Best Dunk of the Year- Blake Griffin over Kendrick Perkins

Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell

Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell is a 5 foot 7 street-ball legend from Oakland, California. Also known as Waliy Abdur Rahim, Hook Mitchell is best known for his incredible leaping ability; performing backboard shattering ally-oops, 12 foot rim dunks, and car jumping 360 dunks. NBA all-stars like Gary Payton and Jason Kidd have been quoted as saying Hook was a better skilled player than they, and that he is the best basketball player to never make the NBA. Hook never made it as a professional because of his problems with drug addiction and crime. He served a 51 month prison sentence ending in April 2004 for armed robbery, and upon his release tried out for the Golden State Warriors at the age of 39. Unfortunately for Hook he was cut after training camp, it was just too late for him to get his start. Hook Mitchell was the focus of a recent independent film entitled "Hooked" which was featured at the Tribe-ca Film Festival and has been the winner of various documentary awards.

Hooked: The Legend of Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell is a documentary that was released in 2003. It traces the life of Demetrius Mitchell, who, at 5-feet-10, built his legendary playground status because of his amazing hops that enabled him to dunk 360 dunks over a late model honda accord car. Milwaukee Bucks forward Drew Gooden credits Demetrius with the feat of a 360 degree dunk over a car. Mitchell says his best dunk ever was a backboard-shattering dunk off an alley oop. The "Hook" says that he has been playing above the rim since he was 5'3", but didn't dunk in organized games until the height of 5'5. He played one season for Merritt College and one season at Contra Costa College intercollegiate squads and two years at California State University, East Bay (Formerly known as California State Hayward University during this time). The playground basketball star's descent into drugs and crime, however, destroyed any chance he had of becoming a professional athlete. Filmmakers Michael Skolnik and William O'Neill (who also made La Esquina Caliente, a documentary about the Baltimore Orioles playing a game in Cuba) interview Demetrius Mitchell, known as Waliy Abdur Rahim since his conversion to Islam, in prison, where he describes his rough upbringing on the streets of Oakland, and his struggle to survive. The filmmakers also interview several NBA stars who also grew up in Oakland, including Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Antonio Davis, Drew Gooden, and Brian Shaw, all of whom played with Mitchell on the streets, and were astonished by his skills, but were unable to help him avoid his sorry fate. They describe his unstable home life and the longing for community that drove him to the streets. Mitchell himself is shown playing prison league games, and is surprisingly still able to play above the rim. The film's soundtrack was produced by DJ Premier. Hooked had its world premiere at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival.

Hooked was released on DVD by Razor & Tie in October 2004 and was previewed at more than 20 film festivals in the U.S., including the Tribeca Film Festival and garnered awards in 2003 ranging from “Best Documentary” to bronze medal at the Rhode Island Film Festival, San Francisco Black Film Festival, San Francisco World Film Festival and Worldfest Houston.

Earl "The Goat" Manigault

Earl "The Goat" Manigault was a 6''1' guard who grew up playing on the streets of New York, most famously Rucker Park. His nickname as "The Goat" is believed to originate from either the habitually mispronunciation of this last name, or from the acronym of "Greatest of All Time." The latter is quite possible considering that Manigault is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player to ever live. For example; when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had his number retired for the Lakers he was asked who the best player he's ever played against washis answer was Earl Manigault. Manigault was known for his incredible shooting, and his amazing jumping ability which was a result of him wearing strength building ankle weights throughout his early playing years. He is said to have had over a 52 inch vertical leap with the ability to grab dollars off the top of a backboard and leave change, literally. Earl was recruited by over 75 major universities including Duke, Indiana & North Carolina, but ended up attending Johnson C. Smith University. Earl lasted only one semester due to poor grades and subsequently limited playing time. After leaving college Earl got caught up in drugs and spent two years in prison. Upon his release, Earl stopped using drugs and started the "Walk Away from Drugs" basketball tournament where he continued to work until 1998 when he tragically died of heart failure. It's safe to say that when you're talking about the greatest basketball players of all time, street-ball or not, Earl Manigault's name can be mentioned with no hesitation.

Personal Information

Born 1943 in New York, NY; never married; seven children.

Education: Attended Johnson C. Smith University, c. 1965.

Career

Benjamin Franklin High School, basketball player, 1962~63; Laurinburg Institute, North Carolina, basketball player, 1963~64; Johnson C. Smith University, basketball player for less than one year; Rucker Tournament, participant, Harlem, New York, NY, c. mid-1960s; Goat Tournament basketball competition, founder, New York, NY, 1977; Supportive Children's Advocacy Network, New York, NY, coach and counselor, 1990s; helped organized a basketball league in Harlem, 1991.

Life's Work

Called "the king of his own generation of ballplayers, [and] the idol for the generation that followed" by Pete Axthelm in The City Game, Earl Manigault never realized his incredible potential as a basketball player because he succumbed to the lure of drugs in the Harlem neighborhood of his youth. He brought the fans to their feet in legendary one-and-one competitions in New York City playgrounds against future professional stars such as Connie Hawkins and Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). In the New York Times, Abdul-Jabbar referred to Manigault as "the best basketball player his size in the history of New York City," and many other professional players who have witnessed Manigault in action have also sung his praises. "I let thousands of people down," Manigault admitted to the New York Times. "But I'm nothing phony. And there was a time when I gave the people what they wanted."

Manigault was a frequent participant in Harlem's Rucker Tournament, which often drew top-level players. His jumping ability, in particular, struck awe in onlookers, and he could pick a quarter off the top of the backboard even though he was only a little over six feet tall. Some claimed to have seen him dunk a ball through the hoop, catch it with the other hand, then dunk it again before touching ground again. One time he dunked a ball backwards 36 times in a row to win a $60 bet. "His ability to play like a man who was 6'9" was incredible," noted Rucker Tournament organizer Gene Williams, in the New York Times. "He was a phenomenal player. And he's still a legend to the kids today."

According to New York Times reporter Ian O'Connor, Manigault's nickname stems from a junior high school teacher who continually mispronounced his name as "Mani-Goat." By his early teens Manigault was typically outplaying older and much taller opponents on the basketball court. As Pete Axthelm described him in The City Game, "He was a six-foot-two-inch forward who could outleap men eight inches taller, and his moves had a boldness and fluidity that transfixed opponents and spectators alike." His heroics were cut short in his senior year at Benjamin Franklin High School after he was expelled for allegedly smoking marijuana in the locker room, a charge he denied. From there he took his skills to Laurinburg Institute, a prep school in North Carolina, where he was tops on the basketball court but barely got his high school degree after placing second-to-last in his class academically.

Continuing to build his reputation as a slam dunker and shot blocker on Harlem's playgrounds, Manigault was deluged with visits by college recruiters after graduating from prep school. Lack of confidence in his own academic skills caused him to forego offers by major colleges. Instead he enrolled in John C. Smith University, a largely black school in Charlotte. Problems beset Manigault early at the college level, and poor performance in the classroom combined with a lack of willingness to adapt his freewheeling game to a structured game resulted in him leaving college after less than one year.

Returning to New York City after his aborted college career, Manigault abandoned any interest in returning to college and soon became addicted to heroin. "That's when I went right to the bottom," he told the New York Times about his getting involved with drugs. "I started messing with the 'white lady' [heroin]." Before long Manigault's addiction was costing him more than $100 a day, even though drug dealers often gave him drugs for free because of his local fame. Unable to keep a job for any duration, Manigault resorted to theivery to support his habit, including stealing mink coats in New York City's garment district. Meanwhile, his skill on the basketball court withered rapidly. In the 1965 Rucker Tournament, he lost his balance while playing and fell down twice.

By 1968 Manigault was so heavily immersed in the drug scene that he no longer frequented the parks where he had built his fame. Although he began working with a local drug rehabilitation program in the summer of that year, he still could not shake his habit. In 1969, he was arrested for drug possession and served 16 months of a five-year sentence in Stormville, New York's Green Haven Prison. The following year, at the age of 25, he was granted a tryout with the Utah Stars in the American Basketball Association by team owner Bill Daniels, but his drug habit had robbed him of his former skills, and he did not make the team.

For a time during the 1970s Manigault claimed to be clean of drugs. In 1977, he started a youth basketball competition called the Goat Tournament to be played at 98th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Harlem. Initial financing for the tournament was secured from local drug lords who had previously supplied him with heroin. Just as the tournament was about to begin, Manigault and accomplices were arrested in the Bronx for the attempted robbery of $6,000,000, sending him to prison for another two years in the Bronx House of Detention and the state prison in Ossining, New York.

Upon release from his second prison term, Manigault fled New York City with two of his sons and moved to Charleston, South Carolina. "I didn't want my sons to be greater junkies than I was," he told the New York Times. Once settled, he managed to make a living by painting houses, mowing lawns, and working for the local recreation department. By the late 1980s, however, he was almost destitute and suffering from serious heart problems. In February of 1987, he had to have two heart operations. His stamina for the pick-up basketball games he often played was severely depleted.

In 1991 Manigault's enduring fame was reaffirmed when he received $10,000 for the rights to his story from screenwriter Alan Sawyer, whose Angel of Harlem explored the basketball legend's rise and fall. Five years later he was the subject of an HBO film called Rebound that was directed by ER star Eriq La Salle. "Chills ran through me," Manigault told New York magazine after seeing the film's premiere in November of 1996. "Why did I put myself out there like that? It's there for the younger generation to witness, so they won't have to go through it." If a lesson is to be learned from his life, Manigault stated it himself in the New York Times: "For every Michael Jordan [professional basketball star], there's an Earl Manigault. We all can't make it. Somebody has to fall. I was the one."

Currently, Manigault works for New York City's Supportive Children's Advocacy Network, as a counselor and coach of local children at East Harlem's La Guardia Memorial House. After 13 years as a heroin addict, he claims to be off drugs for good today. The playground where he used to wow the crowds is still called Goat Park by local residents, and his fame in the old neighborhood has never waned. As Alex Williams remarked in New York, "Kids too young to know NBA all-stars of the 1970s still mythologize this amateur from East 106th Street."

Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr., April 16, 1947) is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season MVP Awards. In college at UCLA, he played on three consecutive national championship teams, and his high school team won 71 consecutive games. At the time of his retirement, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA’s all-time leader in points scored, games played, minutes played, field goals made, field goal attempts, blocked shots, defensive rebounds, and personal fouls. Abdul-Jabbar also has been an actor, basketball coach and an author. In 2012, he was selected as a U.S. cultural ambassador.

School records

On January 20, 1968, Alcindor and the UCLA Bruins faced the Houston Cougars in the first-ever nationally televised regular season college basketball game. In front of 52,693 fans at the Houston Astrodome, Elvin Hayes scored 39 points and had 15 rebounds—while Alcindor, who suffered from a scratch on his left cornea, was held to just 15 points—as Houston beat UCLA 71–69. The Bruins' 47-game winning streak ended in what has been called the "Game of the Century". Hayes and Alcindor would have a rematch in the 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournamentwhere UCLA, with a healthy Alcindor, would defeat Houston in the semi-finals 101–69 and go on to win the National Championship.

Alcindor had an outstanding career at UCLA. As of the 2011–2012 season, he still holds or shares a number of individual records at UCLA:^[11]

• Highest career scoring average: 26.4
• Most career field goals: 943 (tied with Don MacLean)
• Most points in a season: 870 (1967)
• Highest season scoring average: 29.0 (1967)
• Most field goals in a season: 346 (1967)
• Most free throw attempts in a season: 274 (1967)
• Most points in a single game: 61
• Most field goals in a single game: 26 (vs. Washington State, February 25, 1967)

Milwaukee Bucks

The Harlem Globetrotters offered him $1 million to play for them, but he declined, and was picked first in the 1969 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks (who were in only their second season of existence.) The Bucks won a coin-toss with the Phoenix Suns for first pick. He was also chosen first overall in the 1969 American Basketball Association draft by the New York Nets. The Nets believed that they had the upper hand in securing Alcindor's services because he was from New York; however, when Alcindor told both the Bucks and the Nets that he would accept one offer only from each team, the Nets bid too low.

Lew Alcindor's entry into the NBA was timely, as center Bill Russell had just left the Boston Celtics, and Wilt Chamberlain, though still effective, was 33 years old. Alcindor's presence enabled the1969–70 Bucks to claim second place in the NBA's Eastern Division with a 56–26 record (up from 27–55 the previous year), and he was an instant star, ranking second in the league in scoring (28.8 ppg) and third in rebounding (14.5 rpg), for which he was awarded the title of NBA Rookie of the Year.

The next season the Bucks acquired All-Star guard Oscar Robertson, known to sports fans as "the Big 'O'." Milwaukee went on to record the best record in the league with 66 victories in the1970–71 NBA season, including a then-record 20 straight wins. Alcindor was awarded his first of six NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, along with his first scoring title (31.7 ppg). In the playoffs, the Bucks went 12–2 (including a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals), won the championship, and Alcindor was named Finals MVP. On May 1, 1971, the day after the Bucks won the NBA championship, he adopted the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, its Arabic translation roughly "generous/noble (Kareem), servant of (Abdul) the mighty/stern one (Jabbar) [i.e., of God]."

Abdul-Jabbar remained a dominant force for Milwaukee, repeating as scoring champion (34.8 ppg) and NBA Most Valuable Player the following year, and helping the Bucks to repeat as division leaders for four straight years. In 1974, Abdul-Jabbar won his third MVP Award in five years and was among the top five NBA players in scoring (27.0 ppg, third), rebounding (14.5 rpg, fourth), blocked shots (283, second), and field goal percentage (.539, second).

Los Angeles Lakers

While remaining relatively injury-free throughout his NBA career, Abdul-Jabbar twice broke his hand. The first time was during a pre-season game in 1974, when he was bumped hard and got his eye scratched, which angered him enough to punch the basket support stanchion. When he returned, after missing the first 16 games of the season, he started to wear protective goggles. The second time he broke his hand was in the opening game of the 1977–78 NBA season. Two minutes into the game, Abdul-Jabbar punched Milwaukee's Kent Benson in retaliation for an overly aggressive elbow. He was out for two months.

Although Abdul-Jabbar always spoke well of Milwaukee and its fans, he said that being in the Midwest did not fit his cultural needs and requested a trade to either New York or Los Angeles in October 1974.

In 1975, the Lakers acquired Abdul-Jabbar and reserve center Walt Wesley from the Bucks for center Elmore Smith, guard Brian Winters, and rookie "blue chippers" Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman. In the 1975–76 season, his first with the Lakers, he had a dominating season, averaging 27.7 points per game and leading the league in rebounding, blocked shots, and minutes played. His 1,111 defensive rebounds remains the NBA single-season record (defensive rebounds were not recorded prior to the 1973–74 season). Also it marked the last time anyone had 4,000 or more PRA (Points + Rebounds + Assists) in a single NBA season. He earned his fourth MVP award, but missed the post-season for the second straight year.

Once he joined the Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar began wearing his trademark goggles (he briefly ditched them in the 1979–80 season). Years of battling under NBA backboards, and being hit and scratched in the face in the process, had taken their toll on his eyes and he developed corneal erosion syndrome, where the eyes begin to dry out easily and cease to produce moisture. He once missed a game in the 1986–87 season due to his eyes drying out and swelling as a result.

In the 1976–77 season, Abdul-Jabbar had another strong season. He led the league in field goal percentage, finished second in rebounds and blocked shots, and third in points per game. He helped lead the Lakers to the best record in the NBA, and he won his record-tying fifth MVP award. In the playoffs, the Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semi-finals, setting up a confrontation with the Portland Trail Blazers. The result was a memorable matchup, pitting Abdul-Jabbar against a young, injury-free Bill Walton. Although Abdul-Jabbar dominated the series statistically, Walton and the Trail Blazers (who were experiencing their first-ever run in the playoffs) swept the Lakers, behind Walton's skillful passing and leadership.

Abdul-Jabbar's play remained strong during the next two seasons, being named to the All-NBA Second Team twice, the All-Defense First Team once, and the All-Defense Second Team once. The Lakers, however, continued to be stymied in the playoffs, being eliminated by the Seattle SuperSonics in both 1978 and 1979.

In 1979, the Lakers acquired 1st overall draft pick Earvin "Magic" Johnson. The trade and draft paved the way for a Laker dynasty as they went on to become one of the most dominant teams of the 1980s, appearing in the finals eight times and winning five NBA championships. Individually, while Abdul-Jabbar was not the dominant center he had been in the 1970s, he experienced a number of highlight moments. Among them were his record sixth MVP award in 1980, four more All-NBA First Team designations, two more All-Defense First Team designations, the 1985 Finals MVP, and on April 5, 1984 breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record for career points. Later in his career, he bulked up to about 265 pounds, to be able to withstand the strain of playing the highly physical center position into his early 40s.

While in L.A., Abdul-Jabbar started doing yoga in 1976 to improve his flexibility, and was notable for his physical fitness regimen.^[14] He says, "There is no way I could have played as long as I did without yoga."

In 1983, Abdul-Jabbar's house burned down, destroying many of his belongings including his beloved jazz LP collection. Many Lakers fans sent and brought him albums, which he found uplifting.

On June 28, 1989, after twenty professional seasons, Abdul-Jabbar announced his retirement. On his "retirement tour" he received standing ovations at games, home and away and gifts ranging from a yacht that said "Captain Skyhook" to framed jerseys from his basketball career to an Afghan rug. In his biography My Life, Magic Johnson recalls that in Abdul-Jabbar's farewell game, many Lakers and Celtics legends participated. Every player wore Abdul-Jabbar's trademark goggles and had to try a sky hook at least once, which led to comic results. The Lakers made the NBA Finals in each of Abdul-Jabbar's final three seasons, defeating Boston in 1987, and Detroit in 1988. The Lakers lost to the Pistons in a four-game sweep in his final season.

At the time of his retirement, Jabbar held the record for most games played by a single player in the NBA; this would later be broken by Robert Parish.

Daryl Dawkins

He was nicknamed "Chocolate Thunder" for his powerful dunks.

Breaking the backboard

In a game against the Kansas City Kings in November 1979, Dawkins threw down such a massive dunk that the backboard shattered into tiny shards, sending the Kings' Bill Robinzine ducking. Three weeks later he did it again. A few days after that the NBA ruled that breaking a backboard was an offense that would result in a fine and suspension.

Dawkins named the backboard-breaking dunk "The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam, Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam." [1]

He named other dunks as well: the Rim Wrecker, the Go-Rilla, the Look Out Below, the In-Your-Face Disgrace, the Cover Your Head, the Yo-Mama, and the Spine-Chiller Supreme. The 76ers also kept a separate column on the stat sheet for Dawkins’s self-created nicknames: "Sir Slam", "Dr. Dunkenstein" and "Chocolate Thunder."

Also, he claimed to be an alien from planet Lovetron where he spent off-season practicing "interplanetary funkmanship" and where his girlfriend Juicy Lucy still lived.

NBA Carreer

Hoping to follow in Malone’s footsteps, the 18-year-old Dawkins renounced his college eligibility and applied for the 1975 NBA Draft as a hardship candidate. The Philadelphia 76ers made him the fifth overall pick, behind David Thompson, David Meyers, Marvin Webster, and Alvan Adams. According to the New York Daily News, when Dawkins made his debut with the 76ers, New York Knicks guard Walt Frazier took one look and said, "I bet his teachers called him ‘Mr. Darryl.’"

With his size, speed, and touch, Dawkins was expected to take over the league. But he handled the expectations in typical fashion. "When I walked into the league, they wanted me to be Wilt Chamberlain right away—without one minute of college ball," he told the Daily News. "I can’t be Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt is much taller than me."

A raw talent who needed time to develop, Dawkins languished on the Sixers’ bench for his first two seasons. As a rookie in 1975-76 he played in only 37 games, averaging 2.4 points in 4.5 minutes per game. The next year he played a limited role during the regular season but began to emerge during the playoffs. The Sixers advanced all the way to the NBA Finals that year, and Dawkins was called upon to help battle Portland’s Bill Walton. The Trail Blazers won the series in six games, but Dawkins earned respect among the Philadelphia coaching staff with 7.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest in the postseason.

In the 1977-78 season Dawkins finally found a regular role, coming off the bench for nearly 25 minutes per game. Now a robust 20 years old, he averaged 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds and ranked second in the league in field-goal percentage at .575. With a club that included Julius Erving, George McGinnis, Lloyd Free, and Doug Collins, the Sixers made another solid postseason run, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Washington Bullets in six games.

Prior to the 1978–79 season Philadelphia traded McGinnis to the Denver Nuggets for Bobby Jones and Ralph Simpson. The move was made in part to clear space for Dawkins on the Sixers’ front line, which also included 6-foot-11 Caldwell Jones. Over the next three seasons Dawkins and Caldwell Jones split time at the center and power forward positions, and Dawkins had the most productive stretch of his career. In 1979–80 he averaged 14.7 points and a career-high 8.7 rebounds, helping the Sixers back to the NBA Finals, which they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.

Syndicate Samples 06/13/2012

Syndicate: Sample Uniforms 06/15/2012

Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a retired American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA). He was the best known player in the ABA when the ABA-NBA merger joined it with the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1976 season. Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, and three scoring titles while playing with the ABA's Virginia Squires and New York Nets and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. He is the fifth-highest scorer in professional basketball history, with 30,026 points (NBA and ABA combined). He is well-known for slam dunking from the free throw line in Slam Dunk Contests. Erving was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time team and in 1993 was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2004, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame. Many consider him among the most spectacular basketballers ever, and one of the best dunkers of all time. His signature dunk was the "slam" dunk, since incorporated into the vernacular and basic skill set of the game, in the same manner as the "cross-over" dribble and the "no look" pass. Philadelphia 76ers The Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs joined the NBA for the 1976–77 season. With Erving and Nate Archibald (acquired in a trade with Kansas City), the Nets were poised to pick up right where they left off. However, the New York Knicks threw a monkey wrench into the Nets' plans when they demanded that the Nets pay them $4.8 million for "invading" the Knicks' NBA territory. Coming on the heels of the fees the Nets had to pay for joining the NBA, owner Roy Boe reneged on a promise to raise Erving's salary. Erving refused to play under these conditions and held out in training camp. Boe had little choice but to sell Erving's contract to the Philadelphia 76ers for 3 million dollars. Erving quickly became the leader of his new club and led them to an exciting 50-win season. The Sixers, featuring other stars like George McGinnis and Doug Collins, won the Atlantic Division and were the top drawing team in the NBA. The Sixers defeated the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, to win the Eastern Conference. Erving took them into the NBA Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers of Bill Walton. After the Sixers took a 2–0 lead, however, the Blazers defeated them with four straight victories. However, Dr.J enjoyed success off the court, becoming one of the first basketball players to endorse many products and to have a shoe marketed under his name. It was at this time that he appeared in television commercials urging young fans asking for his autograph in an airport to refer to him henceforth as "Dr.Chapstick." He also starred in the 1979 basketball comedy film, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. A famous TV commercial for Sixers season tickets during the 1977–78 off-season summed up Erving's desire to win an NBA Title. In the commercial, Erving was in the Sixers locker room and he said to fans, "We owe you one" while he held up his index finger. It took a few years for the Sixers franchise to build around Erving. Eventually coach Billy Cunningham and top-level players like Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones were added to the mix and the franchise was very successful. In the following years, Erving coped with a team that was not yet playing at his level. The Sixers were eliminated twice in the Eastern Conference Finals. In 1979, Larry Bird entered the league, reviving the Boston Celtics and the storied Celtics-76ers rivalry; these two teams faced each other in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1980, '81, '82, and '85. The Bird vs. Dr. J matchup became arguably the top personal rivalry in the sport (along with Bird vs. Magic Johnson), inspiring the early Electronic Arts video game One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird. In 1980, the 76ers prevailed over the Celtics to advance to the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. There, Erving executed the legendary Baseline Move, an incredible behind-the-board reverse layup. However, the Lakers won 4–2 with superb play from, among others, Magic Johnson. 1981 and 1982 were the shaky moments in his career, as the Sixers stumbled twice, once against the Celtics and once again against the Lakers. Nevertheless, Erving was named the NBA MVP in 1981. But for the 1982–83 season, the Sixers obtained the missing element to combat their weakness at their center position, Moses Malone. Armed with one of the most formidable and unstoppable center-forward combinations of all time, the Sixers dominated the whole season, causing Malone to make the famous prediction of "fo-fo-fo (four-four-four)". Erving understood the comment to mean that all the Sixers needed to do was win four games in each series, but Malone claims he actually meant the Sixers would sweep the entire playoffs.[13] In fact, the Sixers went four-five-four, losing one game to the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference finals, then sweeping the Lakers to win the NBA title. Erving maintained his all-star caliber of play into his twilight years, averaging 22.4, 20.0, 18.1, and 16.8 points per game in his final seasons. In 1986, he announced that he would retire after the season, causing every game he played to be sold out with adoring fans. Career summary Erving retired in 1987 at the age of 37. "A young Julius Erving was like Thomas Edison, he was always inventing something new every night," Johnny Kerr told ABA historian Terry Pluto. He is also one of the few players in modern basketball to have his number retired by two franchises: the New Jersey Nets (formerly the New York Nets) have retired his No. 32 jersey, and the Philadelphia 76ers his No. 6 jersey. In his ABA and NBA careers combined, he scored more than 30,000 points. In 1993, Erving was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. When he retired, Erving ranked in the top 5 in scoring (third), field goals made (third), field goals attempted (fifth) and steals (first). On the combined NBA/ABA scoring list, Erving ranked third with 30,026 points. As of 2011, Erving ranks fifth on the list, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.