A Star's Legacy
Frank Deford
May 04, 1987
Julius Erving never played the role that Babe Ruth did, the savior of his sport. Nor was he ever a pioneer, as Jackie Robinson and Billie Jean King were. And certainly he was no revolutionary; no Ali he, no Curt Flood. A commissioner of the ABA once said that "Julius isn't the franchise; he's the league," but history will show that two other players—Rick Barry, for jumping leagues; Spencer Haywood, for signing as an undergraduate—were the principals most responsible for sewing the ABA together out of scraps and rags of superfluidity and disinterest. Dr. J wasn't Broadway Joe.
It is interesting that all the plays on words about Erving's nickname have, invariably, accepted doctor as physician. So we have: The Doctor cut up the opposition. He operated. He showed a surgeon's skill. And so forth. But, in the final analysis, the Doctor was more like a Ph.D, one who studied and learned, and then passed on his knowledge. The Doctor's gift was that he added to the game and helped us to enjoy it so much more.
The Doctor was a teacher, a professor; the Doctor was a gentleman and a scholar.