Julius Erving had incredible group of friends sitting with him at IST final

Mar 6, 2020; Brooklyn, New York, USA; New York Nets former player Julius Erving acknowledges the crowd as he is introduced during the second quarter of a game between the Brooklyn Nets and the San Antonio Spurs at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

People clearly still gravitate towards The Doctor.

Retired NBA icon Julius Erving went viral this weekend for the loaded group of friends he had sitting with him during Saturday’s In-Season Tournament final between the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers. Dr. J was spotted courtside for the single-elimination showdown in Las Vegas alongside Ahmad Rashad, Mitch Richmond, and Jerome Williams.

The quartet was shown during the ESPN broadcast reacting to a LeBron James dunk in the fourth quarter (the Lakers went on to win 123-109 to claim the inaugural In-Season Tournament cup).

Bron with the jam and the legends react pic.twitter.com/N2ipmcxeu8

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 10, 2023

In terms of accolades, Erving obviously does the heavy lifting. But the rest are no scrubs either — Richmond was a six-time NBA All-Star who later won a championship with the Lakers, Williams was a first-round pick who played in the NBA for a decade and had a notable impact for Vince Carter’s Toronto Raptors teams, and Rashad was a four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver in the NFL who later had a successful media career covering the NBA.

Now 73 years old, Erving usually only makes the news these days for his grouchy takes on today’s game. But he was definitely loving what he was seeing on Saturday along with his group of superfriends.