Winning the MVP award is probably the highest achievement a player can take home from an individual standpoint. However, long before there was a reign of guards taking it home, with names like Stephen Curry , Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan dominating, there was a guy who broke a more than two-decade-long trend of big men almost exclusively owning the honor.
That guy was Julius Erving . The ABA and NBA legend made history in the 1981 season when he finally disrupted the order that had defined the league for over twenty years (with one exception).
"From '65 on, after Oscar Robertson won, all the players who won were centers," said Erving, the Philadelphia 76ers high flyer. "So I opened the door for non-centers to win. And now this is another opening, so to speak, something that hasn't happened for a long time."
The MVP trophy was essentially a big man's prize for decades. Starting with Bob Pettit's win in the inaugural 1955-56 season, the award quickly became reserved almost exclusively for centers or power forwards who dominated the paint. The one and only exception between Pettit's reign and Erving's breakthrough was Oscar Robertson in 1963-64, who snuck in as a guard during an era when giants dictated the terms on the hardwood.
From there, the list looks like the roll call of the most dominant bigs in basketball history: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Willis Reed, Dave Cowens, Bill Walton, Moses Malone and Bob McAdoo. Their numbers defined what MVP seasons looked like. And, for the most part, the rest of the league was just playing catch-up. Russell's rebounding dominance, Wilt's outrageous stat lines that still feel unreal and Kareem's consistency at both ends left little room for anyone outside the paint to even be considered.
By the time Erving's moment arrived, the pattern was set in stone. Even in his own 1980-81 season, Erving had to fight through that reputation and produce a masterclass that could not be ignored: 24.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks per game across all 82 contests for Philadelphia, while leading the Sixers to the top of the Eastern Conference. That combination of production, leadership and, most importantly, results, finally made it impossible to deny a perimeter-oriented forward his place at the top. For the first time since Robertson, the award went to someone who operated not just inside the painted area.
Once Dr. J broke through, the door stayed open. The 1980s became the decade of balance, with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird carrying the torch and splitting the award across multiple seasons, while Kareem always remained at the back of everyone's minds. Jordan arrived in the late 80s and completely reshaped what dominance from the perimeter looked like, racking up MVPs through the 1990s, while still leaving just enough space for guys like Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and Karl Malone to come in their own.
There was finally a little bit of everything, where greatness from different positions could be recognized.
That same balance carried into the 2000s. Allen Iverson claimed one in 2001, Shaqulle O'Neal in 2000, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett in their primes, Kobe Bryant in 2008, Dirk Nowitzki in 2007, Steve Nash 's back-to-back run in 2005 and 2006 and LeBron James beginning his eventual four-time reign.
The MVP award became a true reflection of the league's diversity, both in style and in position. What had once been a club reserved for giants now became an even playing field for everyone.
When Erving looks back on this, he is proud of what he has accomplished. In his own words, he opened the door, and once it was pushed wide, the game never looked the same.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 26, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
