Word: 76ers
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...Cowboys need the Redskins. The Celtics need the 76ers...
Julius ("Dr. J") Erving, the most watchable basketball player of the past 16 years, has begun to say goodbye to cities: Portland, Seattle, Oakland, Phoenix. At final stops along the Philadelphia 76ers' way, home teams have been introducing their own players first in order to build a crescendo for Dr. J, the National Basketball Association star who plays for everyone...
Partly because the 76ers are new, but mostly because the finish is near, Erving feels like a Squire again. "The ending has the same innocence attached to it that the beginning did," he says with some surprise. "I feel light and free. The way I played basketball was never about bringing attention to myself, but it was always about proving myself. I'm not forgetting the job at | hand, but, honestly, I feel relieved." At just 6 ft. 6 in. he has been the MVP of two leagues, scoring nearly 30,000 points along...
Erving expects life after basketball to be "less gratifying" but "more meaningful." He says, "I also expect my palms might sweat next year watching the 76ers play. It has a place, but so many things have places. I'll move on." Seeing to his creaky knees, icing them down a thousandth time, Erving is often last out of the locker room. Whatever hour he leaves, there always seem to be children outside the door. "They don't want signatures anymore," he smiles. "They're looking for souvenirs." Winners' out. Memories...
...handiest extra man on an exceedingly deep team that chanced to lose just one home game this interminable season. Bostonians are poised to measure Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge and company against any club of memory or mythology, from Chamberlain's Philadelphia 76ers and Willis Reed's New York Knicks, to the Bob Cousy, Frank Ramsey and Sam Jones Celtics of more than two decades back...