Julius "Dr. J" Erving

Julius played the game with the precision of a Doctor. However, his nickname came because one of his friends called himself the Professor when he played basketball, and dubbed Julius "Dr. J". The nickname has stuck and become one of the most famous of all-time. He was an aerial artist, consistently dazzling the fans with his explosive, electrifying dunks. "I would never have had the visions I had, if I hadn't seen Dr. J in his prime," exclaimed Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player ever.

Julius Winfield Erving II was born February 22, 1950. His father left home when Julius was only three, so his mother, Callie Erving, was left to raise three children. Considering the fact that Julius rarely got in trouble and was not into drugs, she did a pretty good job.

Dr. J attended college at the University of Massachusetts. Over the two varsity seasons he played, he averaged 19.8 rebounds and 26.3 points per game. And then, on came the pros. Now at this time there were two leagues, the NBL and the struggling ABA. So both leagues were trying to land this hot prospect. He chose the ABA, where he played for the Virginia Squires and then the New York Nets. After a spectacular ABA career, in which he won the championship twice with the Nets, the NBA allowed four ABA teams to enter the NBA, the Nets being one of them. Eventually he went to the Philadelphia 76ers. There he won an NBA championship and MVP award in 1981. The 6 feet 7 inch Julius scored 30,026 point in his sixteen year ABA and NBA career. Only Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have scored more. Erving was also an All-Star every year of his career.

"Dr. J to me was the NBA. Growing up, all of us would go to our baskets in our rooms and try to be Dr. J. But we couldn't even do his stuff on our Nerf baskets." praised basketball star Grant Hill. "He handles a basketball the way the average person handles a tennis ball. He can raise one arm above another player's two outstretched hands and snatch the ball as though he's taking a handful of popcorn. Or he can be running at full speed, reach down to the floor, pick up a rolling ball or a bounce pass with one hand and shoot the ball without using the other, or he can be standing with his defensive man leaning on him, call for a pass from a teammate, reach out one hand and catch the pass like a first baseman catching a throw.." says Marty Bell, author of the book, The Legend of Dr. J: The story of Julius Erving.

[Home][Archives] [History] [Featured Great][Links][Quiz]