"Dr. J" redirects here. For the video game character, see
StarTropics.
Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a retired American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA). He was the best known player in the ABA when the ABA-NBA merger joined it with the National Basketball Association (NBA) 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 (NBA and ABA combined). He was well known for slam dunking from the free throw line in Slam Dunk Contests and was the only player to have been voted Most Valuable Player in both the ABA and the NBA.
Erving was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time team and in 1993 was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2004, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame. Many consider him among the most spectacular basketballers ever, and one of the best dunkers of all time. While players such as Connie Hawkins, "Jumping" Johnny Green, Elgin Baylor, and Gus Johnson were performing spectacular dunks before Erving's time, "Dr. J" is usually the one most people credit with bringing the practice into the mainstream. His signature dunk was the "slam" dunk, since incorporated into the vernacular and basic skill set of the game, in the same manner as the "cross-over" dribble and the "no look" pass.
Erving was born in Nassau County, New York,[1][2][3][4][5] and raised from the age of 13 in Roosevelt, New York.[6] He played for Roosevelt High School and received the nickname "Doctor" or "Dr. J" from a high school friend.[7] He explains,
I have a buddy--his name is Leon Saunders--and he lives in Atlanta, and I started calling him "the professor," and he started calling me "the doctor." So it was just between us...we were buddies, we had our nicknames and we would roll with the nicknames. Low and behold we graduate from high school together, we both go to U-Mass, and we separated for many years 'cause he went over to Africa and did some stuff, and I went my way. But now he's my golf buddy in Atlanta...and I love him. He's just like a little brother to me even though, you know, there's only months between us. But he's the professor and he was the first one to call me "the doctor." And that's where it came from.
Erving enrolled at the University of Massachusetts in 1968. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1986 through the University Without Walls at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst[8][9][10] In two varsity college basketball seasons, he averaged 32.5 points and 20.2 rebounds per game, becoming one of only five players to average more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game in NCAA Men's Basketball.[11]
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 undrafted free agent with the Squires.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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 Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Instead, the 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m), 210-pound (95 kg) Erving signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks before the 1972–73 season.[12]
As attorneys tried to reach an agreement among three teams in two leagues, Erving joined Pete Maravich and the Hawks's training camp, as they prepared for the upcoming season. Erving enjoyed his brief time with Atlanta, and he would later duplicate with George Gervin his after-practice playing with Maravich. He played three exhibition games with the Hawks until, because of a legal injunction, he was obliged by a three-judge panel to return to the ABA Squires. The NBA fined Atlanta $25,000 per game for Erving's Hawks appearances because Milwaukee owned his NBA rights.[citation needed]
Back in the ABA, his game flourished, and he achieved a career-best 31.9 points per game in the 1972–1973 season. The following year, the cash-strapped Squires sold him to the New York Nets.[citation needed]
The Squires, like most ABA teams, were on rather shaky financial ground. They were forced to trade Erving to the Nets in 1973—a move which eventually sent the Squires into oblivion. Erving led the Nets to their first ABA title in 1973–74, defeating the Utah Stars. Erving established himself as the most important player in the ABA. His spectacular play established the Nets as, finally, one of the better teams in the ABA, and brought fans and credibility to the league.[citation needed]
The end of the 1975-76 ABA season finally brought the ABA-NBA merger. The Nets and Nuggets had applied for admission to the NBA before the season, in anticipation of the eventual merger that had first been proposed by the two leagues in 1970 but whish was delayed for various reasons, including the Oscar Robertson suit. 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.[citation needed]
In all, Erving played five seasons in the ABA. In that time, he won two championships, three MVP trophies, and three scoring titles.[citation needed]
The Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs joined the NBA for the 1976–77 season. With Erving and Nate Archibald (acquired in a trade with Kansas City), the Nets were poised to pick up right where they left off.[citation needed] However, the New York Knicks upset the Nets' plans when they demanded that the Nets pay them $4.8 million for "invading" the Knicks' NBA territory. Coming on the heels of the fees the Nets had to pay for joining the NBA, owner Roy Boe reneged on a promise to raise Erving's salary. Erving refused to play under these conditions and held out in training camp.[citation needed]
The Nets offered Erving's contract to the Knicks in return for waiving the indemnity, but the Knicks turned it down.[13] When the Philadelphia 76ers offered to buy Erving's contract for $3 million—roughly the same amount as the Nets' expansion fee—Boe had little choice but to accept. For all intents and purposes, the Nets traded their franchise player for a berth in the NBA. The Erving deal left the Nets in ruin; they promptly crashed to a 24-58 record, the worst in the league.[citation needed] Years later, Boe regretted having to trade Erving, saying, "The merger agreement killed the Nets as an NBA franchise . . . . The merger agreement got us into the NBA, but it forced me to destroy the team by selling Erving to pay the bill."[14]
Erving quickly became the leader of his new club and led them to an exciting 50-win season. The Sixers, featuring other stars like George McGinnis and Doug Collins, won the Atlantic Division and were the top drawing team in the NBA. The Sixers defeated the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, to win the Eastern Conference. Erving 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.[citation needed]
However, Dr.J enjoyed success off the court, becoming one of the first basketball players to endorse many products and to have a shoe marketed under his name. It was at this time that he appeared in television commercials urging young fans asking for his autograph in an airport to refer to him henceforth as "Dr. Chapstick." He also starred in the 1979 basketball comedy film, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.[citation needed]
A famous TV commercial for Sixers season tickets during the 1977–78 off-season summed up Erving's desire to win an NBA Title. In the commercial, Erving was in the Sixers locker room and he said to fans, "We owe you one" while he held up his index finger. It took a few years for the Sixers franchise to build around Erving. Eventually coach Billy Cunningham and top-level players like Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones were added to the mix and the franchise was very successful.[citation needed]
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 in 1980, '81, '82, and '85. The Bird vs. Dr. J matchup became arguably the top personal rivalry in the sport (along with Bird vs. Magic Johnson), inspiring the early Electronic Arts video game One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird.[citation needed]
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, a behind-the-board reverse layup. However, the Lakers won 4–2 with superb play from, among others, Magic Johnson.[citation needed]
Erving again was among the league's best players in the 1980-1981 and 1981-1982 seasons, although more disappointment came as the Sixers stumbled twice in the playoffs: in 1981, the Celtics eliminated them in 7 games in the 1981 Eastern Finals after Philadelphia had a 3-1 series lead, but lost both Game 5 and Game 6 by 2 points and the deciding Game 7 by 1) and in 1982, the Sixers managed to beat the defending champion Celtics in 7 games in the 1982 Eastern Finals but lost the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in 6 games. Despite these defeats, Erving was named the NBA MVP in 1981 and was again voted to the 1982 All-NBA first Team.[citation needed]
Finally, for the 1982–83 season, the Sixers obtained the missing element to combat their weakness at their center position, Moses Malone. Armed with one of the most formidable and unstoppable 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)". Erving understood the comment to mean that all the Sixers needed to do was win four games in each series, but Malone claims he actually meant the Sixers would sweep the entire playoffs.[15] 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] In 1986, he announced that he would retire after the season, causing every game he played to be sold out with adoring fans.[citation needed] That final season saw opposing teams pay tribute to Erving in the last game Erving would play in their arenas, including in cities such as Boston and Los Angeles, his perennial rivals in the playoffs.[citation needed]
Erving retired in 1987 at the age of 37. "A young Julius Erving was like Thomas Edison, he was always inventing something new every night," Johnny Kerr told ABA historian Terry Pluto. He is also one of the few players in modern basketball to have his number retired by two franchises: the New Jersey Nets (formerly the 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 5 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 2011[update], Erving ranks fifth on the list, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.
Erving
(top left) with other former NBA players visit the New York
NBA Store in January 2005
After his basketball career, Erving completed college and became a businessman, obtaining ownership of a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Philadelphia and doing work as a television analyst. In 1997, he joined the front office of the Orlando Magic.[citation needed]
Erving and former NFL running back Joe Washington fielded a NASCAR Busch Grand National Series team in the late 1990s, becoming the first ever NASCAR racing team at any level owned completely by minorities. The team had secure sponsorship from Dr Pepper for most of its existence. Erving, a racing fan himself, stated that his foray into NASCAR was an attempt to raise interest in NASCAR among African-Americans.[citation needed]
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. As of 2009, Erving is the owner of The Celebrity Golf Club International outside of Atlanta.[citation needed] He was ranked #15 on SLAM Magazine's Top 50 NBA Players of All Time in 2009.[citation needed]
Erving is the father of professional tennis player Alexandra Stevenson.[16]
Games – 836; Field Goal % – .507; Rebounds – 5,601; Assists – 3,224; Total Points – 18,364; Points per game [PPG] – 22.0
Although dunking from the foul line had been done by other players (Jim Pollard and Wilt Chamberlain in the 1950s, 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 Game Dunking Contest. He is revered for his legacy of amazing acrobatic and powerful offensive moves.
One of his most memorable plays occurred during the 1980 NBA Finals, when he executed a seemingly impossible finger-roll behind the backboard.[17] He drove past Lakers forward Mark Landsberger on the right baseline and went in 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 the signature events of his career.
Another of Erving's most memorable plays came in the final moments of a regular-season game against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1983. After Sixers point guard Maurice Cheeks deflected a pass by Lakers forward James Worthy, Erving picked up the ball and charged down the court's left side, with one defender to beat—the Lakers' top defensive player Michael Cooper. As he came inside of the 3-point line, he cupped the ball into his wrist and forearm, rocking the ball back and forth before taking off for what Lakers radio broadcaster Chick Hearn best described as a "Rock The Baby" slam dunk: he slung the ball around behind his head and dunked over a ducking Cooper. This dunk is generally regarded as one of the greatest dunks of all time.
- "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.
- "I saw that basketball could be my way out and I worked hard to make sure it was."
- "Respect is a lot more important, and a lot greater, than popularity."
- "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.
- "We heard about Julius Erving and asked for a tape of him. We got this grainy black-and white film of the UMass-North Carolina game in the NIT. The quality was so bad that you could hardly tell what was going on, but we saw enough of Julius to sign him after his Junior year. Since we'd never seen him live before he wore a (Virginia) squires uniform, we thought he'd be able to help us on the boards and we hoped he'd be able to score some. We had no idea what he's become." – Johnny "Red" Kerr
- "....If you look at greatness there is one quality all these players have. They're always striving for perfection even though they know they'll never achieve that. Julius Erving was no different." – Billy Cunningham
Erving was the subject of a video game, One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, which was released originally for the Apple II and subsequently for several other systems. He is also popular among musicians; Erving was idolized by American rapper Dr. Dre, who even rapped using the alias "Dr. J" for a short time. American rappers Gucci Mane & Yo Gotti created the song "Julius" from the mixtape "Deeper Than Trap" in his honor, and You Be Illin' by Run-D.M.C. mentions a clutch shot by Erving. In addition to rap, legendary smooth jazz musician Grover Washington, Jr., a fan of the 76ers, created the song "Let It Flow (For Dr. J)", from the album Winelight, in honor of Erving. Gene Wilder makes reference to Julius Erving during a phone call in the movie The Woman in Red. Rapper Andre Nickatina made reference to Dr. J on the song "Cougar" from the 2002 album Hells Kitchen.
Erving was married to Turquoise Erving from 1972 until 2003. Together, they had four children. Their son, Cory, drowned after driving his vehicle into a pond in 2000.[19]
In 1979, Erving began an adulterous affair with sportswriter Samantha Stevenson, resulting in the 1980 birth of American tennis player Alexandra Stevenson. Although Erving's fatherhood of Alexandra Stevenson was known privately to the families involved, it did not become public knowledge until Stevenson reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1999, the first year she qualified to play in the tournament. Erving had provided financial support for Stevenson over the years, but beyond that, had not been a part of her life. The public disclosure of their relationship did not initially lead to contact between father and daughter. However, in 2008, Stevenson contacted him, and they at last did initiate a further relationship with one another.[20]
In 2003, Erving fathered a second child outside of his marriage, this time with a woman named Dorýs Madden. Julius and Turquoise Erving were subsequently divorced. Julius Erving continued his relationship with Madden, with the couple having two more children together.[20] In 2008, Erving and Madden were married.[21]
- ^ a b Robert L. Harris, Jr., Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. The Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939. http://books.google.com/books?id=Y6yuwT54mA0C&pg=PA273&dq=%22julius+erving%22+born+%22east+meadow%22&hl=en&ei=2ziITcrbOZPGsAPY7YmYDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22julius%20erving%22%20born%20%22east%20meadow%22&f=false. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ^ a b Historical dictionary of the 1970s. http://books.google.com/books?id=YKkF8vQRcp0C&pg=PA149&dq=%22julius+erving%22+born+%22east+meadow%22&hl=en&ei=2ziITcrbOZPGsAPY7YmYDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22julius%20erving%22%20born%20%22east%20meadow%22&f=false. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ^ a b Jack Salzman (September 17, 2008). Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. http://books.google.com/books?id=m1l2AAAAMAAJ&q=%22julius+erving%22+born+%22east+meadow%22&dq=%22julius+erving%22+born+%22east+meadow%22&hl=en&ei=2ziITcrbOZPGsAPY7YmYDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAg. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ^ a b "Dr. J operated above the rest". ESPN. http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014177.html. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ^ a b "Julius Erving Summary". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/history/players/erving_summary.html. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ^ "ESPN.com: Dr. J operated above the rest". ESPN. http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014177.html. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ^ "Dr. J' Julius Erving explains his nickname exclusively to Class Act Sports". http://www.classactsports.com/sports/nba/dr-j-julius-erving-explains-nickname-exclusively-class-act-sports/. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
- ^ UMASS Alumni Association, http://www.umassalumni.com/membership/notable.html
- ^ NBA, Legends in Business Q&A, http://www.nba.com/careers/legends__erving.html
- ^ Business West, Breaking Down the Barriers, December 1, 2004, http://www.allbusiness.com/specialty-businesses/1074099-1.html
- ^ NCAA Basketball Records[dead link]
- ^ "NBA.com: Julius Erving Bio". NBA Media Ventures, LLC. http://www.nba.com/history/players/erving_bio.html. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
- ^ Simmons, Bill (2009). The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy. ESPN Books. ISBN 978-0-345-51176-8
- ^ Pluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), ISBN 978-1-4165-4061-8, pp.433-434
- ^ Original Old School: First and Foremost SLAM 72: From high school to the pros, Moses Malone was on another level, by Alan Paul published in SLAM, June 2003
- ^ Making a splash – After dancing through Wimbledon, the always-smiling Alexandra Stevenson has dedicated herself to rejuvenating her game, by Chris Nicholson published in USTA Magazine, May 2000
- ^ "Doctor’s Shot Stuns Lakers". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/history/erving_moment.html. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ^ [1] "Barack Obama on sports talk radio, April 2, 2008"
- ^ CBC Sports (August 2, 2000). "Son of Julius Erving died of accidental drowning". CBC Sports. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2000/08/02/erving000802.html. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ^ a b Friend, Tom (December 15, 1980). "Reaching Out". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=drjandalexandra. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ^ Jackson, Patty. (2009, January 2). "what's the 411?", Philadelphia Tribune, Page 11-E
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