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If you look closely, as an NBA fan, you will notice a constant but ugly trend amongst some of the biggest stars in the league. It's a trend that dates back to the 1980s, now progressing into the modern league.
On countless occasions, the best names to ever play the game of basketball will spend the best years of their career cementing their prestigious legacy with one, maybe two NBA franchises. Then, their prime inevitably ends, the player regresses, and he gets met at a crucial career crossroads.
Will he play for that random franchise in an odd, typically unflattering jersey for the last one to two years of his career?
We have seen this happen numerous times across the league's history. Hakeem Olajuwon playing for the Toronto Raptors, Tony Parker suiting up for the Charlotte Hornets, Patrick Ewing in an Orlando Magic jersey, the list goes on.
It is a common yet weird phenomenon, one that even Julius Erving could have been a part of.
Mostly known for his high-flying dunks for the New York Nets and Philadelphia 76ers, he came dangerously close to spending the last years of his career playing for the Utah Jazz.
For a star with such a magnitude as Dr. J, it's hard to believe he would have had any outstanding desire to spend his final seasons in Salt Lake City. Usually, a team stationed in a bigger market and/or a team with overwhelming chances to get a championship would typically make more sense to choose for Erving.
However, it comes down to a simple explanation.
Money!
As reported in an article by the New York Times in 1986, Erving had a substantial contract offer from the Jazz of $4 million across two seasons to finish his career in Utah.
"All Erving has to do is say yes, and Larry Miller, who became the sole owner of the Jazz last June, will present him with a two-year offer sheet worth almost $4 million.
If Erving signs the sheet, the 76ers, under the right of first refusal, would then have 10 days to match the offer. Katz has already offered Erving a one-year contract worth $1,485,000, which is what he earned last season."
Utah had offered Erving over $500,000 more than Philadelphia for one season alone. It may not look like much of an increase in the current landscape of today’s salary cap; half a million-dollar pay increase back in the 1980s was much more appealing than it is in the 2020s
Despite such a pay gap, it was not quite enough to lure him away. He signed a one-year deal to finish his career with the 76ers, the franchise he had spent the last decade with.
If Erving had opted to take the pay raise and sign with the Jazz, he would have joined an exciting core with names like Karl Malone, John Stockton, Mark Eaton, Thurl Bailey, and Darrell Griffith. A team that ended up falling in the first round could have potentially had a higher ceiling with the addition of Dr. J, who was still averaging 16.8/4.4/3.2 splits in 1987.
While adding a 36-year-old Julius Erving is not as prestigious as adding 26-year-old Julius Erving, being so close to adding one of the biggest names in the history of the game is sort of a letdown.
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