Julius 'Dr. J' Erving lists his top-10 greatest players of all-time

Julius Erving is an NBA champion, two-time ABA champion, NBAMost Valuable Player, three-time ABA MVP, 11-time NBA All-Star,five-time ABA All-Star, Hall-of-Famer and a member of every NBAanniversary team (35th, 50th and 75th).

Dr. J is also 73 years old, so he's watched a lot of terrificplayers over the years.

Recently, Erving was asked by Joy DeAngela to name his 10 greatestplayers in basketball history, and his list surprised somepeople.

"I have five guys who are untouchable: Bill Russell, WiltChamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor," Ervingsaid. "That's my all-time best team.Everybody else has to be on the second team or the third team. Imade this decision when I was 15 years old. I'm sticking with itnow all these years later. There is no order. I think West andRobertson would be in the backcourt. Elgin Baylor would be in thefrontcourt with Wilt and Bill Russell.

"The next group of guys would be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, MichaelJordan, Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, probably Karl Malone..."

Erving admitted that he and his son debate over his list, andstruggled to name his 10th and final player.

"I always argue with my son where Tim Duncan belongs, and he'slike, 'He belongs ahead of Karl Malone for sure!' I'm taking KarlMalone," Erving explained. "And that last position... I like TinyArchibald."

Notably absent from Erving's list are current players likeLeBron James and Stephen Curry. When DeAngela asked him about this,he explained his reasoning.

"He hasn't played long enough, he has to finish his career,"Erving said, specifically talking about Curry. "Everybody I namedthere, their careers are finished."

This doesn't explain why a legend like Kobe Bryant isn't on thelist. But Erving is entitled to his opinion, and it's good to seesome older players whom younger fans may not be as familiar withgetting some love. Check out DeAngela's full interview with Dr. Jabove.