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World B Free – The Prince of Midair Part 2
What is your take on the whole commercialization of streetball? All the interest that the sport gathers from sponsors and the media these days.
The NBA and streetball are two totally different games. The players on the streetball courts have their own unique set of talents. But the level of attention they receive now helps some of them to get into the league. And that‘s a good thing.
You were playing professionally in a time where it was hard not to get in trouble sometimes. Teammates smoking and drinking in the locker room. But today you are teaching the kids not to do those things. Did you, back then, sometimes feel that you were on the wrong side of the track?
Let me put it this way. Temptation was there. But with me coming from Brownsville and playing only my first and second season in the league I was a nobody basically. So when I looked at all the guys I was strong enough to know that it wasn‘t for me. I said to myself ‘I‘m going to make it‘ and I went 13 years in the NBA.
While you played actively, the league was very different from today. People would go outside for a smoke break in between games. Tell us about that era.
Yes, you are right. When I was a rookie with the Philadelphia 76ers they had beers in the locker room, they were actually smoking cigarettes in the locker room. It was a totally different time back then. But when I was a rookie I played with some of the greatest players who ever played this game, even though some of them were already in their thirties. And they did the things they did and I could never understand that. But they were no doubt dedicated to the game.
You played with some of the most interesting characters to ever play the game. Just let me know what goes through your mind when you hear the different names.
Oh, oh.
Let‘s start with Julius.
Julius Erving was a special basketball player. If you wanted your kid to look up to one person for what that person did on a basketball court that person would be Julius Erving.
Darryl Dawkins.
The Character. And also one of the best friends I‘ve had in the basketball world. Great guy, great individual. He was a man to himself because he was the first one I knew who could put somebody on “Lovetron“. You‘ve never heard of that before in basketball. That was until Darryl Dawkins came in right out of high school making up names. The choke-your-mother-jumpshot and stuff like that. A great guy.
How about Charles Barkley?
He was a different character. Charles Barkley was the beast of the east. If it wasn‘t his way it was no way.
And everybody was scared of him.
Yeah, he would bully you.
Talk about the layup lines back when you were with the 76ers.
Man, you are talking about something very special right there. I mean people got mad when they missed the Sixers warmup. They rather missed the game than miss the layup line. The World would go first. After that Darryl Dawkins with a Chocolate Thunder Dunk. Boom. And then Doc soaring in from the free throw line. Boom. Then I would throw it of the glass and finish with a tomahawk. That layup line was our trademark when we came to the building. We had some guys that could do unbelievable dunks. The layup line alone was a dunk show.
How do you think the best five players of your era would fare against the best five guys of today‘s era?
I believe that the best five players from my era would wear today‘s guys out. And I‘m not just saying that because I was part of that era. I believe that we were more physical, that we were more skilled in our profession and in what we did on the basketball court. Nowadays they hype the game a little bit different. I‘m not saying there is no talent out there. There is a lot of talent. I just think that the skill-factor is a little bit different.
You were one of the players who brought the slam dunk to the NBA. Who took that torch from you? And who do you enjoy watching today when it comes to aerial assaults?
In my active days it was Julius of course, and Michael Jordan. I also liked Connie Hawkins, but also the little guys like Spud Webb, coming out there and doing the incredible at five foot seven. I watched a lot of different players and everybody put something different into their dunks.
You even played in the league with Mike. So you brought several generations together. You were there for the generation of the Ervings and then you were there for the generation of the Jordans. How was MJ as a player?
As you can imagine he was one of the greatest players to ever play the game. In his first four years in the league Michael and I went head to head. In his book “Come Fly with Me“ he was asked who he respected the most in the league for doing to him what he had done to the other guy. And he said World B Free. That was an honor for me. Him speaking so highly about me. And it‘s in his book, you can read it up. (laughs) I just knew that he was something special once I saw him. The same was true with Magic Johnson. I was playing when Magic came into the league, broke him in his first game. And I knew right then that he was going to be something really special.
I was going to ask you about that. Magic was the most hyped Rookie coming into the league that year and in his first game you dropped 46 on him. Did you think that all the hype was for nothing?
No, no. I didn‘t think like that. I was still a young buck at that time. When people are looking somewhere they are not looking somewhere else. So I wanted to catch their attention. I was the underdog at that moment … and that‘s when I‘m dangerous.
