Book description
The definitive biography of basketball genius Julius Erving--the icon
who transcended his sport and defined an era
Julius Erving, aka Dr. J, was a wizard with the basketball,
performing feats the world had never seen before: midair spins and
whirls punctuated by powerful slam dunks, which he was the first to
glamorize. In a career that lasted from the 1970s well into the 1980s,
he was one of the first players to make extemporaneous individual
expression an integral part of the game, setting the style of play
that has prevailed ever since. He's also long been respected as a
gracious, dignified, and disciplined man. As there are great men of
history, there are great men of sports, and Dr. J is just such a man.
This book tells Dr. J's amazing story, following his basketball
journey from his Long Island childhood to the street games of New York
City to a college career as his skills, reputation, and character
grew. It follows his entrance into the ABA, where he revolutionized
the game by glamorizing the dunk, and his conquering of the NBA, where
he was Michael Jordan before there was a Jordan. It relates the family
struggles he's had since leaving the game and charts the
transformation of the man into myth.
- The first complete biography of one of the greatest and most
popular basketball players of all time
- Draws on interviews with Dr. J's childhood friends and his
family to teammates and coaches at all levels
- Written by a New York Times sports journalist and author
of Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament
- Includes Erving's years as a player with the Virginia Squires,
New York Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers
Read Doc and follow the incredible journey of the basketball
genius who elevated the game off the hardwood and helped make it
America's passion.
Vincent M. Mallozzi is a New York Times
reporter who covers sports, metropolitan, and society news. He has
written three books on basketball, including Asphalt Gods: An Oral
History of the Rucker Tournament. He was a producer of the ESPN
basketball documentary Big in the Mind, the story of the New
York streetball legend Joe Hammond, and is a member of the Pro Rucker
Basketball Hall of Fame.
Mallozzi's professional basketball
career, with the Brooklyn Wonders of the ABA in December 2006, lasted
91 seconds. (The playing time came in exchange for a Sunday column in
the New York Times.) Born and raised in East Harlem, Mallozzi
is a graduate of St. John's University, where he was later a professor
of journalism, and of the Technical University of Budapest in Hungary.
He now lives in Aberdeen, New Jersey, with his wife, Cathy, and their
three sons, Christopher, Michael, and Mark.
