Julius Erving

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player awards and three scoring titles with the ABA's Virginia Squires and New York Nets (now the NBA's Brooklyn Nets) and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. During his 16 seasons as a player, none of his teams ever missed the postseason. He is the ninth-highest scorer in ABA/NBA 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 voted Most Valuable Player in both the ABA and the NBA. The basketball slang of being posterized was coined to describe his moves. In 1980, Erving was honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 35th Anniversary Team. In 1993, Erving was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1994, Erving was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the 40 most important athletes of all time. In 2004, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame. In both 1996 and 2021, Erving was again honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, respectively.

In Their Own Story

In 1970, Erving played for the United States Olympic Development Team aiming to qualify for the 1972 Summer Olympics. Wearing jersey number six, he played power forward and was recruited to be the team's top rebounder. He ended up being the top vote-getter for MVP, a top scorer for Team USA, and successfully competed against adult professional players from the Soviet Union, Finland, and other European countries alongside teammates Bob Nash and Paul Westphal. Around this time, he started hearing talks among his teammates about the ABA's novel goal to recruit undergraduates. After a meeting with ABA general manager Johnny "Red" Kerr and future coach Al Bianchi, he decided to inform his mother that he would join the ABA in late 1971.

Reader's Guide

Many consider him one of the most talented players in the history of the NBA; he is widely acknowledged as one of the game's best dunkers. While Connie Hawkins, "Jumping" Johnny Green, Elgin Baylor, Jim Pollard and Gus Johnson performed spectacular dunks before Erving's time, Erving brought the practice into the mainstream. His signature was the slam dunk, since incorporated into the vernacular and basic skill set of the game in the same manner as the crossover dribble and the no look pass. Before Erving, dunking was a practice most commonly used by the big men, usually standing close to the hoop, to show their brutal strength which was seen as style over substance, even unsportsmanlike, by many purists of the game; however, the way Erving utilized the dunk more as a high-percentage shot made at the end of maneuvers generally starting well away from the basket and not necessarily a show of force helped to make the shot an acceptable tactic, especially in trying to avoid a blocked shot. Although the slam dunk is still widely used as a show of power, a method of intimidation and a way to fire up a team and spectators, Erving demonstrated that there can be great artistry and grace in slamming the ball into the hoop, particularly after a launch several feet from that target.

Did You Know?

• Erving was born February 22, 1950, at Meadowbrook Hospital, East Meadow, on Long Island, and raised from the age of 13 in Roosevelt, New York.
• He received the nickname "Doctor" or "Dr. J" from a high school friend named Leon Saunders.
• Erving enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1968 and averaged 26.3 points and 20.2 rebounds per game in two varsity seasons.
• He was the only player voted Most Valuable Player in both the ABA and the NBA.
• The basketball slang of being posterized was coined to describe his moves.