It’s the photo the two Hall of Famers refuse to sign, a single image that captures a rivalry and still stirs fans a generation later. Among the barrooms near TD Garden, it hangs at The Fours and again at Sullivan’s Tap, where a 16-by-20-inch print resides squarely above the center of the bar, bathed by the light of Budweiser neon.
It is Larry Bird and Julius Erving choking each other, locked in an arm’s-length clench, each gouging his fingers into the other guy’s neck. Over the years, it has appeared on album art for a Boston rapper and T-shirts for a punk band, caught the eye of a German street-wear designer, and adorned screen-printed torsos all over the Garden.