I’m not picking a fight. Why compare footsteps of greatness between team captains from different eras who both ruled the air? But I binge-watched The Last Dance, so if you didn’t watch it or only saw parts, that’s okay, I’m ready to stir things up and throw some retro basketball onto the vinyl.

So with an introduction like that, let’s hear it for Dr. J.

As you can see, we’re going to have some schoolyard fun with this as we look at two team captains to understand the kind of leader that they were. We’ll strike scores, and stats to make this air dare fair and era compliant. Just strip this down to size so ultimately you could decide for yourself: who would you want as your boss?

And this one hypothetical question alone can dare you to become the kind of boss/parent/person you want to be. Define “boss” as you will. It’s not supposed to be the same for all of us.

And since my head’s spinning with records and vintage stories straight off the mouth of Mr. Erving (I spoke to him yesterday, in fact), I’m dividing this muse into ten episodes (fair is only fair, MJ). Or, if not that many, we’ll take this as far as we need to go, whichever comes first.

I called Mr. Erving earlier this week to see if we could “schedule an interview,” but before we even got there, he mentioned my blog and said, “thanks for paying homage to basketball.” What an aha moment! I’ve been struggling to define my blog’s purpose (the supposed writer). But it’s just like Mr. Erving to give encouragement exactly when it’s needed and to be able to do so with eloquence. Hopefully, it didn’t get lost on you that both of those big words began with e (E for Erving), right?

And he speaks in that melodious voice that makes you feel he’s singing to you. Just bring on those old albums of Earth, Wind and Fire.

Interviewing Mr. Erving is like talking to my Dad. They’re the same class act–retro-role models, even. And thinking of them together makes me smile because no one player can do it alone in the game of basketball. It’s like footprints; there’s never just one that leads you to where you stand today.

That wasn’t fair to lead you to the beach like that. But I’ve been just as sneaky, don’t you know? I’ve been setting you up with some insider information about Mr. Erving.

But before we go on, if you care to know why he’s Mr. Erving to me, you can read a post I wrote for his birthday, Dare To Be Great, if you haven’t already. https://stephanieortiz.com/dare-to-be-great/.

I’d also written a muse about bowling with MJ, before The Last Dance aired, and it’s not a spoiler alert if I tell you MJ won. Feel free to check it out. https://stephanieortiz.com/flying-high-with-nike-air-jordan-and-bowling/

It’s an example of MJ’s “win at all costs” mentality, although there wasn’t a cost to beat me, so never mind. Just remember that’s MJ’s slogan for how he leads. He gave us a glimpse into his childhood in Episode II so we could see what motivated him to be that way.

Something always spurred Michael on to better himself. Racism motivated Michael to be something outside of Wilmington, NC. Confrontations with his brother, got him to fight for his father’s attention. He was determined to be as good if not better than his brother.

Michael’s Dad knew MJ the best: “If you want to bring out the best in Michael, tell him he can’t do something, or he can’t do it as good as somebody else. I think he takes it as a personal challenge.”

We all have challenges! What about trying to write this week’s blog with The Last Dance swarming around in my head? It’s not dramatic enough, grant it, but even a bad dose of drama was needed here.

You know I didn’t have to take this on. Dad started it Sunday afternoon when he mentioned his takeaway from The Last Dance: the leadership style of Michael was just so different than Julius. How would you perform better?

To answer that question I would have had to play basketball, but since that’s never been the case, I started to imagine what it’d be like with a boss like Michael in something I was good in, only he was better.

It’s been said that I have an active imagination, but even still, I needed to watch the documentary first. So I got started Sunday night and watched through Tuesday morning until 11:30 am.

That’s when I knew I had to level the playing field again. I’d heard 9 hours of Michael. Now I knew so much more about Michael than Mr. Erving, and he’s the one I’d had such a personal connection to as a kid. So what about Mr. Erving?

I couldn’t call him fast enough. “I said I know what motivated Michael to be who he is today, but what motivated you?” So after complimenting my blog and exchanging pleasantries, Mr. Erving gave me more homework. This time I was to watch a documentary that NBA Entertainment did on him, The Doctor.

It’s well worth the hour and ten minutes (and a lot more doable than The Last Dance). Though it doesn’t have the bells and whistles, it’s genuine.

It sums up Mr. Erving’s leadership style the way you could if you knew him personally or admired him from afar: be a role model.

Mr. Erving’s motivation came from his younger days. His parents got divorced when he was three, and six years later, his father died in a car crash. He became the father figure for his younger brother, who died of Lupus at 19 years old.

DJ in The Doctor: “When I went back to school after his funeral, all I could do was take his spirit with me. So when I line up against an opponent who was only thinking of being one, now I have two spirits in me. I have mine, and I’ve got my brothers. I have a slight advantage.”

And Mr. Erving added to that in our phone interview when I asked him if he got his motivation from other players. “I got my motivation from mentors. My father and brother dying. Their spirit was always with me. When I went against an opponent, it was three against one. That always worked for me.”

Different stories create such different people. Michael had sibling rivalry, and he continued that “tough love” approach into his professional career. Mr. Erving had tragedy, and he carried that with him, so he showed love, but didn’t have to be tough about it.

I’m a mom, in case my blog title didn’t give that away, and it’s fascinating to think that every adult starts as a kid. I’m not particularly profound here, but I have kids, and I know what I need (just look at my title if you need clarification), so what was their stance?

My oldest said, “I don’t like it when people give me compliments. Like Mr. Erving was saying that about your blog. That doesn’t mean anything to me. I want to know what I need to do better.” My youngest knew better than to answer, or else she was blowing us off.

Even the boy who posed as Dr. J for me, and loves Julius Erving enough to have his jersey, he said he needs to be pushed so he’d want MJ as his leader.

And then there was just the cutest story of Dr. J’s daughter saying she wanted to be a dictator when she grows up. He asked her if she knew what that even was and she said yes. So he said, “Okay dictator, let’s go get some ice cream.”

So is this a generational thing? Maybe they don’t get what a real role model was all about.

You look at a picture like this and maybe you can understand. Julius Erving was a legend of very little words, and when he spoke people listened.

It’s like my Dad always told me. Mr. Erving could say, “come on, let’s go.” and he had this way, everyone would do what he said.

I wanted to know how did he do this? I asked him, “was it that sexy voice of yours?” He laughed and gave away his secret. And like you think I’m going to tell you now. Read my next Air Dare to find out. I have to leave a cliff hanger, don’t I?

It wasn’t until after the interview when I solidified this idea to make this into an extended series rather than cram it all into one muse. I wanted to run it by Mr. Erving just because I was excited and it was about him, after all.

And then he gave me some advice, or was it just him talking? He slips it in really cool like that you so you don’t know. “Take time to get to the end of where you want to be. Everything doesn’t come gushing out. These subtopics are a journey.”

So when I went back to edit what I had written, I did just that. I slowed it down. (If only I could be of few words, but that’s not me). This muse has been hard to tackle because words are spinning around in my head so fast I don’t even know what they’re saying and I don’t have time enough to pull them out of the air.

But that’s just the advice I needed. I went swimming. I slept and woke up and finished writing this muse. Not that I ever liked to chew on taffy, but you remember how you could stretch it out and understand the full experience of it and make it last for a long time. So maybe that’s what we’re doing here.

Had I written this the way I originally intended, you’d make a quick judgment of who you’d want as your boss based on stats and not give this another thought.

But since I took away the stats early on and you’re still reading, let’s get something out of the way, both men could walk on air. If they couldn’t play ball, no one was going to stand by them.

Seeing these men in this new light, we’ve come to the following overview of what stories to expect in “future episodes.” And since the future means nothing to you now, this list also happens to be the answer to today’s muse.

Here are the top ten reasons why you’d want the doctor’s prescription of leadership. He’s the…

• big man of little words

• friend you’ll like, love and trust.

• mentor to help you through the tough patches.

• nurturer who’ll bring out the best in you.

• role model that you can’t help but love.

• diplomat who puts everyone before himself.

• protector who’ll take a stand when he needs to.

• father figure who inspires others to great heights.

• chief who uplifts everyone around him.

• master of respect. And, oh, how you’ll sing his praises!

But we’re taking this slow like a basketball player staying in the air so long he forgot he had to come back down. Oh, that’s a funny story for later.