Julius Erving slams how Kevin Durant has 'hopped around' joining superteams

Julius "Dr. J" Erving has aligned himself with the malcontents against superteams in this NBA era, and negated Kevin Durant's career moves to multiple franchises.

During an interview with NBA media personality Joy De'Angela released on Thursday, the Hall of Famer disparaged the lack of parity among teams in the league. Erving explained how that's resulted from All-Stars leaving teams for their desired trade destinations or in free agency to join other All-Stars to form superteams and chase titles.

Erving began his diatribe about how superstar players have gained more power to determine which team they want to play for while under contract. That's in contrast to when team executives had more control over that during his 1970s and 1980s heyday.

“Since the prisoners are running the show, not the warden,” Erving said before he was interrupted by De'Angela to clarify his metaphor. “It’s just where the star player on the team is like, ‘Screw this city and all their support that they’ve given me,’ and ‘I’m going south,’ ‘I’m going to Florida,’ or ‘I’m going to L.A.,’ or ‘I’m going to Texas,’ or ‘I’m going somewhere else.’

"So, you know, these decisions, they’re business decisions, understand or whatever, but they have not helped the game. They have not helped parity within the game when they build these superteams.”

Superteams have been a polarizing topic in the NBA media and for fans after LeBron James' televised decision in July 2010 to "take my talents to South Beach," and team up with Hall of Famers Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in Miami. James left the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team that drafted him in 2003, via free agency. They won two straight titles in 2012 and 2013, and four consecutive finals appearances in that same amount of seasons together.

All-Stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard left the Oklahoma City Thunder and Toronto Raptors, respectively, and became Los Angeles Clippers teammates by choice in July 2019. After George's one year played in Oklahoma City and a four-year extension signed with that team, George joined forces with then-free agent Leonard in L.A. after Leonard led Toronto to its first title that year.

Kyrie Irving demanded a trade from the Brooklyn Nets and was sent to Dallas on Feb. 6, and Durant demanded a trade to Phoenix for the second time within a year just days after Irving's departure. Their former Brooklyn teammate James Harden has requested three trades within the past three years, going from Houston to Brooklyn to Philadelphia, and has wanted out of the latter city since June 30.

The conversation moved toward the Portland Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard, who requested a trade to the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat on July 2.

Lillard, who's spent his entire 11-year career in Portland, and had been loyal to the franchise in the past, asked for the trade three days after free agency began. The team's management didn't sign any All-Stars or veteran talent in free agency to give him the confidence to move forward to returning to playoff contenders. Portland decided to rebuild with its young talent from their recent years' draft picks, and only re-signed its other top veteran Jerami Grant to a five-year extension.

Erving said Lillard was an exception who deserved to ring-chase, compared to Durant who has "hopped around" since he was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007.

“Well, wherever he goes he probably will finish his career because of his age and the fact that he played (11) years and he wants to have a chance at winning the championship, and doesn’t think he can get it there. So that’s a good reason for him," Erving said.

"But a guy who’s 26 or 27 just wanting to hop around … look at how many times Durant has hopped around. No, for real. OKC, Golden State, where’d he go after that? Now he’s in Phoenix.”

Durant, 34, left Oklahoma City as a free agent after eight years with the team. He led them to several postseason appearances, including its 2012 finals loss to Miami. He joined the Golden State Warriors and was a two-time finals MVP after he helped lead them to the 2017 and 2018 titles. After Golden State's 2019 finals loss, he signed with Brooklyn as a free agent that year. But that team had just one playoff-series win in his four years in Brooklyn.

Durant is now in Phoenix with its new Big 3 with two other elite scorers Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, whom the team acquired in June.

But superteams have been around throughout NBA history. That includes the 1960s Boston Celtics that won eight straight titles, the "Showtime" L.A. Lakers that won five in the 1980s, and the Philadelphia 76ers roster that won Erving's sole title in 1983.

Philadelphia had four All-Stars that year, including Erving and Moses Malone, who won the league's 1982 MVP award and the left Houston in a sign-and-trade to Philadelphia entering the 1982-83 season. In addition, Philadelphia had Bobby Jones, who was a four-time All-Star before Malone joined the team.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Julius 'Dr. J' Erving slams Kevin Durant for joining Suns, superteams