Julius Erving

Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950 in Roosevelt, New York), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a former American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim.

Erving helped legitimize the now-defunct American Basketball Association, and much as some players are considered "the team," Dr. J was considered "the league." He was the main asset of the ABA when it merged with the National Basketball Association after the 1976 season.

Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, and three scoring titles while playing with the ABA's Virginia Squires and New York Nets and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. He is the fifth-highest scorer in professional basketball history, with 30,026 points.

Erving was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time team and has been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Many consider him among the most spectacular basketballers ever, and one of the best dunkers along with Vince Carter, Michael Jordan, and Dominique Wilkins. His signature dunk was "the Tomahawk."

Career

High school and college

Erving earned the nickname "Doctor" in high school, where he displayed a precise method of play for Roosevelt High School.

He enrolled at the University of Massachusetts in 1968. In two varsity college basketball seasons, he averaged 26.3 points and 20.2 rebounds per game, becoming one of only six NCAA Men's Basketball players to average more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game. Nevertheless, he failed to attract much public attention.

At that time, professional basketball was in flux, split between two leagues whose players rapidly switched clubs and leagues. Erving joined the ABA in 1971 as an undergraduate free agent with the Squires.

Virginia Squires

Erving quickly established himself as a force and gained a reputation for hard and ruthless dunking. He scored 27.3 points per game as a rookie, was selected to the All-ABA Second Team, made the ABA All-Rookie Team, and finished second to Artis Gilmore for the ABA Rookie of the Year Award. He led the Squires into the Eastern Division Finals, where they lost to the Rick Barry-led New York Nets.

When he became eligible for the NBA draft in 1972, the Milwaukee Bucks picked him in the first round (12th overall). This move would have brought him together with two other NBA legends, Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However, he was unhappy there and tried to move to the Atlanta Hawks, until, because of a legal injunction, he was obliged to return to the ABA Squires. However, Erving did play most of the 1972 NBA exhibition season with the Hawks (included two games against ABA teams). Back in the ABA, his game flourished, and he achieved a career-best 31.9 points per game. The graceful forward with the trademark Afro was dazzling people with his flashy, exciting style of play, which fit well with the ABA's up-tempo image.

New York Nets

Erving was traded to the New York Nets in 1973, and led his team to victory in the ABA Finals against the Utah Stars. Erving established himself as the most important player in the ABA. His spectacular play brought fans and credibility to the league.

But by 1976, the ABA was failing. The Erving-led Nets defeated the Denver Nuggets in the swan-song finals of the ABA. In the postseason, Erving averaged 34.7 points and was named Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.

In his five ABA seasons, Erving won two championships, three MVP trophies, and three scoring titles.

Philadelphia 76ers

After the merger of the Nets and three other surviving teams into the NBA, Erving had a salary dispute with the Nets and eventually was sold to the Philadelphia 76ers (a move that cost the Nets franchise much credibility). Erving quickly became the leader of his new club and took them into the NBA Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers of Bill Walton. After the Sixers took a 2-0 lead, however, the Blazers defeated them with four straight victories.

However, Erving enjoyed success off the court, becoming one of the first basketball players to endorse products and to have a shoe marketed under his name. He also starred in the 1979 basketball comedy film, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.

In the following years, Erving coped with a team that was not yet playing at his level. The Sixers were eliminated twice in the Eastern Conference Finals. In 1979, Larry Bird entered the league, reviving the Boston Celtics and the storied Celtics-76ers rivalry; these two teams faced each other in the Eastern Conference Finals for the next four years. The Bird vs. Dr. J matchup became the top personal rivalry in the sport, inspiring the early Electronic Arts video game Julius Erving-Larry Bird One-on-One.

In 1980, the 76ers prevailed over the Celtics to advance to the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. There, Erving executed the legendary Baseline Move, an incredible behind-the-board reverse layup. However, the Lakers won 4-2 with a superb Magic Johnson.

1981 and 1982 were also sour grapes for Erving, as the Sixers stranded twice, once against the Celtics and once again against the Lakers. Nevertheless, Erving was named the NBA MVP in 1981. But for the 1982-1983 season, the Sixers obtained the missing element to combat their weakness at their center position, Moses Malone. Armed with one of the most formidable center-forward combinations of all time, the Sixers dominated the whole season, causing Malone to make the famous prediction of "fo-fo-fo(four-four-four)," claiming that the Sixers would sweep the playoffs. In fact, the Sixers went four-five-four, losing one game to the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference finals, then sweeping the Lakers to win the NBA title.

Erving maintained his all-star caliber of play into his twilight years, averaging 22.4, 20.0, 18.1, and 16.8 points per game in his final seasons. In 1986, he announced that he would retire after the season, causing every game he played to be sold out with adoring fans.

Career summary

Erving retired at age 37. He is one of the few players in modern basketball to have his number retired by two franchises: the New Jersey Nets (formerly New York Nets) have retired his No. 32 jersey, and the Philadelphia 76ers his No. 6 jersey.

In his ABA and NBA careers combined, he scored more than 30,000 points. In 1993, Erving was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. When he retired, Erving ranked in the top 10 in scoring (third), field goals made (third), field goals attempted (fifth) and steals (first). On the combined NBA/ABA scoring list, Erving ranked third with 30,026 points. As of 2005, Erving ranks fifth on the list, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.

Post-basketball career

After his basketball career, Erving was equally successful. He became a businessman, obtaining ownership of a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Philadelphia and doing work for TV as an analyst. In 1997, he joined the front office of the Orlando Magic.

He has also served on the Board of Directors of Converse (prior to their 2001 bankruptcy), Darden Restaurants, Inc., Saks Incorporated, and The Sports Authority.

He was ranked #10 on SLAM Magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of All Time in 2003.

Erving is the father of professional tennis player Alexandra Stevenson.

NBA statistics

Games: 836
Points: 18364
PPG: 22.0
RPG: 6.7
APG: 3.9
FT%: .777

Memorable feats

Although dunking from the foul line had been done by other players (Jim Pollard and Wilt Chamberlain in the 1950's, for example), Erving introduced the dunk jumping off the foul line to a wide audience, when he demonstrated the feat in the 1976 ABA All-Star Dunking Contest. He is revered for his legacy of amazing acrobatic and powerful offensive moves.

The Baseline Move

One of his most memorable plays occurred during the 1980 NBA Finals, when he executed a seemingly impossible finger-roll behind the backboard ^*. He drove past a defender on the right baseline and went up for a layup. Then 7'2" center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar crossed his way, blocking the route to the basket and forcing him outwards. In mid-air, it was apparent that Erving would land behind the backboard. But somehow he managed to reach over and score on a right-handed layup despite the fact that his whole body, including his left shoulder, was already behind the hoop. This move, along with his free-throw line dunk, has become one of Julius Erving's signature events of his career.

Quotes

"As a basketball player, Julius was the first to actually take the torch and become the spokesman for the NBA. He understood what his role was and how important it was for him to conduct himself as a representative of the league. Julius was the first player I ever remember who transcended sports and was known by one name, Doctor". -- his coach, Billy Cunningham.

"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 give him the ball back and ask him to do it again?' It's still the greatest move I've ever seen in a basketball game, the all-time greatest." -- Magic Johnson on the Baseline Move.

External links

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