The Jim Ard Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Monday, May 2nd, 2005
One
round later, you faced Julius Erving and the favored Virginia Squires in the
Eastern Division Finals. What was it like to play against a young Dr. J?
It’s
hard to describe to someone just how gifted Julius Erving was, because words
fall short of adequately explaining his impact on the game of basketball. He
was Michael [Jordan] before Michael. He was able to defy gravity in a way that
was almost preposterous. He was an athletic freak, and I mean that in the most
sincere way possible, because the gifts that he had come around once in a
generation. That’s how special he was as an athlete. Beyond that, he was just
as special as a person. Very bright. Articulate. Great flair. He was the
biggest star the ABA had to offer, and our signature player. Later, with the
76ers, his appeal helped to propel the game to new heights. He became a true
ambassador of the game of basketball.
I remember that series against Virginia very well. The Squires won the first
two games in Virginia, Dr. J was the biggest reason for that. He scored 26
points in Game 1, and then 38 points in Game 2. At that point, it looked like
we were going to be swept out of the series. We couldn’t establish any momentum
– Rick didn’t play particularly well, at least by his standards. And even
though we did a decent job of containing Julius, he was still able to hurt us
down the stretch.
We returned home for Game 3, but there was a big delay – ten days – because the
Nassau Coliseum was booked for other events. Something like that would be
unimaginable today, and even back then the NBA didn’t run into those kinds of
problems. But that was the norm in the ABA. It was struggling to survive and
flourish in the shadow of an established league. Anyway, the delay was
necessary because neither team wanted to play a playoff game at the Island
Garden. It had bleacher seating. It was adequate for high school basketball,
and maybe small college ball, but that was it.
The long layoff turned out to be an advantage for us. It enabled us to regroup
and heal – we were pretty banged up by that point in the season. We won both
games at home to even the series, then split the next two games to force Game
7. Up to that point, neither team had won on the other’s home court. Game 7
was in Norfolk. The place was packed. Julius played great – I think he
finished with 35 points – but Rick hit a huge three-pointer late in the game and
Virginia was unable to answer. It was a great series, and one of the most
exciting that I’ve ever played.
Following
a stop in Memphis, you found yourself plucked off of the waiver by Red
Auerbach. What was it like to join this legendary franchise?
I
found myself very fortunate to join a team with the rich history of the
Boston Celtics. It was amazing. My expectation was that I would come in
and provide backup relief to Dave Cowens and Hank Finkel – injuries changed
all of that. I remember signing my contract, and thinking that I’d have a
couple of weeks to get ready to contribute, and then getting thrown into the
fire immediately. It wasn’t an easy adjustment. The biggest difference
between the ABA and the NBA, in my opinion, was the size of the men in the
middle. The ABA had Artis Gilmore, who was 7’2”, but there weren’t many
other players his size in that league. The NBA had imposing players on just
about every team – and sometimes two. Washington had Wes Unseld and Elvin
Hayes. Bob Lanier was out there to be reckoned with. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
There were just so many talented big men, so you faced one almost every
night. In the ABA, it was basically Artis as far as size and strength were
concerned. Thankfully, Dave and Hank were able to come back quickly, and we
were able to establish a solid rotation. That helped us mesh the next
season, when we won the championship.
