James Loving - National Radio Text Service

Did You Know??? The Philly [Philadelphia] Connection - Many feel the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers championship team is the greatest ever for one season. The team had more chemistry than meets the eye.

Philadelphia is famous for several things, the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross' house [she made the first American flag], The Philadelphia Art Museum steps that Rocky ran up, cheese steaks and basketball. In our notes we found that our information trail led us to Philadelphia and its renowned basketball history. So…Philadelphia basketball trivia is included in this column.

KOBE BRYANT's father Joe named his son after Kobe beef that is well known in Japan. Joe's nickname is "Jelly Bean." He played eight seasons in the NBA as a forward. Joe aka "Jelly Bean" played with the Philadelphia 76ers (1975 through 1978-79), San Diego Clippers (1980-81 through 1981-82) and the Houston Rockets (1982-83).

With the Sixers he was a teammate of Dr J (Julius Erving). Kobe was born in Philadelphia, August 23, 1978. As you can note he was exposed to a lot on NBA basketball and locker rooms as a child.

Julius Erving (Dr. J) is considered as one of the greatest players ever to play in the NBA. He was in the All-Star game every year that he played professional basketball. The 6-7 forward played 16 seasons of pro ball, five in the ABA (American Basketball Association) and eleven in the NBA.

In 1971 Erving signed as a free agent with ABA's Virginia Squires after his junior year at Massachusetts University. After two seasons the Squires traded Erving to the New Jersey Nets where he played three seasons [1973-74 to 1975-76]. The Nets were ABA champions in 1974 and 1976. The Nets franchise became a part of the NBA for the 1976-77 season. Erving's contract was then sold to the Philadelphia 76ers October 20, 1976.

He was with the Sixers for 11 seasons, the remainder of his playing career. He is the franchise's all-time blocked shots leader [1,293] and was a member of the 76ers 1983 championship team. Dr. J, as they say, and was the leagues Most Valuable player in 1981.

Erving retired after the 1986-86 season. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 and was selected as one of the 50 greatest players in basketball history in 1996. Erving is now the Executive Vice President of the Orlando Magic…

DID YOU KNOW?

THE PHILADELPHIA CONNECTION: The Philadelphia 1967 NBA championship team has been called by many the greatest team ever in a season. You can't dispute that the Boston Celtics of the 1960's were the greatest team over a period of time.

What is interesting about the Sixers is the closeness of the players and management then and now. Here are some examples.

Philadelphia 76ers 1967 NBA Championship Team

Standing Wally Jones (3rd from left), Billy Melchioni (4th from left), Matt Goukas (5th from left), Jack Ramsey (extreme right). Sitting/first row - Wilt Chamberlain (1st on left), Lucious Jackson (center # 54) Billy Cunningham (2nd from right).

Temple University Prep Team

First Row: from left, Arthur Passic,Wally Jones (aka) Wali, Robert Fives, Herman Feldstein, James Loving, Wayman Ray, Wellington Hundley. Standing from left Coach Ray Mullen, Edward Kennedy, Obie Snyder, Albert Williams, Harry Carpenter, Hayward Pugh, and Athletic Director Ralph Kreps

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