“You can not leave off LeBron James“ - Stephen A. Smith rebuts Julius Erving’s bizarre all-time top 10 list
Julius Erving's Top 10 player list has gone viral, and LeBron James not being in the conversation spelled blasphemy for ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.
In an interview with Joy DeAngela's YouTube channel, Dr. J named his top ten players of all time and didn't include any active players.
Dr. J gave his top 10 players all time (no order) 👀
Bill Russell
Wilt
Oscar Robertson
Jerry West
Elgin Baylor
Kareem
MJ
Magic
Karl Malone
Tiny Archibald
You rocking with his list?
(via @joydeangela) pic.twitter.com/p83LhxodA6
As the list continues to draw barbershop conversations, Stephen A. Smith chimed in that James should be included even if he is not retired from basketball.
"You cannot have an all-time top 10 list, and LeBron James is out. Just can't. I got LeBron James a top 2 player all-time," said Smith.
Dr. J made it clear in his interview that he will not include active players in his list. There are non-negotiables that the NBA legend cannot take off, like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor -- all of whom have been on Erving's best-of-all-time list since he was 15.
This did not stop Smith from stressing that James and even Steph Curry should be in the conversation of the top 10 best players of all time.
"When you mean he is not on the list, Steph Curry being not on the list, Steph has been in the league for more than a decade. He's got four championships. LeBron James has been in the league for 20 years.
"He played more years than most of the players Dr. J had on the list. Certainly, experience is not an issue here. LeBron James, on what he brings to the table, is one of the top two or three players in the history of basketball," Smith said.
.@stephenasmith reacts to Dr. J's top 10 NBA players of all-time 👀
"You cannot have an all-time top 10 list and LeBron James is out." pic.twitter.com/U7CtoZT0uU
LeBron James will make it on Dr. J's list after his career is over
Furthermore, in the interview, Dr. J knows that a few names on his list will be bumped off once certain players retire. Two of them are Kevin Durant and James, who will replace Nate "Tiny" Archibald and Karl Malone in the NBA Legend's top 10 list.
"Could he knock 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."
Even with the pending names of Durant and James in Erving's list, Steph Curry seems to still be the odd man out, even with his four NBA championships.
WATCH: Dr. J's interview online with Joy DeAngela