Julius Erving left as a junior from the University
of Massachusetts, signing a free agent deal with the Virginia Squires of
the now defunct ABA. The Milwaukee Bucks drafted Julius at number 12 in
the 1972 draft, but a court order ruled that he should stay with the
Squires. He played 5 years in that league, both for the Squires (2 years)
and the New York Nets (3 years) before signing with the Philadelphia
Seventy-Sixers in 1976 following the merger of the ABA and NBA. Erving
was named both to the All-ABA Second Team and the All-Rookie Team his
first year in the ABA. The Sixers got Erving for 6 million
dollars, 3 million to the Doctor himself and 3 million to his former
team. He played 11 years in Philly, winning a world championship in 1983.
His first year in Philadelphia, Dr. J's team fell in the NBA Finals to
the young Portland Trailblazers led by Bill Walton (Erving's some-time
broadcasting partner and colleague). When he was with the New York Nets,
he won two ABA titles ('74 and '76) and was named the playoff MVP those
two years as well. Dr. J was the MVP of the ABA in 1974 and 1976, and
co-MVP in 1975. He also holds the record for the highest ABA career
scoring average of 28.7. He had a college scoring average of 26.3, to go
with his 22.0 career NBA scoring average. With the NBA's Sixers, Julius
Erving was named the MVP in 1981. He was a perenial all-star, being
selected as the game's MVP twice ('77 and '83). Erving was also a 5 time
NBA All-First Team Member (1978, 1980-83). Before winning the NBA
Championship, Erving's Sixers made a run for it in 1983, beating
the Celtics to advance to the NBA Finals where they lost to
Magic's Lakers.
Erving retired
after the 1986-87 season having piled up 30,026 points in the ABA and NBA
combined. With 18,364 points Julius finished third on the Sixers
all-time scoring list behind Hal Greer (21,586) and Dolph Schayes
(19,249). Dr. J was elected into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1993, leading the
way for a couple of his superstar contemporaries Magic Johnson and Larry
Bird. Dr. J's Number Six was retired by the Sixers on April 19, 1988.
Erving is just
as talented in the broadcast booth as he was on
the court, now that he is a color analyst for NBC. Instead of occupying
a chair in front of the camera, we would all rather
see him flying down the floor and finishing the play with the power slam
that we thought he started somewhere around half-court. The Doctor was
named to the team of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all time in
1996.
Dr J's Stats: PPG RPG APG StlPG NBA Rookie (76-77) 21.6 8.4 3.7 1.9 1979-80 26.9 7.4 4.6 2.2 1986-87 16.8 4.4 3.2 1.3 Career NBA 22.0 6.7 3.6 1.8
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