legend Julius Erving has seen the league undergo an evolution since his playing days, but he's confident that the league is still in a good spot.

Despite criticisms that the regular season lost its intrigue and the reliance on the three-pointer has diminished the style of play, Erving feels all of those views disappear once the intensity of playoff basketball comes around.

"Well, I mean, the NBA's fine," Erving told B/R in an interview. "There's always been the top teams and then there's the teams at the bottom, and you hate to see one of your teams be at the bottom, because that makes for a dull season in that capacity. But the teams like Cleveland this year and OKC this year, Nuggets are back, Boston's back, Milwaukee's very good, Minnesota. So, you got teams who will make noise and who will challenge for the best playoffs that we've had in the history of the league, the excitement that's associated with that, the coming out parties of some guys who are not superstars at this time, but the playoffs gives you a chance to really become a superstar. I mean, the playoffs are where it's at, and I think anything that's been lacking in the regular season is going to pick up and double and triple during the playoffs."

As a former member of the Philadelphia 76ers and a longtime supporter of the franchise, Erving is no stranger to a team fighting its way up from the bottom of the league. However, the 2024-25 season has been especially disappointing for the Sixers (23-52), as they incurred injuries to multiple key players and have already been eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2016-17 after entering the year with championship aspirations.

"I mean, obviously it's a disappointment... The fact that there were three big signings with [Joel] Embiid, [Paul] George and [Tyrese] Maxey, and an exciting rookie in the first month of the season [Jared McCain], he was probably the best rookie in in the league, those were things that got us all kind of saying, 'Hey man, this could be a great year and it could be a championship year,'" Erving said. "And then it seemed to all fall apart, just in terms of the irregularity with which the Big 3 were able to play together.

"Basketball is a team sport, so a team wins, individuals don't win," he continued. "Individuals can shine, but they can't get over the hurdle unless it's a team effort, and it's not just a three-man team, it's a 12-man team. So, right now just watching the games, you're watching players who normally would be on the bench, they're getting their opportunity to show what they can do, and when you start losing the teams who are at the bottom where you're at, that's really a bad sign that we need to get healthy, and we need to get healthy quick."

During Philadelphia's down year, Erving has found other players around the league whom he enjoys watching, and he had high praise for the New York Knicks.

"Anthony Edwards is fun to watch. Kevin Durant is a great, great player has been just a generational talent who I do like to see play," Erving said. "With the New York Knicks, that whole team. I didn't grow up really being a Knicks fan or whatever, but I grew up in New York, so I heard about the Knicks a whole lot and the teams in the 70's with [Walt "Clyde"] Frazier and [Earl "The Pearl"] Monroe, Willis Reed and Dick Barnett and Bill Bradley and those guys, they grew on me. They grew on me, and this team is reminiscent of those teams that they had, who were championship teams.

"Individually, you know, [Jalen] Brunson is clearly a superstar," he continued. "Mikal Bridges, probably individually he's the guy who I like to watch the most, because he plays every night and he gives his all every night, and he kind of follows the model that I set in terms of playing the small forward position, playing two ways and being able to have the big games when it's necessary."

At 75 years old, Erving said he's not keeping up with the NBA on a night-to-night basis, but he described the league as a "soap opera" in the sense that it's not hard to get caught up on the latest storylines and potential drama. He gave his thoughts on the ongoing back-and-forth between Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, saying he understands where both sides are coming from but feels like it has long run its course.

"I think that's just life, guys are human beings. To forgive is divine, and a lot of people don't adhere to somebody saying something wrong or doing them wrong and then being able to forgive them, so you're going to have those battles," Erving said. "That situation, which I just kind of looked at, seemed to be kind of a passing situation, but I think Stephen A., he analyzed it pretty well. He said LeBron was not speaking as a basketball player, he was speaking as a father. The conversation probably should have been a private conversation more than a public conversation, but it wasn't, so it was what it was, and the fact that it's been around for multiple weeks now or whatever, I don't get that piece, because both people have plenty to do on their schedule and on their agenda. LeBron has to get ready for the playoffs and Stephen needs to continue to be himself and enjoy that new deal that he got."

Erving also advised James to rectify the impact he had by never competing in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. As a pioneer of the dunk contest, the 16-time All-Star believes it's still within the realm of possibility that the 40-year-old competes in the event before he ends his legendary career.

"Absolutely, yeah, I think he was influential in players not wanting to do it without necessarily explaining why," Erving said of James. "So the why was entirely around the brand, which is an excellent brand, and I think he probably won't do it now, unless he just surprises us because he's full of surprises, so maybe he'll come out and be part of slam dunk contest next year in what would be his last year or close to his last year. He could probably still win, because you know he's got that extra gear, and he's been able to preserve his skill and his energy and his health for so long, so LeBron's full of surprises. I wouldn't be surprised if he went out there, because I think if he just retired without ever doing it, it might be something he'll look back on and have a regret about."

Erving praised back-to-back-to-back reigning champion Mac McClung for bringing back the excitement of the dunk contest as a high-flying smaller guard. However, he said the event needs more superstar players to participate if the league wants it to return to the glory days.

"I think there has been a little uptick in it, but it's still missing the star power. The best players in the league, in my era and post my era, you had the best players in the league in the slam dunk contest, because they wanted to be there," he said. "The way things changed, they changed because nobody wanted to come in second, third, fourth or fifth; they figured it would damage their brand, and that's hogwash. Go, compete, we want to see the best guys in the league, the guys who are part of the top 15 players in the league, want to be in the slam dunk contest and want to validate their status. So I would like to see that. I'd go out and I try to encourage these guys to be a part of it."

Another endeavor that Erving is encouraging people to get behind is the National Thoroughbred League, which announced the schedule for its third season with an expanded four-race schedule that includes over $2.5 million in prize purse. Erving, who grew up near racing tracks on Long Island, is an investor in the innovative team-based horse racing league and the lead owner of the reigning Cup Series champion Philadelphia Stallions. The NTL also features investments from the likes of Baltimore Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson and New York Giants defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux.

"This year we're kicking off May 10th at Pimlico, the 150th anniversary of the Preakness, so we're the official kickoff for Preakness Week. We have our Lamar Jackson, who's one of the lead owners of the Maryland Colts, hosting that," said NTL co-founder Randall Lane, who added that the league's goal is to create a "Formula 1, Kentucky Derby-like" atmosphere for its events. "Then we're going to Philly, and we moved that event to Father's Day weekend with Julius, and we're doing a golf tournament that Julius is hosting, and then we're running on Father's Day. So we're expecting more than 10,000 people and each of those events."

Erving said he gives the NTL "a ringing endorsement" and added that he plans to be more involved this season as the Stallions try to repeat as champions because "when you win one, you get really hungry and you get greedy and you want to win another one." However, the two-time ABA champion with the New York Nets and 1983 NBA champion with the Sixers admitted his last experience with horse riding didn't go so well.

"I rode right up until my professional basketball career started, and then somewhere in the small print there was 'No skiing, no horseback riding and no skydiving.' And they were pretty serious about it, because I did get thrown from a horse once," Erving said, adding that he landed on his feet. "I was galloping in Philadelphia and then I was planning on going straight and he wanted to make a right turn, so he made the right turn and I fell off to the left, and that was the last time I was on a horse. This was a one-and-done, for sure."

In the more immediate future, Erving will be attending the Final Four in San Antonio this weekend and will watch marquee matchups featuring No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 1 Florida and No. 1 Duke vs. No. 1 Houston. He said he's been very impressed with Blue Devils star freshman Cooper Flagg, and he advised young players to build a strong support system as they try to work their way to the NBA.

"Cooper has definitely established himself, and you know he looks like the second coming of Larry Bird, and that's not chopped liver being compared to somebody as great as Larry Bird was," Erving said. "My advice with young players, play for the love of the game, have a care for your coaches and your parents and your loved ones who support you in the sport, because they can help to make you better than you can just make yourself."

Despite the evolution of the game, Erving is confident that his skills would've translated well if he were in his prime today. While he was known for attacking the basket, he feels he would've had no problems adding three-point shooting to his repertoire, which would've further solidified him as one of the greatest players of all time.

"The three-point shooting, I mean, I shot three-pointers, but the strategy of three-point shooting in my day was limited to the guys who were the very, very best at making long-range shots," Erving said. "When I stood out there and I was defended by a guy, I said, 'Why should I stand out here take a jump shot when I can go ahead and get a layup?' So that was just my own mentality. But you look at my stats over the years, I mean, I had a representative statistic in three-point shooting, mid-range shooting, and obviously in layups, so you know 30,000 points didn't come from all dunks."