Westphal might whine, but it was Doc's time - Flashback: The 1977 NBA All-Star Game - basketball player Julius Erving

Basketball Digest, March, 2002 by Brett Ballantini

IT WAS AS IF JULIUS ERVING WAITED for his first NBA All-Star Game to show the world the skills that had made him the most exciting player in the ABA.

In his first year with the Philadelphia 76ers, Dr. J's production had fallen sharply from his ABA levels. His scoring alone dropped from a career mark of 28.7 in the ABA to 21.6 in his first Sixers season.

But he set the record straight on February 13, 1977 at Milwaukee Arena, pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds and tying Bob McAdoo for high-game scoring honors with 30 points, as his East team fell to the West, 125-124. It had taken the NBA-ABA merger to get Erving to accomplish something he never did in five ABA All-Star Games: He won the MVP.

There was also MVP support for Paul Westphal of the Phoenix Suns, who scored 20 points for the winners on 10-of-16 shooting, as well as the New York Knicks' McAdoo, who scored 14 points in a torrid fourth quarter. It was Westphal who, in the closing seconds, stole the ball from New Orleans Jazz guard Pete Maravich to preserve the one-point

A heroic performance, yes, but the 1977 All-Star Game turned out to be Dr. J's national coming-out party.

Not one year later, the Doctor did something altogether different with the focus that followed him from the minute he started dribbling the NBA's brown ball. This tale from the 1978 All-Star weekend is told by Hubie Brown, who coached the Kentucky Colonels to the ABA title in 1974-75 and took over as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks after the Colonels were dissolved in the merger.

"The All-Star Game was in Atlanta. They had a dinner for 5,000 people, in a hail with three tiers. CBS was broadcasting the game, so their dignitaries were up there. The next level was the Eastern Conference, and the bottom level was the ii Western Conference. Well, the big award that night came from Topps, to the player who received the most All-Star votes.

"The winner was Julius Erving. Now, there was still separation between NBA and ABA in some people's eyes, and here was a guy from the ABA who's become the most popular player in basketball. Dr. J walks all the way up to the top of the hail, and the guy from Topps presents him with a check and this four-foot trophy. And Doc--like only Doc could do--looks down and out at everybody gathered and says, `You know, when you're a player in the ABA, you always dreamed of being in this All-Star Game because it's nationally televised. Even better, your ego would like you to be the guy who received the most votes for the game, because then your career would be fully satisfied.'

"So Doc makes a nice speech. Then he reaches down and he takes the Topps trophy. He raises it over his head with both hands and says, `I would never accept this trophy for myself, I'm accepting this trophy on behalf of every ABA guy who is in this game--and we dominate this game --because they said we couldn't play. [Nine of 22 players in the 1978 game had ABA roots, after 10 of 22 in the 1977 game--Ed.]

"The place went crazy. People from all four of the ABA franchises ran up to the podium, hugging him. It was just a magnificent gesture by Dr. J. It shocked all of the old fogies who laughed at the red, white, and blue ball, the three-point line, and all the rules the ABA had that the NBA eventually adopted.

"It was a great night, with the merger still a little fresh. It was just wonderful if you were an ABA person. We were proud of Doc. He was the perfect guy to be our image-maker."

The 1977 NBA All-Star Game

February 13, 1977; the Milwaukee Arena; Milwaukee

Quarter    1    2    3    4   Final
East      34   34   21   35    124
West      23   35   39   22    125

East                          Team   MIN   FGM   FGA   FTM   FTA   REB

Julius Erving         Philadelphia    30    12    20     6     6    12
George McGinnis       Philadelphia    26     2     9     0     4     7
Bob McAdoo                New York    38    13    23     4     4    10
Doug Collins          Philadelphia    21     3     6     2     2     2
Pete Maravich          New Orleans    21     5    13     0     0     0
John Havlicek               Boston    17     2     5     0     0     1
Earl Monroe               New York    15     2     7     0     0     0
Jo Jo White                 Boston    15     5     7     0     0     1
Elvin Hayes             Washington    11     6     6     0     0     2
Rudy Tomjanovich           Houston    22     3     9     0     0    10
Phil Chenier            Washington    12     3     6     0     0     1
George Gervin          San Antonio    12     0     6     0     0     1
Totals                               240    56   117    12    14    47

West                          Team   MIN   FGM   FGA   FTM   FTA   REB

Bobby Jones                 Denver    14     1     4     0     0     0
David Thompson              Denver    29     7     9     4     5     7
Dan Issel                   Denver    10     0     3     0     0     1
Paul Westphal              Phoenix    31    10    16     0     0     1
Norm Van Lier              Chicago    14     1     3     0     0     1
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar    Los Angeles    23     8    14     5     6     4
Rick Barry            Golden State    29     7    16     4     4     4
Phil Smith            Golden State    28     6    13     1     2     6
Don Buse                   Indiana    19     2     4     0     0     2
Billy Knight               Indiana    12     1     5     2     2     5
Bob Lanier                 Detroit    20     7     8     3     3    10
Maurice Lucas             Portland    11     3     9     0     0     4
Totals                               240    53   104    19    23    45

East                          Team   AST    PF   PTS

Julius Erving         Philadelphia     3     2    30
George McGinnis       Philadelphia     2     3     4
Bob McAdoo                New York     2     3    30
Doug Collins          Philadelphia     6     2     8
Pete Maravich          New Orleans     4     1    10
John Havlicek               Boston     1     1     4
Earl Monroe               New York     3     1     4
Jo Jo White                 Boston     2     0    10
Elvin Hayes             Washington     1     6    12
Rudy Tomjanovich           Houston     1     1     6
Phil Chenier            Washington     1     0     6
George Gervin          San Antonio     0     1     0
Totals                                26    21   124

West                          Team   AST    PF   PTS

Bobby Jones                 Denver     3     0     2
David Thompson              Denver     3     3    18
Dan Issel                   Denver     0     0     0
Paul Westphal              Phoenix     6     2    20
Norm Van Lier              Chicago     1     2     2
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar    Los Angeles     2     1    21
Rick Barry            Golden State     8     1    18
Phil Smith            Golden State     8     3    13
Don Buse                   Indiana     5     0     4
Billy Knight               Indiana     0     0     4
Bob Lanier                 Detroit     4     3    17
Maurice Lucas             Portland     2     2     6
Totals                                42    17   125

Field goals: East .479, West .510. Free throws: East .857, West .826.
Attendance: 10,938.