June’s YouTube Clip of the Month is a 13-minute highlights package of a regular-season NBA game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers from January 5, 1983. Yes, the video quality is a bit fuzzy, but the on-court action is sharper than a ginsu knife. We bring it to you not only for its own innate value, but as a salve for the lost NBA season of 2020, in full knowledge that the league’s upcoming Orlando sham will be of interest to absolutely no one who doesn’t own Disney stock. (Warning: spoilers ahead, so you might want to watch the clip first.)
The game-sealing dunk unleashed by Dr. J should be instantly familiar to anyone reading this: It’s been shown on NBA highlight reels for almost 40 years now, and has rightfully taken its place as one of the game’s all-time great moments. But the full game itself was also pretty remarkable. It featured the teams that bumped heads in the NBA Finals three times in four seasons, with the defending champion Lakers taking on the team that would eventually win the title that season. Furthermore, the game showcased some of the brightest lights to ever grace a hardwood floor, all in the prime of their careers. Magic Johnson on one side backed by Bob McAdoo, James Worthy, and Jamaal Wilkes, battling Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Andrew Toney, and Maurice Cheeks. Fitting for its era, the game was an up-tempo, thrill-a-minute affair, back and forth into overtime with little separation on the scoreboard until Erving’s magnificent capper.
The game should have featured another all-time legend in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but the Big Fella was laid up in his hotel room with a migraine, leaving L.A.’s offense in Magic’s hands. The result was a sort of repeat of Magic’s famous Game 6 performance on the same court in the 1980 NBA Finals. This time, Magic had 23 points, 20 assists and 12 rebounds, but unlike in 1980 he wound up on the wrong side of the scoreboard. As much as I adore Kareem, it must be said that his absence made this particular game better, allowing for a fast-break tempo that rarely paused for a breath.
Even better, viewers will notice that the highlights are completely devoid of a 3-point shot, hearkening to the days when professional basketball was not obsessed with the trey, and offering unabashed cranks of the “in my day, a basket was worth 2 points” school (of which I am a charter member) sweet respite from today’s dreary pull-up and pump-fake shenanigans that have robbed the game of so much of its essential beauty.
But back to that dunk. There is a reason it has endured throughout the decades, even as Erving’s successors like Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James have filled the airwaves with their own litany of monster slams. Julius was the most graceful player to put on a uniform (Kareem and his skyhook are a close second). His movements have often been compared to a dancer, or to a jazz solo. He wasn’t the first man to dunk, but his dunks revolutionized the game in the same way that Hendrix revolutionized music, or Brando acting. Erving was the first guy who seemed to be aiming for something more than just two points when he made a basket: He was interested in creating something unique and aesthetically perfect each time. That fact that he managed to make all his movements so beautiful and STILL accomplish so much (two ABA titles, an NBA title, four trips to the NBA Finals, and over 30,000 points) says all you need to know about the man’s greatness.
I’ve always thought there was something akin to the male orgasm in a good slam-dunk. Think that’s a stretch? Pay close attention to the fans in the background as Erving sprints after the loose ball and zeroes in on the rim. Notice their giddy anticipation as he takes flight, then their utter delirium as he completes the act. Now tell me you don’t want a cigarette. (The closest thing in sports to the female orgasm is a soccer goal: They’re extremely rare, and require hours of concentration and precise teamwork. Take it from me — I’ve played many a scoreless tie in my day. But perhaps I digress.)
One final note about this clip. The highlights are great, but the comments below are nearly as entertaining in their own right. Scroll down far enough on the YouTube page and you’ll find some absolutely delightful reactions, especially from folks who are blown away by the clip’s play-by-play announcer. Those of us lucky enough to grow up in Southern California in the 1970s and ’80s are intimately familiar with the work of the late, great Chick Hearn, but it’s really neat to see how the stylings of basketball’s announcing GOAT come through loud and clear to today’s millennials. My favorite comment: “Holy crap that commentator is godlike.” Sums it up better than I can.
There’s so much goddamn greatness on display in this clip I can barely stand it. Who needs Orlando?
Enjoy!
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