Peak Giannis vs Peak Dr. J

[The Explorer]

I have Erving in the 9-11 range on my all time list. Antetokounmpo hasn't surpassed him. If he leads his teams to another title or two then maybe he will surpass, but not as of today.

[One_and_Done]

I have Erving in the 9-11 range on my all time list. Antetokounmpo hasn't surpassed him. If he leads his teams to another title or two then maybe he will surpass, but not as of today.

Not all of us care about titles. Plus, this thread is about peak.

[LukaTheGOAT]

ABA Dr. J>Giannis>NBA Dr. J

I still think 1976 Erving in particular is a level of PS dominance Giannis hasn't reached.

His title run in the ‘76 postseason is particularly otherworldly.

Playoffs:

•29.9 aPts/75,+9.8 rTS%
•4 ast/75
•10.2 reb/75
•1.6 stl/75
•1.7 blk/75
•55/29/80 splits
•54 eFG%
•13.8 BPM(lead league)
•11.6 OBPM(lead league)

That's one of the best PS runs ever, and was just a scoring display that is hard to match.

The only star player to have had a BPM that high and win a championship is MJ in 1991. That's the level of dominance we are talking about with Dr. J. This is particularly impressive, as BPM values have risen over time as per-possession impact has risen with the stat, do to general stat inflation.

I also think Erving is closer on defense in those ABA days than some might realize.

Erving from 1974-76: was a prominent defender on a -4.27 relative defense from ‘74-‘76. He really was kind of a proto-Lebron on that end, however, so while below Giannis on defense, he was legitimately elite.

[Jaivl]

I have Erving in the 9-11 range on my all time list. Antetokounmpo hasn't surpassed him. If he leads his teams to another title or two then maybe he will surpass, but not as of today.

Will preface by saying I've always been lower on Erving that most, but wow, that's high. Mind saying the rest of your top 11?

[kcktiny]

I also think Erving is closer on defense in those ABA days than some might realize. Erving from 1974-76: was a prominent defender on a -4.27 relative defense from ‘74-‘76.

The last 3 years (1973-74 to 1975-76) of the ABA the New York Nets were the best defensive team in that league at just 99.2 pts/100poss allowed. Erving alone played 1/6 of the team's total minutes played, and played over 3000 more minutes than any other Nets player during that time. In 1975-76 he was named to the ABA all-defensive team (they named just a 1st team, not a 2nd team).

Those 3 years among all ABA players Erving (just 6-6/6-7 in height) ranked:

- 4th in defensive rebounds (1854). Only 7-2 Artis Gilmore, 6-11 Swen Nater, and 6-11 Caldwell Jones had more.
- 4th in blocked shots (521). Only 6-11 Caldwell Jones, 7-2 Artis Gilmore, and 6-11 Billy Paultz had more.
- 3rd in steals (583). Only Don Buse and Fatty Taylor had more.

In his first 6 seasons in the NBA (1976-77 to 1981-82), i.e. before he won a title with Moses Malone in 1982-83, among all NBA SFs Erving ranked:

- 1st in defensive rebounds with 2282. No other SF in the league had more than 1835.
- 1st in steals with 931. No other SF in the league had more than 659.
- 1st in blocked shots with 738. No other SF in the league had more than 400.

Those 6 seasons the 76ers were the league's 3rd best defensive team (99.6 pts/100poss allowed. Only Phoenix and Seattle were better defensively. And Erving alone played 1/7 of that team's total minutes played, 2960 more minutes than any other 76ers player.

And he did all this while also scoring more points (11189) than any other SF in the league over those 6 seasons, and the 76ers winning more games in the regular season than any other team (average 55-27 record over that time).

I have Erving in the 9-11 range on my all time list.

Will preface by saying I've always been lower on Erving that most, but wow, that's high.

Erving is arguably the greatest SF in NBA/ABA history, in consideration along with the likes of Bird, James, Durant, and maybe a few others.

He was named all-NBA or all-ABA 1st team 9 times. Bird was all-NBA 1st team 9 times, Durant 6 times, James 13 times.

When Erving retired after 1986-87 he was 3rd in most NBA/ABA points scored (30026). Only Jabbar and Chamberlain had scored more.