Julius Erving
Julius Erving
Julius Winfield Erving II, commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American retired basketball player who helped popularize a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and playing above the rim. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Associationand was the best-known player in that league when it merged with the National Basketball Associationafter the 1975–76 season...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth22 February 1950
CityRoosevelt, NY
CountryUnited States of America
If you've experienced having control, you don't want to be moved to a subordinate position, if you have your druthers.
I came from a broken home, so my mom was a major influence in my life.
So much of becoming a good athlete involves bringing other things to the table, other than physical skills. It involves intelligence, it involves many of the things that you learn during the process of being educated. How to analyze, how to assess, how to equate, how to reason.
My mom is one of 14 children. She's a great lady. She's a Taurus. Has been a profound influence in my life, still is to this day. Born in meager surroundings in rural South Carolina.
Many people think sports are totally physical, that you don't have to think, everything is done for you and you're catered to, I found that to be so far removed from the truth that it's almost a joke. The ones who become stars are the ones who have a head on their shoulders and know how to use it.
I didn't want to become a reserve player, or a bench player, and it was time to move on and take on another challenge.
I started playing professional basketball in 1971, and I played professionally for five seasons before going to Philadelphia.
If you get depressed about being the second-best team in the world, then you've got a problem.
I think that my God-given physical attributes, big hands, and big feet, the way that I'm built, proportion-wise, just made basketball the most inviting sport for me to play.
They are taking steps, but they are baby steps.
To be an innovator, you can't be worried about making mistakes.
You know, we always tried to rationalize by saying you take the good, you take the upside, you got to deal with the downside, you've to take the downside.
You know, just in terms of having to have a life on the road, you know, having the celebrity aspect be a burden for my family, friends and extended family.
LA Clippers should come to Louisville