Dr. J: The Autobiography

This first hand book has Julius Erving revealing all the intimate details of his life from the time he was a young boy through the time after he retired from the NBA, off the court as well as discussing all the feats he accomplished on the basketball court. He also talks about his way of approaching the game and how he was influenced by Elgin Baylor and Connie Hawkins and it makes sense. His thoughts about Pete Maravich (who he was a teammate with while with the Atlanta Hawks for a preseason) and George Gervin (who was his teammate while he played for the Virginia Squires) were very interesting. It sure would have been great to see Julius and Pete Maravich on a fast break with "Sweet" Lou Hudson for the Hawks! His observations about his Philadelphia 76ers teammates (Moses Malone, Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks, Doug Collins, Andrew Toney, etc.) were also interesting. I remember seeing Dr. J with the Sixers when he was doing the warm-up dunk lines with his teammates Daryl Dawkins and Lloyd Free before the game when I went to a Portland Trailblazers game and that alone was worth the price of admission! I also got to see him when he was a New York Net when they played against the Denver Nuggets (I was a kid living in Colorado at the time). Maybe Michael Jordan may have been a better basketball player but nobody was as exciting as Julius Erving in his prime! It was very interesting reading in this reviewers opinion and Julius even admits he had flaws just like the rest of us, despite the public persona that he was "perfect" on and off the court. I enjoyed reading this book and by the way he is just as successful now in business as he was in basketball.

After 45 years, my college brothers still call me Doctor because of my basketball moves and my first name, in deference to The Great Dr J. Oh, the book -- an excellent read. The Doctor fluently displays his life to us, his ups (literally) and downs, his riches, his skills, opinions and stories of his teammates, competition and decisive games, plus his family tribulations and his personal triumphs, conflicts and mistakes. The journey of a gifted athlete and the travels through life of a normal human being. I recommend it.

Before LeBron, before Stephan, before Michael Jordan, there was Julius Erving. And were it not for Dr. J., those all time greats could not have existed. For anyone who lived through or is intensely interested in the old ABA, and the NBA in those first post-merger years, this is an encyclopedia that you simply must have. Any true basketball fan will love it. Moreover, give credit to Julius Erving for his candor in telling a very human story about things he got wrong, as well as right, but, most of all, that he came from nothing, and made himself into a beloved legend. Still a fan of the Doctor, and more so now after reading his first person account.

This is an autobiography that not only captures changes in the world of basketball, but also the day to day life of a celebrity and athlete. I did not realize that the doctor had so much tragedy in his life -- early deaths of his father, brother, sister, and friends. Ervings happiness swings not with his celebrity status, but with the state of his family including his marriage.Erving comes accross as a very decent and kind person, but also one with a menacing flaw. With woman making themselves available to him on a daily basis, he secumbs to his sexual drive while married, and this causes much pain in his life subsequently. He has fathered two-three children out-of-wedlock, something he is not proud of. He financially supports these children, but in the case of Alexandra who is a pro tennis player, Dr. J.'s wife will not allow him to have a relationship with Alexandra. Dr. J is the father of seven children in total. He is perplexed why three of his sons -- raised in privledge -- have problems with drugs and the law.The underlying message of this book is that it is not celebrity that brings joy in our life, but the more simple things -- friends and family.

The more I read this book the better liked it. The biography of this sports legend is unique, Dr. J bares his soul. He is more interested with leaving a lasting personal legacy than preserving his professionals stature as a hero. He is extremely honest about his personal shortcomings. This in no way diminishes his greatness as a basketball player. Erving's writing style, while warm and sensitive, is also very compelling. I loved his wonderful ABA stories as well as those about his NBA years . Bottom line is that this book is terrific . The Doctor was a professional superman but a very down-to-earth human being. It took a lot of fortitude on his part to write a book that uncovers all aspects of his life with such brutal honesty.Read it and you will have a new appreciation for Dr. J.

I am a massive Dr. J fan. Grew up outside of Philly and was obsessed with the NBA in the '80s. Read the Pat Williams book about assembling that special '82-83 team. So I purchased this book the day it came out and devoured it on a long plane ride home.I have to say I was disappointed with this book because Dr. J ended up focusing on periods of his life that were not as interesting to me as his career in the NBA. Put it this way - he doesn't join the Sixers until at least 70% into the book. He gives tons of detail about his childhood and family life, which helps the reader understand where he's coming from. And then he provides a lot of good color and stories about his time in the ABA, which is definitely interesting and fun. But he provides very few fun stories about life on the Sixers and their championship run. It's just low on details. I was hoping to hear all about the characters on that team - Moses, Bobby Jones, Toney, Cheeks, Richardson, et al - and he just doesn't get that deep into things. It's almost like he runs out of steam, or maybe they had a deadline to hit to get this book out in time for the holidays. He also barely talks about his competitors in the NBA (even Larry Bird!) which to me is a huge disappointment given all the colorful personalities in the league at that time. In any case, I just thought I'd give a heads up to people who are hoping for lots of fun anecdotes about Erving and life in the 80s NBA.

Excellent book

La historia de un genio hecho persona. Cuenta cosas buenas y cosas malas, perfecto para quienes quieran profundizar su conocimiento del baloncesto americano y del gran Julius Erving en particular.

Chi come me ha iniziato a giocare a basket negli anni 80 non poteva che idolizzare questo giocatore, il primo a portare un gioco dalla terra all'aria.Un racconto di un uomo che ha cambiato il gioco senza entrare dalla porta principale, ma che con la sua intelligenza e classe ha saputo imporsi in tutti i livelli della vita.Racconta non solo di basket ma anche dei suoi rapporti con i figli (forse i più difficili), di business e di molto altro.Dr J era già il mio preferito, dopo aver letto questo libro è due piani sopra tutti!

Great book, UK based basketball fans should look at buying this, being a Sixer fan this is a great read to learn how the greatest basketball player of his era was off and the court in his words.

Very good book about the Doctor, who was the mots spectacular Basketball player, before a guy named Michael Jordan came along. Detailed and honestly written, I liked this book a lot.