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Philadelphia 76ers legend Julius Erving changed the game of basketball forever with his elite play highlighted by his athleticism and gravity-defying dunks. As the game of basketball moves forward, it becomes more and more challenging for players to come up with new ways to revolutionize the game. With that said, what would it take for the Sixers' current best player Joel Embiid to surpass Dr. J in Philadelphia's storied history?
A LOT! Below, however, are three of them.
3. Win at least two MVPs
One of the main criteria when discussing how a current player can overtake a legend's place is personal accolades. It is important to note that Dr. J first started playing in the now-defunct American Basketball Association (ABA) before being a part of the 76ers when the ABA and NBA merged. Erving won MVP in the ABA for three straight years and the NBA MVP award in 1981.
Taking into account the competition back then and today, Embiid winning a pair of MVPs would put him on the right track to be even considered greater than Erving in Sixers history. This will be a difficult task for the Cameroonian, as there are so many young, talented players today like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic. The 36-year old LeBron James is showing no signs of slowing down and is still included in MVP discussions.
Even when a player plays out of his mind for the whole season, the story surrounding that player's success has much weight in the voting. There are so many instances throughout NBA history where a player with worse regular season stats beats the competition.
If a player wins the award too often, voters may opt to give a chance to others. If the said player is in a team with a losing record despite his efforts, voters could go in another direction. If that player's teammates are too good, voters may decide that his impressive performances are just a product of the talent around him. The variables are endless and differ for each person, which is mainly why there has only been one unanimous NBA MVP.
2. Lead the team to two championships
This is an even bigger ask than the previous criterion. For a team to win a championship, so many things have to go right in terms of roster construction–players' health, matchups, and sometimes just plain luck.
In Dr. J's storied career, he won a ring for the City of Brotherly Love once. This coincided with the arrival of center Moses Malone. Going back to the importance of narrative in a player's success, the regular season and postseason run of the Sixers was absolutely dominant.
The Sixers had a league-best record of 65-17. Malone boldly predicted that the team would go “Fo, fo, fo” in the playoffs. He was slightly wrong as the team went “Fo, five, fo” dropping a game to the Milwaukee Bucks. There were less teams during these times.
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If Embiid wants to be be deemed greater than Erving, the Sixers would have to win at the minimum a couple of Larry O'Brien trophies. It is not enough to win, but to do so with a captivating storyline, whether the team was a bunch of overachieving underdogs or a powerhouse who steamrolled their competition all the way to a ring.
1. Have iconic moments
When you think of Dr. J, what is the first thing to come to mind? His “Rock the Baby” dunk, which despite being done in-game is still better than most of the dunks in this era's Slam dunk contests? If not, then it has to be his ridiculous baseline shot with 7-foot-2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the paint? Ironically, both moves were against the Los Angeles Lakers.
These are moments that live on in the minds of NBA fans, especially Sixers fans.
Of the three things on this list, this is the most subjective, as iconic for one person may just be special or lower for another. Joel Embiid needs to have moments like these. He has the tools to do so.
At 7-foot-0 and 280 pounds, Embiid has the physical tools to make plays most can only dream of. He plays a powerful brand of basketball, but at the same time, his movements have finesse and grace. If the game is on the line, then the moments will be made even more relevant.
Such moments can come at any time. Erving's dunk took place in a regular season game, whereas the baseline move occurred at the biggest stage of all.
Who knows maybe Embiid will have his iconic moments against the Lakers too?
