Sixers Celebrate Anniversary Of Iconic Julius Erving Basket
By Ray Boyd
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Monday marked the 35th anniversary of one of the most iconic shots in basketball history. Julius Erving completed a reverse lay-up against the Lakers in the 1980 NBA Finals that went down in history.
Today, we live in an age of the instant highlight. Whenever a play is made, it is seen all over the world with the usage of social media. This exercise of instant sharing almost diminishes the value of the highlights themselves.
The Erving baseline reverse lay-up would have stood tall even in this era and would have been shared millions of times while appearing at the top of a number of Top 10 countdowns.
Erving's ability to float along the baseline, while maintaining full control of the basketball during the scoop, is something that makes that play incredibly unique. It almost appears like Erving stops for just a brief second in mid air as he whips his arm under the backboard and finishes on the other side.
The Sixers paid homage to the play by posting a series of pictures on Instagram. The images do not have a lot of context when viewed separately, but when viewed together on the team's page, they tell an amazing story.
Any young Sixers fan who grew in a time following that play, undeniably saw it over and over again in highlight reels and attempted to make that shot on a basket a few feet lower, with a basketball quite a bit smaller.
