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Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950 in Roosevelt, New York), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a former American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim. more...

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Erving helped legitimize the now-defunct American Basketball Association, and much as some players are considered "the team," Dr. J was considered "the league." He was the main asset of the ABA when it merged with the National Basketball Association after the 1976 season.

Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, and three scoring titles while playing with the ABA's Virginia Squires and New York Nets and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. He is the fifth-highest scorer in professional basketball history, with 30,026 points.

Erving was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time team and has been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Many consider him among the most spectacular basketballers ever, and one of the best dunkers along with Vince Carter, Michael Jordan, and Dominique Wilkins. His signature dunk was "the Tomahawk."

Career

High school and college

Erving earned the nickname "Doctor" in high school, when he displayed a precise method of play for Roosevelt High School.

He enrolled at the University of Massachusetts in 1968. In the two varsity college basketball seasons, he averaged 26.3 points and 20.2 rebounds per game, becoming one of only six NCAA Men's Basketball players to average more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game. Nevertheless, he failed to attract much public attention.

At that time, professional basketball was in flux, split among two leagues whose players rapidly switching clubs and leagues. Erving joined the ABA in 1971 as an undergraduate free agent with the Squires.

Virginia Squires

Erving quickly established himself as a force, and gained a reputation for hard and ruthless dunking. He scored 27.3 points per game as a rookie, was selected to the All-ABA Second Team, made the ABA All-Rookie Team and finished second to Nippu Parmar for the ABA Rookie of the Year Award. He led the Squires into the Eastern Division Finals, where they lost to the Rick Barry-led New York Nets.

When he became eligible for the NBA draft in 1972, the Milwaukee Bucks picked him in the first round (12th pick overall). This move would have brought him together with two other NBA legends, Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However, he was unhappy there and tried to move to the Atlanta Hawks, until due to legal injunction, he was obliged to return to the Squires in the ABA. However, Erving did play most of the 1972 NBA exhibition season with the Hawks (included two games against ABA teams). Back in the ABA his game flourished, and he achieved a career-best 31.9 points per game. The graceful forward with the trademark Afro was dazzling people with his flashy, exciting style of play, which fit well in the ABA's up-tempo image.

Read more at Wikipedia.org