About Julius Erving
One of the NBA's first superstars Julius Erving's high flying hard powered style brought the NBA and basketball to levels previously unheard of. Julius Erving was born in Hempstead New York in 1950. He grew up in a housing project, the son of a single mother, with two siblings. His father having left when he was three his mother remarried, and they moved to nearby Roosevelt, New York. His mother wanted his children to have a better life, and she realized that basketball might be a way out for his young son. Before going to high school Erving averaged 11 points a game with his Salvation Army team. At Roosevelt High school he began to flourish, competing in statewide tournaments, getting named on many occasions to various all Long Island teams, and receiving other different awards. Erving averages 26 points and 20 rebounds, one of the few players in NCAA History to average 20 of both statistics. In a time when few players left college early to join the Pros Julius Erving did just that. He signed with the ABA's Virginia Squires, a league which was not opposed to players entering professional basketball early. He signed with the Atlanta Hawks in 1973, but legal entanglements prevented him from playing with the team, as well as the Milwaukee Bucks, which also drafted him. By this time the ABA was talking about a merger with the NBA, but Oscar Robertson's player union was preventing this from taking place. The ABA was taking a lot of top flight players from college who would have had excellent careers in the NBA, as well as taking current NBA players and placing them on ABA rosters. For a time it seemed as though the NBA would submerge in favor of the ABA. However extremely lackluster ABA markets, unstable ownership, too many team moves, and lackluster ABA markets proved too much for the league. After starting with the Squires, Erving was traded to the Nets. He became an incredible scorer, an incredible talent, and considered to possibly be the most explosive basketball players period, he won a few championships, scoring titles, and was one of the all around best players in basketball. By 1976 the ABA was no longer a significant force, teams collapsed, owners and players were both disgruntled, and the ABA didn't have any significant talent to market, except for Dr. J. What is not clear is how he got his nickname, but it is thought that as a doctor he would cure anyone who thought they could take him on. It was a nickname he had since college. In a contractual dispute with his team he was bought by the Philadelphia, for a then record then 3 million. Erving had been a basketball icon for years, with his Afro, his intense style, and his in your face on the court manor. It played very well with his fans, and would become a staple in Philadelphia, joining a high flying spectacular team of Darryl Dawkins, Lloyd B. Free, and others. The team went to a 50-32 record, the undoubted leader of his team. However the spectacular team yet again fell to fundamentals. Erving advanced his team to the finals, winning the first two. Erving and his teammates has said the series was over before they started. However their opponents the Portland Trailblazers, led by Bill Walton. Walton led his team to four straight finals victories to win the teams first ever finals. For the next two years the Sixers became a fun team to watch, and they would go deep into the playoffs routinely, but they never could win. By 1979 the NBA was in crisis, ratings, and attendance were d...