What if, two days before the Golden State Warriors’ highly anticipated, nationally televised season opener against the Nets, the player everyone wanted to see the most was traded away?
That’s exactly what happened, not with Kevin Durant — who we expect to face his former team on Dec. 22 — but with an equally great star the last time the Dubs and Nets opened an NBA season.
The New York Nets’ outrageous sale of Julius Erving on Oct. 20, 1976, disappointed the fans who sold out the Oakland Coliseum Arena seven weeks in advance in order to see his first appearance as an NBA player.