SIXERS 1983 NBA CHAMPS WOULD’VE BEATEN 2017 DUBS, DR. J SAYS!
Julius Erving became the latest to say that his title team, the 1982–83 Sixers, could not only compete with but would also beat this Golden State Warriors team.
That comes after Magic Johnson said his “Showtime” Lakers of the 1980s would probably sweep Golden State.
“This is a phenomenal team,” Erving said of the Warriors on Mornings with Keyshawn, Jorge & LZ on ESPN LA 710. “They can put up points. And they do play team defense. They hustle. They scrap.”
During the regular season, the Warriors went 67–15 and led the league in points, field goal percentage, assists, steals and blocks. They are currently 14–0 in the playoffs and have beaten the Cavs by an average of 20.5 points per game through two contests.
The 1982–83 Sixers were no slouches, going 65–17 during the regular season. The only team stat they led the league in was rebounding, a possible edge over the Warriors, who were seventh in the category this season.
Philly had to play only three series to win it all in 1983, and they went 12–1, sweeping Magic’s Lakers in the Finals.
“When you have a team with the makeup of our team back then, we could play slow, we could play fast,” Erving said. “Moses [Malone] was such a dominant force. I have visions of him grabbing the rebound a few times and taking it coast to coast.”
Erving praised his team’s 4–4–4 makeup.
“You know we had four centers, four guards and four forwards, so a lot of the parts were interchangeable,” he said. “We had a guy like Bobby Jones coming off the bench.”
The Warriors’ heralded starting unit boasts the past three league MVPs in Kevin Durant and two-time winner Stephen Curry. Andre Iguodala, a former Sixer, is a formidable sixth man in his own right.
But the Warriors don’t have a big man like Malone, the Hall of Fame center who averaged 24.5 points, 15.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in 1982–83. Malone, who died in 2015, was a force inside, leading the league in rebounds four straight seasons, but he could also run the floor.
“And Billy Cunningham being the task master that he was, we would have figured it out,” he said. “We would have figured out how to play against this team and how to beat this team.”
