Why is Dr.J never mentioned along with some all time greats?

[houston]

he is.........Magic,Bird,Dr.J,Moses and Zeke were the top 5 players in the 80's

[DirkLegend41]

He is. He's just not Top 20.

Oh, and, Dirk > Kobe. Wouldn't even think twice about it...

As a big Dirk fan i'd say hell no.

[La Frescobaldi]

As a big Dirk fan i'd say hell no.

Yeah me too.

As far as OP, Erving was the face of the ABA all right but that was a second tier league until just the very last couple of seasons, and even THEN, only a couple of teams were NBA level.... No ABA team was going to the NBA Finals. That was never going to happen even in an opium den dream.
When the Doc showed up in Philly, he was awesome, but he struggled against collapsing defenses because his jumper was not reliable... and his defense was execrable those first few years. It's a measure of his greatness that he overcame his weakness in defense through hard work, and the early 80s Sixers squad was amazing.
Still, the Doctor, the Iceman, and guys like Issel & DT in Denver are always underrated because nobody ever saw them in their athletic glory

[Dr.J4ever]

Yeah me too.

As far as OP, Erving was the face of the ABA all right but that was a second tier league until just the very last couple of seasons, and even THEN, only a couple of teams were NBA level.... No ABA team was going to the NBA Finals. That was never going to happen even in an opium den dream.
When the Doc showed up in Philly, he was awesome, but he struggled against collapsing defenses because his jumper was not reliable... and his defense was execrable those first few years. It's a measure of his greatness that he overcame his weakness in defense through hard work, and the early 80s Sixers squad was amazing.
Still, the Doctor, the Iceman, and guys like Issel & DT in Denver are always underrated because nobody ever saw them in their athletic glory

Open your mind.

http://www.remembertheaba.com/abasta...hibitions.html

As I mentioned, the ABA dominated the interleague games at an almost 70% clip in the last 3 years before the merger. The ABA won the overall matchup vs the NBA. Witnesses at the time said the games were "intense". Hey, if you are suppose to be the superior league, and you were losing 7 out of every 10 games played, you would think the NBA coaches would start telling their players to win the damn games more often.

I believe the NBA Champions right before the merger might have lost a best of seven to the ABA champs. In 1976, Doc's Nets might have beaten the Celtics. In 1975, the Kentucky Colonel's of 7'2 Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel, Dampier might have beaten the surprise NBA finalist Warriors of Barry.

Before that, the Pacers with Mcginnis were a top team, and another one of Doc's Nets were very good also.

It's not as clear cut as you would have it. Even Wikipedia documented the ABA-NBA rivalry, and many experts of the time commented on ABA teams being in the top 5 of basketball every year in the last few years before the merger.

The fact is the best players in the world were split into 2 leagues during the early 70s, and this is really undeniable.

Many NBA fans today have not really grasped what that really means

[La Frescobaldi]

Open your mind.

http://www.remembertheaba.com/abasta...hibitions.html

As I mentioned, the ABA dominated the interleague games at an almost 70% clip in the last 3 years before the merger. The ABA won the overall matchup vs the NBA. Witnesses at the time said the games were "intense". Hey, if you are suppose to be the superior league, and you were losing 7 out of every 10 games played, you would think the NBA coaches would start telling their players to win the damn games more often.

I believe the NBA Champions right before the merger might have lost a best of seven to the ABA champs. In 1976, Doc's Nets might have beaten the Celtics. In 1975, the Kentucky Colonel's of 7'2 Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel, Dampier might have beaten the surprise NBA finalist Warriors of Barry.

Before that, the Pacers with Mcginnis were a top team, and another one of Doc's Nets were very good also.

It's not as clear cut as you would have it. Even Wikipedia documented the ABA-NBA rivalry, and many experts of the time commented on ABA teams being in the top 5 of basketball every year in the last few years before the merger.

The fact is the best players in the world were split into 2 leagues during the early 70s, and this is really undeniable.

Many NBA fans today have not really grasped what that really means

I watched 'em dude, almost the entire ABA era. It was never close. Nobody but media propagandists and those trying to promote basketball in general ever thought it. We've had this discussion before and you just flat didn't watch those days. Sure the ABA had great players but they were never deep, they never had the staying power to last in the NBA.