Doc: The Rise and Rise of Julius Erving

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.