'Should we ask him to do it again?': Why this NBA moment remains my favorite 42 years later

Sport captivates audiences for several reasons.

Foremost among them is the competition between sides. There’s a winner, a loser, sometimes even a tie, and within those results are multitudes of lessons.

But also because of its ability to make the impossible possible.

It can capture the imagination of a child that leads to a lifetime of appreciation of the game.

Of all the great plays in NBA history, the one that mesmerizes me the most has endured for more than 40 years.

25 (OF 75) TOP MOMENTS IN NBA HISTORY: From Kobe Bryant's finale to Willis Reed's walk-out

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It’s Philadelphia 76ers star Julius Erving’s soaring, gliding, gravity-defying reverse layup against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of the 1980 Finals. The series featured two of my favorite players – Erving and Earvin Johnson, who appeared on my radar in the late 1970s at Michigan State with his basketball sorcery.

I’m sure there is a generation of young fans who look at back at the Finals with LeBron, Steph and KD the same way. Just as Jordan did for youngsters in the 1990s.

For me, it was Erving.

Let’s set the stage. Game 4 in Philadelphia with the Lakers leading the series 2-1. They split in Los Angeles and the Lakers won Game 3 in Philadelphia. Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is dominating the series. Johnson is close to averaging a triple-double, and Erving and Daryl Dawkins are leading the Sixers. (This series had some great nicknames: Dr. J, Magic and Chocolate Thunder). The Sixers needed this game.

Nearing the midway point of the fourth quarter, Erving was cleared for takeoff by air traffic control at PHL.

Erving began his ascent on the right baseline and any kind of reverse given his location seemed implausible, especially with Mark Landsberger and Abdul-Jabbar protecting the rim. Erving played keep away with the basketball from Landsberger’s outstretched arm as he kept soaring, kept gliding through air, time and space. He held the ball high in his right hand, brought it down and under to the other side of the rim and with a flick of his right wrist, put enough English on the ball to hit the backboard in the perfect spot so that it dropped through the hoop.

Style and grace, personified.

It gave the Sixer a 91-84 lead with 7:35 left in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers called timeout. Erving scored 10 of the Sixers’ final 16 points, finishing with 23 points as Philadelphia tied the series at 2-2.

To grasp the magnitude of the move, a combination of photos, video and words are required.

“Here I was, trying to win a championship, and my mouth just dropped open,” Johnson said. “He actually did that! I thought, ‘What should we do? Should we take the ball out or should we ask him to do it again?’ It’s still the greatest move I’ve ever seen in a basketball game, the all-time greatest.”

The move was iconic then and remains so today, one of the league’s most indelible moments.

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA 75: Dr. J's infamous layup in 1980 changed the NBA forever