Looking back im mad at myself for not appreciating Doctor J as I should have.

[Kblaze8855]

Somehow I spent much of his last few years and the years after he retired kinda downplaying him. Which is odd because even though I didn't rep him.....I pretty much tried to steal every move he did. Tried to move like he did on the break. Tried to glide and swoop and even worked on specific moves I could do and others couldn't because I could half ass palm a ball even when I was a kid. I always had big hands and I just loved to palm it and move it around a bit.

I'm playing outside in Chicago...its cold...we were poor...we didn't get new balls often. So we have a shitty old ball that would be a little soft if we left it outside. It would shrink a tad and we would pump it back up. Anyway...when its just a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle softer than it should be I could grab that ho off the bounce and "palm" it(really just squeeze it hard and barely have control) and move it around on my drive like Doc.

When I had nobody to play I'm outside at my grandmas house on a roughly 9 foot goal we had hung up on the side of an old storage building driving on nobody working on odd angle palming floaters and layups. Once I could dunk on that short ass goal it was a wrap. Doctor J cuff dunks and up and unders and all. Till my fat ass cousin broke the rim....still salty over that....

Anyway.....just take a moment and look at this guy...clips I'm sure you have seen but I don't care....


































































Doesn't he just move a little different from anyone else?


Naturally much of it is the hands:




But still. The total package...the long stride....the first step. The way he could grab the ball mid move really gave him options. He would catch it in one hand....bring it across his body...explode to the basket with one dribble and palm it in the same hand while taking off never involving the other hand. And since he had such a grip he could bring it around at any angle to score.


He was the guy pretty much everyone and their parents were a fan of. My moms favorite player was Doctor J. My stepfather repped Doc and Baylor. My uncles loved Doc. I never knew a basketball fan who didn't love Doctor J. Jordan came along and was kinda Jordan was that guy in the 90s in that everyone seemed to be a fan to some extent. We didn't really have one in the 2000s.....Iverson was probably the closest but maybe that didn't go outside the black community. I cant say. Kobe had too many haters. Tmac/VC types never quite that big. 2010s.....we have nobody. Steph looked like he might be that guy but now he somehow has haters too. Not many though. Maybe he will be that guy. Doc was no doubt that guy in the 80s. Plenty of people didn't like Bird...Jordan....Magic(less didn't like magic).

Everyone it seemed....loved Doctor J.

[Kblaze8855]

But somehow....I wasn't into him. I didn't see the big deal....even though every single time he played id find myself outside trying to emulate him. I spent 10 ****ing years just trying to do simple shit like this:





Even if I had to finish with a layup. Something about the way he would explode with the one hand just.....had me obsessed. And I was watching old Doctor J. I cant imagine what the kids living in New York who got to see ABA Doc on a regular basis were feeling.


Well I guess I can imagine when I see pictures like this:




Kids literally on rooftops and hanging in trees to get a look.

And I just....never got into him.

Spend all summer long down south working on stealing his moves....then go home and talk about all the players better than him like I knew what I was talking about. I think I was just annoyed with how much love he got for someone who was kinda winding down as I was really starting to pay close attention....so I was a bit of a contrarian. I know I drove my stepdad crazy talking shit about Doc and Elgin Baylor like I knew shit about them. Well I knew Doc a bit...I didn't know shit about Elgin Baylor....

I guess I can be forgiven a bit. Its a little hypocritical but you don't have to be enamored with someone to envy their moves/talents. I don't **** with James Harden in the least. I still want that "Step daddy" jumper. Or any jumper really. My jumper was and is broker than you the day before payday when you had your first job. But....I could always drive...and I could half ass palm the ball. So that's....something. I'm gonna stop rambling now and take a shower.....

[Stringer Bell]

I started watching basketball as a kid because of him. I went to a couple of Warriors-Sixers games in the last couple years of his career, but he was not close to what he had been. I remember playing that crappy Bird-Dr. j computer game as a kid.

One of my favorite memories of him was that half court shot he made to beat Dallas in 1986.

[JohnMax]

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/i...8121018AAjiq7I

You probably experienced this. I stopped liking Derrick Rose after he blew up.

[warriorfan]

Good post

Dr J is a top 10 player in my opinion

He gets unfairly discredited because he played in the ABA

The ABA and NBA were very similar in strength at the time

Dr J's 1976 ABA Finals is one of the Greatest of All Time

37.7 / 14.2 / 6 / 3 / 2.2 / 59% FG / 66% TS

The ABA Nuggets were the best defensive team in both leagues and as well had the best defender of both leagues, Bobby Jones

[Im Still Ballin]

Easily one of the most underrated top players of all time