"He hadn't played long enough” – Julius Erving justifies snubbing Steph Curry from his top 10 all-time players
Golden State Warriors guard and four-time NBA champion Steph Curry is not on Julius Erving's list of top 10 players of all-time. Erving explained his good reason for doing so.
In a rare interview that Dr. J gave to Joy DeAngela's YouTube Channel, he was asked about his top 10 list. He had some interesting conditions for creating his list of the NBA's greatest players.
DR. J’s TOP 10 (no order)
“People can hate on me when I give them my list.”
Jerry West
Big O
Elgin Baylor
Wilt
Bill Russell
Michael Jordan
Kareem
Magic
Mailman
Tiny
(Via @joydeangela)
pic.twitter.com/nT1VH5mq63
First of all, there are five untouchables in his list and these five are in his top 10 since he was 15 years old. These five players were Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.
"That's my all-time best team. Everybody else got to be on the second team or the third team and I made this decision when I was 15 years old," explained Erving. "I'm sticking with it now all these years later."
Rounding up the next five players on Dr. J's list were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Karl Malone and Nate "Tiny" Archibald.
The interviewer then rebutted that there is no Steph Curry in Dr. J's list. he said:
"Oh no. He hadn't played long enough to finish his career. Everybody I named there is that career is finished."
WATCH: Julius Erving's full Interview with Joy DeAngela
Steph Curry might not even make it to Dr. J's Top 10 list even after retirement
At 35 years old, Steph Curry is arguably on the last leg of his illustrious NBA career. Furthermore, in the interview of Joy DeAngela with Dr. J, Kevin Durant was mentioned and asked he would have a chance of making the NBA legend's top 10.
"Could he knocked out Kareem? Magic? Michael? Karl Malone? He maybe could knock out Karl Malone," said Erving. "I can honestly say he and LeBron would be ahead of Tiny and Karl."
Steph Curry started competing for NBA championships in the 2014-15 NBA season. He has appeared in six of the past nine NBA Finals and has captured four NBA championships and one NBA Finals MVP in 2022.
Lebron James, Steph Curry, et al. wouldn't last a five game playoff series in the era Tiny Archibald and Julius Erving played.
These were considered a "touch fouls" in that era.
*Jordan rarely complained, he just got tougher. pic.twitter.com/jfK6s6ai7N" target="_blank" title="tweet-url" rel="noopener noreferrer">pic.twitter.com/jfK6s6ai7N
Even with the accolades and being teammates with Kevin Durant in two of his NBA championships, it seems that Dr. J already has KD and LeBron lined up before Steph Curry could even retire.
With more years ahead of him, maybe we can get back to Dr. J's top 10 list and ask him again if Curry would have a chance of overtaking Kevin Durant or LeBron James.