Morning Sports Update
“He didn’t say, ‘You’ve got a great game’ or anything, nothing complimentary. It was just, ‘You should’ve been a Celtic.'”
Larry Bird goes up against Julius Erving (“Dr. J”) in 1985. Boston Globe Photo Archive
March 3, 2026 | 11:21 AM
4 minutes to read
Julius Erving reflected on his relationship (and rivalry) with the Celtics: During a recent episode of the “All That Smoke” podcast hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Hall of Famer Julius Erving (known popularly as “Dr. J”) spoke about a range of fascinating topics from his memorable career.
One of the more interesting avenues of discussion from Erving was regarding the Celtics. As a longtime 76ers player, Erving understood the rivalry with Boston better than most. But given his background, it always made for an interesting development for one of the league’s transcendent players.
The topic was kicked off when Erving was asked if it was “fact or fiction” that longtime Celtics team president Red Auerbach “hated” the American Basketball Association (which rivaled the NBA until 1976). Erving played in the ABA for five years before joining Philadelphia.
“That’s a fact, man,” Erving said of Auerbach’s dislike for the ABA. “And you know what was so funny when I first met him. I went to UMass and I was right down the road — I was 90 miles down the road where I went to college. I had two good varsity seasons and a freshman season that was pretty good.
“All he said to me was, ‘You should’ve been a Celtic,’” Erving joked of Auerbach. “He didn’t say, ‘You’ve got a great game’ or anything, nothing complimentary. It was just, ‘You should’ve been a Celtic.’ Because they had regional draft privileges in the ’60s. You had first take on the ones in your area, coming out of college in your area. That was the way it used to be. That was a fact.”
For context, the NBA did use a territorial rights system for dividing college talent between 1949 and 1965. In that era, teams (in an attempt to connect college stars with their local NBA teams) allowed franchises to forego their first-round pick in exchange for a territorial pick. In that scenario, a team could choose a player before the actual draft picks were made, provided the player played within a 50-mile radius.
However, Erving’s interpretation isn’t quite correct. The NBA ditched the territorial draft system in 1966, several years before Erving was eligible. Eventually, the Bucks took Erving 12th overall in 1972, but he opted to play for the Virginia Squires of the ABA.
On the topic of the Celtics as a team, Erving said the rivalry started before Larry Bird (with whom Erving eventually engaged in a memorable fight in 1984).
“The competition with Larry, it started with [John] Havlicek, [Dave] Cowens, Jo Jo White, and probably with Wilt [Chamberlain] and Bill Russell. Philly vs. Boston, the rivalry,” Erving recalled.
“I went to school in Massachusetts, so I didn’t hate the Boston Celtics,” he explained. “But once I went to Philadelphia — via Virginia and New York, and then in Philadelphia — then it’s like, ‘OK we can’t like these guys.’
As for the fight with Bird, Erving pointed out that the two had interacted quite a bit.
“The irony of that is Larry and I did stuff together,” he said, noting the Atari video game cover they posed for (as well as Converse advertising).
“It was a rivalry. The fight incident, I generally don’t have too much to say about it because you don’t want to dignify that event,” he said of fighting Bird. “That happened in the blink of an eye, and then it got carried all over the universe because people come up to me [asking], ‘Can you sign this picture?’ And I’m looking at the picture and I’m holding [Larry’s] neck and he’s holding mine. I said, I ain’t signing this s***.’”
Trivia: Julius Erving won an NBA title with the 76ers in 1983. Though still a star, he was not actually Philadelphia’s leading scorer that season. Can you name the player who was?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: A Hall of Famer and a three-time NBA MVP, he’s seen as one of the greatest centers in basketball history.
Scores and schedules:
The Celtics defeated the Bucks 108-81 on Monday. Boston will play the Hornets at TD Garden on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
The Bruins host the Penguins tonight at 7 p.m.
And on Thursday, the Boston Fleet face the New York Sirens in Newark, New Jersey at 7 p.m.
More from Boston.com:
Some Bruins trade deadline updates: Boston.com’s Conor Ryan spoke to Ben Volin on the Boston Globe Sports Report about Thursday’s NHL trade deadline.
Just like they drew it up: Sam Hauser missed his initial buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter on Monday, but followed his shot and seamlessly sunk the second attempt.
On this day: In 1985, Kevin McHale briefly set a Celtics team record by scoring 56 points in a 138-129 win over the Pistons (he also totaled 16 rebounds).
Nine days later, Larry Bird broke McHale’s record by scoring 60 in a Celtics win over the Hawks.
Daily highlight: The second-ranked Red Sox prospect, 20-year-old shortstop Franklin Arias, helped turn a smooth double play in a spring training game on Monday.
Trivia answer: Moses Malone
Hayden Bird is a sports staff writer for Boston.com, where he has worked since 2016. He covers all things sports in New England.
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