Jordan’s Performances in Playoffs Remind Loughery of Dr. J in ABA

The excitement that greets Michael Jordan’s appearance these days is motivated not only by the belief his next move on a basketball court might be something no one has witnessed previously but by the quixotic nature of his quest. No mid-sized player in modern history has single-handedly lifted a team to the NBA championship. Many great ones failed trying.

Battered knees forced Elgin Baylor into retirement in the season that the Lakers finally realized their goal and Jerry West reached the promised land only with the help of Goliath himself, Wilt Chamberlain. The magnificent Oscar Robertson earned his only ring late in his career, thanks to the presence of a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Larry Bird may have reversed the fortunes of the Celtics by his very presence but the supporting cast in Boston’s championship seasons included the likes of Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. And while Magic Johnson may have been the spark plug for the Lakers’ decade of accomplishment, he had the benefit of the older Jabbar as well as other stars.

Among finesse players, only 6-7 scoring machine Rick Barry carried a title team on his slim shoulders, and he wasn’t expected to rebound or play conspicuous defense in Golden State’s march to the 1975 crown. In contrast, Jordan has been operating at so high a level, figuratively as well as literally, that he leads his Chicago teammates in scoring, rebounds, assists and steals through their first 10 playoff games. Friday night he has a chance to lift the Bulls into the Eastern Conference finals, a place where they’ve never been before, when he leads them against the Knicks in Chicago Stadium.

But even should he succeed in that venture and then prod his team past a more formidable obstacle, the Pistons, and go all the way to the top, he will not have set a precedent in the professional ranks. For those who remember the American Basketball Association and a team called the New York Nets, this is deja vu. Or, more appropriately, deja “J”.

In 1976, during the waning days of the red, white and blue ball, Julius Erving performed remarkable feats night after night after night. When he (and the league) were finished, the Nets had defeated superior talent and Dr. J had contributed numbers that boggled the mind. In the championship series against the Denver Nuggets, he averaged 37.6 points, 14.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. In Jordan’s first five games against the Knicks, he has averaged 34.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and eight assists.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see another one like Doc,” Kevin Loughery said Wednesday night from his home in Atlanta. And now? “I believe Michael is the most talented basketball player I’ve ever seen.” Loughery is the only man to have coached both players on the professional level.

All the competition encountered by Erving may not have been NBA caliber. But the Denver team he faced in the finals boasted David Thompson, Dan Issel, Bobby Jones and Marvin Webster among others. It was coached by Larry Brown. The Nets upset the Nuggets, who had won nine of the 14 regular-season meetings, in six games. Erving’s teammates included Rich (House) Jones at one forward, Jim Eakins at center and guards John Williamson and Brian Taylor.

“I don’t think Doc had as good a supporting cast,” said Loughery, Erving’s coach for the final three years of his ABA career and Jordan’s coach in his first two Bulls seasons. “Those two young forwards Chicago has (Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant) are underrated and (Bill) Cartwright is playing his tail off. I don’t know if Doc had that kind of cast.”

Remember how Jordan dominated overtime in the first game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden? Well, Erving scored 18 of the Nets’ last 24 points in Game 1 at Denver, including a 15-foot jump shot at the buzzer that provided the winning margin in a 120-118 triumph. “When you let that first game get away,” Loughery cautioned, “you can get in trouble.” The Nuggets did. The Knicks have trouble of their own.

Much was made of Jordan’s 18 points in the fourth quarter on Sunday and 17 in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night. Erving scored an amazing 25 in the final quarter of Game 2, surpassing an all-time professional record. In Game 3, after being sidelined for 13 minutes because of foul trouble, he blocked two shots, scored on a layup and stuff shot and sank two free throws in the last 90 seconds. The Nets overcame a 22-point deficit in the deciding game and Erving was at the center of the comeback, with 31 points, 19 rebounds and 5 assists.

The Bulls, of course, insist there is more to their team than meets the Air. Their statements echo those of the Nets from 13 years ago. “People have been trying to say it’s a one-man team since I’ve been here,” Taylor claimed at the time. “We are a very deep ballclub.” Nonetheless, the other players were chosen to complement Erving and everyone on the floor -- teammates and opponents alike -- understood where the ball was supposed to go in the critical juncture of a game.

If Jordan has a big edge, it’s on the perimeter. “We thought he could shoot (from outside) but we never realized he could handle the ball that well,” Loughery recalled. “In our second day of practice, we had these drills and we couldn’t believe it. My eyes fell out.”