Doctor J analyzes analytics & his documentary

THOUGH THE late-afternoon sun was beating down as he entered XFINITY Live! and he was surrounded by an overflow crowd in a small, upstairs room during a question-and-answer session with the media, Julius Erving still managed to do what he did for so many years as a player in Philadelphia - exude coolness.

Dressed in a white shirt and white pants, brought together with a light tan jacket, Erving sat on a stool in front of those gathered and, with his long fingers endlessly wrapped around a microphone, talked about the upcoming documentary about him that premieres Monday on NBA TV, as well as other topics.

When asked about the direction of the 76ers these days and the implementation of analytics, Erving could only laugh - as many old-school basketball people do - at the thought of it being the new way of the NBA.

"Analytics? You want to explain?" Erving semi-joked. "Is that like a new category or something, or stats or analysis of players, character? Thing that have always existed but now there's a title for it? It's turning basketball into rocket science, right? I think if a team does it and they win, they everybody is going to do it. If the team is a cellar dweller, you can analyze all they want, nobody is going to follow them. But if they are doing it successfully and it's publicized, people are going to follow. You're talking about 30 teams, you're not talking about 300. It's very easy to get the memo, get the word, and find somebody to do the same thing."

Erving is now in a consultant position with the Sixers and said he is on speed dial for CEO Adam Aron. He didn't delve into exactly what he would do to fix his former franchise, but he did admit that a lesson should be learned from the Andrew Bynum fiasco by the still-new ownership in its quest to move the Sixers forward.

At 63, Erving seems content to be in the reflective stage of his life when it comes to the game of basketball. He pointed out that it was 36 years ago to the day that his team lost in six games to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1977 NBA Finals, his initial season in the league after coming over from the ABA. But he also couldn't contain the joy that it still brings him when talking about the run to the 1983 championship.

"In the 11 years I spent in Philadelphia, we were chasing a title 4 of those 11 years," Erving said of his team's Finals appearances in 1977, '80, '82 and '83. "It's probably not as relevant that we won once and lost three times. I think the chase itself was exciting and that we were always in the playoffs and we always - 7 of the 11 years - were contenders.

"I think those are things that after it's done, you get a dry spell [and] people look back and have a higher appreciation for. So it's something that I appreciated in the moment in coming out of New York and playing with two title teams for the Nets and winning the last [ABA] game and coming to Philadelphia and chasing the title for 7 years before we got there.

"Coming back each season after the strain, after the toil, after the frustration of coming in second place and starting all over again and having our fans there for us and having different slogans that Pat Williams came up with - 'We Owe You One' - all the things that eventually led to the parade 30 years ago occupy a very special place in my heart."

He said he had seen snippets of the 90-minute documentary, but was going to view it in full for the first time yesterday. He didn't so much look forward to hearing what his fellow players had to say about him - "players always say nice things about other players" - but did say he was looking forward to absorbing what his former coaches had to say about him.

As for enemies in the league, Doc said he really didn't have any, but there were two players who he didn't care for. "I'll go on record: I didn't like Adrian Dantley or Bernard King," he said. "I also didn't like how well they played against us."

The 6-6 icon still appears to be in great shape, topped by the short-cropped white hair. While he admits that basketball is a secondary part of his life now, Erving does get out on the court at least once a year to prove to his 11-year-old son (and perhaps himself) that he can still do one thing.

"I dunk once a year," he said, "and I got my one in this year and we'll see what happens next year."

And with the documentary, viewers will see what has happened in the 63 years leading up to now.