Julius Erving

Julius Erving — Dr. J — invented the modern way of playing basketball above the rim. Before Erving, basketball was a ground-based game. Players scored with set shots, hook shots, and layups. Erving introduced flight. His ability to take off from the free-throw line, glide through the air, and finish with dunks that seemed to defy physics created the template for every aerial artist who followed — from Jordan to Vince Carter to Ja Morant.

Erving's ABA career is criminally underappreciated. He won two championships and three MVPs in the ABA, playing a style of basketball so electrifying that it helped force the ABA-NBA merger. When he transitioned to the NBA, he won another championship with the 76ers in 1983 and an NBA MVP award. His combined ABA-NBA statistical profile — over 30,000 points — places him among the most prolific scorers in professional basketball history.

Dr. J's impact transcends statistics. He was basketball's first truly marketable superstar — a player whose style, charisma, and athleticism made the game aspirational. His iconic baseline scoop against the Lakers in the 1980 Finals is still one of the most replayed highlights in NBA history. Erving did not just play basketball differently. He made it look like art.