The NBA in 1977 was very different than it is now. The ABA had just merged into the league, Finals games were getting bumped for non-major golf tournaments and several players called to be doctors, pinballs or aliens. In the first season since the merger, Bill Walton brought his Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals against Julius Erving (aka Dr. J aka The Doctor aka Doctor Jota) and his Philadelphia Sixers. Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange breakdown the Blazers' victory to win the franchise's first and only title, as well as the great nicknames, where the NBA was at as a league and the NBA's first dunk contest. Subscribe to ballandorder.substack.com.

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