In his five ABA seasons, Erving won two championships, three MVPs and three scoring titles. “Just doing that made me confident to go after anyone, any time, anywhere without any fear.’’Įrving, instantly recognizable by his magnificent Afro, may not have singlehandedly brought about the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, but his spectacular play, especially after he was traded by the small-market Squires to the New York Nets prior to the 1973-74 season gave the league with the red, white and blue ball credibility and hastened his entry into the NBA. Then I dunked on them so hard I fell on my back,’’ he told the Boston Globe. “I went in between both of them and just hung there and waited for them to come down. “My God, did you see those meat hooks?” Virginia coach Al Bianchi said, referring to what Papanek mused had to be among the world’s biggest hands, measuring 11 inches from pinky to thumb.ĭuring his rookie season, as he was driving on two giants, the 7-foot-2 Artis Gilmore and the 6-foot-9 Dan Issel, Erving said it dawned on him that there were no limits on what he could do on a basketball court. Though he may have been little more than a rumor to basketball fans outside of Amherst, Mass., the pros were on him, as he was drafted by both the ABA and NBA. “So it was just between us.’’ The basketball world embraced the nickname, and a teammate in the American Basketball Association, Fatty Taylor, added the “J.”Įrving took an unconventional path to basketball immortality, playing his college basketball at the University of Massachusetts in the lightly regarded Yankee Conference before signing as an undergraduate free agent in 1971 with the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association. “I started calling him “The Professor”, and he started calling me “The Doctor,”. I thought, ‘What should we do? Should we take the ball out or should we ask him to do it again?’’Įrving’s on-court splendor was matched by his regal bearing, consummate professionalism and commitment to living with dignity and empathy for others.Ībout the nickname: When he was growing up in the Long Island town of Roosevelt, N.Y., Erving.said he and a friend, Leon Saunders, gave each other nicknames. “Here I was, trying to win a championship, and my mouth just dropped open,’’ recalled another NBA Hall of Famer, Magic Johnson, a rookie at the time. Erving drove along the right baseline, elevated with the ball even as the 7-foot-2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tried to block his progress with outstretched arms, brought the ball down as he remained suspended in midair, slipped behind the backboard until he had crossed to the other side of the hoop, then reached back in-bounds with a soft, underhanded scoop shot into the basket. J, it was his legendary “Baseline Move,” when he was playing for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1980 NBA finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. If one play can define the wonder that was Dr. Gravity imposed no boundaries on Erving, who inspired succeeding generations of players to literally elevate their games to a mid-air spectacle of dazzling hang time, slam dunks and flights of boundless imagination. There may be a handful of basketball players greater than Julius Erving, but for artistry, showmanship, creativity, innovation and originality-the ability to lift fans out of their seats to marvel at sights they had never before witnessed-Dr.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |