Julius Erving
It was a scorching summer day in Harlem, a great day for a basketball spectacular at the local courts. The crowd split straight down the middle making room for the player known as Dr. J. While Erving bounced his red, white, and blue basketball in one hand and carrying his icy water bottle in the other, the massive crowd was silent as a deserted island. Every person had come to the playground basketball court of RuckerPark to see one man, a legend that some did not even believe in. It was him. The high-flying, show-stopping, crowd-pleasing Julius Erving had made his daily arrival, and like always the crowd was in for something special. The silence was broken by one of Erving’s teammates running over and greeting him with a hug saying, “What’s up, J? How’ve you been lately?”
Erving responded, “Alright, my brother. Did you bring your A-game with you today?”
The crowd followed with a roar of excitement and was ready for a show. Erving shook hands with the rest of his teammates and then his opponents, or his victims in my eyes. The tip off was won by the center on Erving’s team, and the ball fell over to Julius. He slowly dribbled down the court and then bolted to the basket for a two-handed throw down; this sent a shockwave through the opposition and crowd. This move to the hoop and slam were the first of many, many points to come from Julius throughout the rest of the game. Dr. J was also a great defensive player and could lock-down the opposition’s primary offensive weapon for the entire game. He matched up with the other team’s go-to guy on the first possession and once the ball was in his counterpart’s hands, he slapped it away and jump-started a fast break for his team. He crossed-over to the middle of the court and spotted up for a 3-point shot. The ball swished perfectly through the rim. As Julius retreated back on defense, a person in the crowd stood up and bellowed, “Go get it, J, they can’t stop you!”
Erving flung his arms in the air trying to get the crowd out of their seats. He continuously tortured the opposition as he threw no look passes to set his teammates up for open jumpers and took it strong to the basket and finished hard with thunderous dunks. At half time, Julius’ team was all over the opposition 56-29, and the Doctor had scorched the nets for 24 points. Erving got on a megaphone at halftime and shouted, “If you think that was entertainment, wait until the second half,” and he trotted over to the bench with the rest of his squad. Julius drank some water and poured a little over his head as the hot weather started to affect him. The players gathered back onto the court, and Julius was ready on defense. As the opposition in bounded the ball, I saw this look in his eyes. He looked like he could take on the entire world and a second after that he lunged towards an opposing player who was rising up for a jumper and swatted his attempt away. The crowd went crazy. Julius exploded down court and leaped from the foul line going towards the rim. The crowd sat in awe as Erving floated effortlessly through the air. It was as if the crowd was shell-shocked for a few seconds and then roared again when Erving finished with a vicious slam. I sat in amazement asking myself if this really happened. I thought I was delirious, but I returned to reality when the crowded bleachers rumbled and shook due to this excitement. After this play to begin the second half, Erving’s team went onto a 16-0 run. This was a massacre of the opposition and their reputations, but nobody in the crowd expected anything different. After all, they were up against one of the NBA’s greatest players, Julius “Dr. J” Erving.