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 (ABA), 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 (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).

Erving was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time team and has been 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 along with Vince Carter, Jason Richardson, 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 five players to average more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game in NCAA Men's Basketball. 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
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. The Nets had been an also-ran for their first six years of existence, but Erving led them 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 the ABA's flagship franchise, and brought fans and credibility to the league.

By 1976, the ABA was failing. The Nets actually applied for admission to the NBA before the season, but were forced to play a lame-duck season in the dying league by court order. The Erving-led Nets defeated the Denver Nuggets (who had also applied to join the NBA) 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
The Nets, 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.

However, the New York Knicks threw a monkey wrench into 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. Boe had little choice but to sell Erving's contract to the Philadelphia 76ers.

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. In contrast, the Nets crashed into the cellar.

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 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 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.

Julius Erving. (2007, January 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:13, January 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julius_Erving&oldid=98837741

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