In today's Old School Design, I wanted to take a look at one of my favorite old school players, Julius Erving. The Doctor was not only an innovator on the court, but was also the poster child for 1970's sports style and design. Nobody can forget the image of Dr. J flying to the hoop in the ABA with that trademark afro. His look with the Nets in the ABA was a thing of beauty. This classic Sports Illustrated cover features the Doctor in his ABA days with the New York Nets driving past a Denver Nuggets player who is sporting a great retro ABA look. I can't get enough of that classic ABA red, white and blue basketball.
This cover is from a 1974 issue. The image of Dr. J captures all that made him a dynamic on-court magician and a player with great style. The classic New York Nets uniform, colored kneepads, striped socks and classic shoes give the Doctor his legendary look. This image captures his signature playing style as well as his signature fashion style.
In 1976, the Doctor brought his signature look and style to the NBA, when the New York Nets joined the NBA along with the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers after the demise of the ABA. The Doctor injected the NBA with a great dose of the style and flair that made the ABA so great and the rest is basketball history. His Hall of Fame basketball career speaks for itself, but my appreciation of Dr. J is also rooted in the classic style he brought to the court.
even though it's an aba image, that SI cover of the doc driving to the hoop should replace the silhouette of jerry west (i think that's who it supposedly is) on the nba logo. that image seems to me to be more characteristic of the merging of the classic and the modern nba player... plus it'd be cool to see the 'fro.
CAVS IN SIX!
Posted by: marc | May 22, 2009 at 09:29 AM
I remember that cover of SI with Dave and the Doctor like it was yesterday. Dave Cowens was my favorite player and I was so looking forward to Doctor J and his high caliber team, the New York Nets battling for the eastern conference.
To my dying day, I firmly believe the NBA brass made the deal sending Julius Erving to the Sixers, knowing full well that that defending ABA championship team could have done the same in their league.
The ABA did have style.
The good Doctor really did bring that style to the NBA.
What I remember most was his final game, in the playoffs against a much better Milwaukee Buck team that was destroying the Sixers. With the game and series all but put away, the Buck players let the Doctor go off one more time, as a 20 point scorer. As I watched that game, knowing it was to be the last for Julius, I realized the respect all his opponents had for him.
It didn't happen like that for Michael Jordan and it won't be pretty when Kobe Bryant can't do his thing anymore.
There was only one Doctor J!
P.S. Can you imagine Pete Maravich signing with the Carolina Cougars of the ABA out of college in 1970 rather than suffering with a team of established NBA veterans who didn't want him?
Posted by: Daniel J Leonard | September 08, 2009 at 10:46 PM