Julius Winfield Erving II was born on Febuary 2, 1950 in Roosevelt, New York. Erving's father left the family when he was three years old. Struggling to make it while living in the projects, His mother worked hard taking odd jobs, attending a beauty school, and finally renting her own booth at a salon. To her, one of fourteen children herself, family was everything. Erving was encouraged by her example and sound values.
Julius began to realize his possibilities while playing for a local Salvation Army basketball team. At ten years old, he was averaging eleven points a game. Ray Wilson, Erving's high school teacher and coach, made a very large impact on his life. (Even today they are business associates). Eventually, Wilson hooked him up with Jack Leaman, coach for the University of Massachussetts. After graduating high school, Erving went to UMass; a year later, Wilson was hired as assistant coach.
As a freshman in college, Julius Erving broke scoring and rebounding records while leading his team to an undefeated season. During his time there, record crowds would line-up for hours before a game to watch this amazing player set a record of over 20 points and 20 rebounds a game. Erving is only one of seven players in NCAA history to hold this achievement. At UMass, Julius Erving earned the nickname we all know; Dr.J.
After his junior year, Dr. J became professional after signing with the Virginia Squires on April 6, 1971. He was then drafted 12th overall in 1972 by the Milwaukee Bucks. This was followed by a trade to the New York Nets on August 1, 1973. In 1976 the Nets joined the NBA having been an ABA member. Many feel Dr. J was a strong reason for the merger of the two leagues. During contractual diputing, Erving was sold for $3 million to the Philadelhia 76ers 24 hours before the start of the 1976-77 season.
In his first year with the 76ers, Erving lead them to an Atlantic Conference Division title with a record of 50-32. He averaged 21.6 points per game. Philadelphia won the first two games of the NBA final that year against Portland. But the Trail Blazers with Bill Walton at the helm came back with a vengeance and took the next four games. The title was theirs. The 76ers battled diligently for years to bring home the trophy. They just seemed to come up a little short.
Management recognized a missing need. They had to get someone to dominate in the paint; someone to guard players with the likes of Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Brilliant workings made the neccessary addition possible. The Philadelphia 76ers aquired Moses Malone. A 65-17 regular season launched a 1983 NBA title possibility. Moses averaged 24.5 points per game; Erving 21.4. They faced a familar opponent, the Lakers, after a 8 of 9 winning streak getting them to the final. The 76ers won four straight and finally brought the NBA Championship trophy home.
Here is a list of Awards and accomplishemts from Julius "Dr. J" Erving's career.-
NBA: Nainsmith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame(1993); NBA Champion(1983); NBA MVP(1981); All-NBA First Team(1978,'80,'81,'82,'83); All-NBA Second Team(1977,'84); 11-time All-Star(1977-1987); All-Star MVP(1977,'84) J. Walker Kennedy Citizenship Award(1983) None of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History(1996)
ABA: ABA Champion(1974,1976); ABA MVP (1974,'76) ABA CO-MVP(1975); All-Star First Team(1973,'74,'75,'76); All-Star Second Team(1972).
Most Famous Play: The "Baseline Move" is one of the, if not the greatest play in NBA History. Erving's shot against all odds and laws of physics stunned all who witnessed this unhuman feat. Magic Johnson said the following about what he saw. "Here I was trying to win a championship and my mouth just dropped open. He actually did that? I thought; what should we do? Should we take the ball out, or should we ask him to do it again?"
Please click on these Youtube links for great highlights of Dr. J's moves to the rim. It is unbelievable and has great music that will get you pumped.
Personal Comments and opinion: To me, Julius Erving was the greatest of all-time. I know there are loyal Jordon fans; maybe some Kobe fans that think he is the greatest. But no one in my mind will ever toss away all laws of physics the way Dr. J did. He could shift his body in mid-air and switch the ball back-and-forth in ways in which you would think as Magic did. "What?!!!" Prime for prime I would put Erving's hangtime against MJ's any day. And style, forget about it. But that's my opinion. However, if you would think for a moment that Julius Erving was not the most influential player towards the "Air" era of basketball; I would argue your knowledge of the game.
PS- Baseball Fans- Please take time to read my short story. "I'm Johnnie McGrath. Thank you all for your views.
I would like to thank the following resources for information made available by acknowledgement of their sites. For written :
Yes, Julius is beyond legendary. During the early days of the Jordan era, I got into many heated debates with many a Dr. J. fans over who was the greatest, Michael or Julius.
To be sure, the Dr. paved the way for guys like Jordan and Kobe. I think they'd both validate this. And, yes, he defied the Laws of Physics like no other.
MeanDovine- Thanks for the read and comments. Watching his highlights today reminded me of forgotten moments. Still wondering how he did it. Looking foward to Tuesday.
Thank you again Steeler. As a kid my first true love. Dr. J. The prequel to what many consider the best ever, MJ. Maybe the most graceful player of all-time. The man was pure silk. As always, great stuff.
MeanDovine- That's for real. It seemed like he was moving in slow motion. And to see him just comtort his whole body to get it in was amazing. Great stuff!
1steeler1- Great post. The sad part is most NBA fans really did not get to see the Doctor in his prime. Those that did say that the baseline move was "routine" for the doctor and that he would make more spectacular plays on a routine basis durning his glory days with the Nets.
Julius was much more than just a great athlete-his grace on the court was only exceeded by his dignity off the court. If our friend Dusty is so put off by today's thug athletes he should use Julius as an example of how a true professional conducts his business.
Geminidream- Thanks for the visit. Thankfully we can still see the highlights. As you said, not only a great athlete, but a great businessman and community contributor.
Dusty- Too funny. I hear what you're saying. You definately found a catchy attention getter.
Rivjo- Just keeping it on the Human Side, ha ha. There's so much greatness from yester-year. There greatness now. But most of the time it's too hard to touch with active rivalries.
Hee1Bi11y- Thanks for stopping in. You are one lucky person to have see THE MAN in person. That is cool! I was talking to my brother-in-law in New Hampshire a little bit ago about his games against UNH.
I don't let it bother me Dusty. I'm just chill'n. I write for the fun of it and it gives me something to do. I just cruise around trying to keep up with people's blogs that check in and say hello; then look for other intersting stuff. It's all good. You have to realize too that it's kind of been a slow week all the way around.
I understand. I have too many competitive things to deal with when I leave my front door. I'm just trying to be cool on my stool a relax. Like I said, just keep writing from the geart and talk about what you love. That's what it's all about. I'd rather write a decent piece I'm proud of than get a thousand hits on one I'm not. You're a great writer and the piece you did on the Thankgiving game and the Motorcross were awesome. It came from your heart Dusty.
As far as pasting, it depends. With youtube, they have a little window to the right that you can copy and paste. With my support pages for photo and info credits, I go to the top of that window and cut and paste from the address bar. It should work.
I just did...lol. What I do is I open a window for each source that I use. When I'm done writing my piece, I right click on the webpage address in the address bar. Then bring up the fox story window; right click so that the paste option comes up, then left click paste. Voila, done/ When you do that at the bottom, make sure you hit enter to raise it one place to drop the next pasting below. Otherwise it will bunch up.
Last edited by 1steelerfan1 on February 2nd at 7:51 PM.
UMass played Marquette in the first round of the NIT in Erving's sophomore year. As the two teams were warming up in the Garden, Marquette coach Al McGuire noticed a bunch of his players (Al recruited NYC players almost exclusively) watching the UMass warmup. He asked them what was up. "Coach," said one of the players. "That's Julius." "So who's Julius?" said Chairman Al. "He's for real." said the player. McGuire waved the kid off, but Erving went for 25 points and 22 rebounds and Marquette barely beat UMass by five. After the game, McGuire was furious. Not at his teams' play. "Why the hell didn't any of you bums tell me about that guy when I was recruiting you?" he yelled.
Bosoxchampsin04- That is hilarious and awesome! I've never heard that before. "J" is like my Jimi Hendrix. I'd give anything to see him play in person, but I never will. Thanks for sharing that. Too cool.
Man Dr. J was just so cool. I wish I was around during his playing days to see the guy play because if he wasn't the greatest as you say then he had to have been the most entertaining and exciting. Good stuff man.
Dr.J had flavor, I watched that video from the link you provided and WOW , I had forgotten just how amazing he was. I watch the crazy moves he made look so effortless and I'm thinking nobody, including MJ played above the rim like this cat. Great post I really enjoyed it
In 1989 I was selected to present Dr J with a retirement gift, he toured all the NBA and every city gave gifts, Sac town gave a Tennis serfer, and a bronze statue, I gave the gift, had pictures taken with Dr. J and he later sent themback autographed, best memories of the best that ever played, my hero!!
Vearlthepearl- My pleasure. Glad you came to look. I hope you checked out those youtube highlights. I just checked out your post and you had some great stuff.
encouraged by her example and sound values.
1983 NBA title possibility. Moses averaged 24.5 points per game; Erving 21.4. They faced a familar opponent, the Lakers, after a 8 of 9 winning streak getting them to the final. The 76ers won four straight and finally brought the NBA Championship trophy home.
