Julius Winfield Erving II

Erving dunking

My hero is Julius Winfield Erving II. Julius was born on February 22, 1950 in East Meadow, New York. His father left the family when he was only three. His mother worked as a domestic mother to support her three children. Young Julius Erving realized his gift for basketball could be a ticket to a better life. Ten-year-old Julius Erving was averaging eleven points a game with his Salvation Army team.

He went to high school at Roosevelt, New York from 1964-1968. In high school he was in the All-Conference from 1967-1968 and also received the Outstanding Player award. Roosevelt High was where he got his famous nickname Dr.J.

In College he went to Massachusetts University. He set the freshman records in scoring and rebounding and had a lot to do with his team going into an undefeated season. He is one of only seven players to average over 20 points and 20 rebounds per game in NCAA history. He recorded 51 double-doubles in 52 contests. Julius is the schools all time leading scorer, rebounder and holds 14 UMass records. He was inducted into the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980.

Dr. J Dunking on Simpson

After College he got signed to the ABA and played with the Virginia Squires in 1971. In his rookie season with the Virginia Squires, he was a member of the All-Rookie Team. Then in 1972 he got drafted to the Milwaukee Bucks as a 12th overall pick, but he had to go back to the ABA and finish his career. When he went back he became on the New York Nets and also the Virginia Squires. In the years with the Nets he was a three time scoring champion and he also won two ABA Championships, he was named to the 30 member ABA All-Time Team, and was chosen to the ABA’s All-Time Most Valuable Player

Then he went back to the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers. He was an eleven time All-Star, and was chosen to the All-NBA First Team five times. He also holds the franchise record for blocked shots with 1,293 in his whole career. Julius won the NBA MVP in 1980-81, was the 1982-83 All-Star MVP, and led the 76ers to the NBA Championship in 1982-83. Dr. J retired in 1987 having scored over 30,000 points in is professional career.

He was inducted into the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980 and returned to finish his undergraduate degree in 1986. His jersey was retired in 1988 as the number 32. Julius was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in May of 1993. The Nets and the 76ers have also retired his jersey as number 6. He has received the Walter J. Kennedy Citizenship Award. Julius Erving II was and still is known as one of the greatest players to play the game.