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Philadelphia 76ers Set To Honors Julius Irving With Sculpture

Philadelphia 76ers Set To Honors Julius Irving With Sculpture
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Philly is having a hell of a year.

The city won a Super Bowl Championship with a backup quarterback while going up against a football dynasty, and took home the NCAA Men’s Basketball championship. The 76ers are looking to make a playoff run just weeks after Markelle Fultz got re-added to the lineup, and now one of the city’s greatest basketball players ever is about to be enshrined forever.

The Sixers are unveiling a sculpture of Julius Erving during a ceremony Tuesday at their practice facility in Camden, N.J. It will be the sixth sculpture installed on the 76ers’ Legends Walk, with Dr. J joining greats Wilt Chamberlain and Billy Cunningham.

Erving was a two-time NBA MVP and an 11-time all-star who helped lead the Sixers to its 1983 NBA title. He also won two ABA titles and two ABA playoffs MVPs before the league merged with the NBA. With 30,026 career points scored, he’s currently eighth in all-time points scored, just one spot behind LeBron James. After 16 seasons in the NBA and ABA, he retired in 1987 and had his jersey retired the following year.

Other than being one of the best basketball players ever, he also dominated the college circuit during his time at University of Massachusetts. During his two years there, he easily averaged 20 points and 20 rebounds—a rare feat in the NCAA. He declared for the 1972 draft and was selected 12th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks. And that was when people began to see just how talented of a dunker he was. He wasn’t one of the seven footers who barely had to hop off the ground to slam it; it was used as more of a strategy to make sure he wasn’t blocked. He introduced a finesse and artistry to dunking that forever transformed the game.

 

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