Dr. J

The Autobiography

De: Julius Erving, Karl Taro Greenfeld

Narrado por: Julius Erving

“A terrific memoir by a man worthy of one.” — Sports Illustrated

An honest, unflinching self-portrait of the basketball legend whose classy public image as a superstar and a gentleman masked his personal failings and painful losses, which he describes here—from his own point of view—for the very first time.

For most of his life, Julius Erving has been two men in one. There is Julius, the bright, inquisitive son of a Long Island domestic worker who has always wanted to be respected for more than just his athletic ability, and there is Dr. J, the cool, acrobatic showman whose flamboyant dunks sent him to the Hall of Fame and turned the act of jamming a basketball through a hoop into an art form. In many ways, Erving’s life has been about the push and pull of Julius and The Doctor.

It is Dr. J who has stories to tell of the wild days and nights of the ABA in the 1970s, and of being the seminal figure who transformed basketball from an earthbound and rigid game into the creative, free-flowing aerial display it is today. He has a long list of signature plays - he’s famous for winning the first dunk contest in 1976 with a jam on which he lifted off from the foul line, and he made a miraculous layup against the Lakers on which he soared behind the backboard before reaching back in to flip the ball in on the other side, with one hand. He inspired a generation of dunkers, including Michael Jordan, to express their improvisational talents.

But Julius wasn’t always as graceful and in control as Dr. J. Erving had a pristine image throughout his career and early retirement, but he was far from a perfect man. Here he gives detailed accounts of some of the personal problems he faced -- or created -- behind the scenes, including the adulterous affair with sports writer Samantha Stephenson, which led to the birth of his daughter, professional tennis player Alexandra Stephenson.

Though his marriage survived that infidelity, the death of Erving’s 20-year-old son Cory in 2000 in a tragic accident proved too much for the union to bear. Erving paints a raw, heartbreaking picture of the dissolution of his marriage, as his wife Turquoise began to blame him for his refusal to be paralyzed by grief for as long as she was. Their intense arguments came to a head when Erving stepped out of the shower one day to find his wife holding a lamp in one hand and a vase in the other, ready for a physical confrontation. “I knew somebody was going to get hurt, and it wasn’t going to be me,” he says. He packed a suitcase and he and Turquoise never lived under the same roof again.

Erving’s story is a tale of the nearly perfect player and the imperfect man, and how he has come to terms with both of them. It will appeal to readers on a sports level and on a human one.

Great Book

Very insightful book for those of us who are true doctor J fans I learned a lot about him personally and his trials and travails in life.

The Most transparent autobiography!

Dr J has been has to be the best autobiography I have read. He tells it all.

He doesn't hide anything about his life. Both the good and the bad are shared with us.

The Doctor is in the house...

He's got a smooth voice in his audible reading, and the book itself is a great read. He's lived quite a life, with ups and downs, and I love his vulnerability. He's a human underneath all that fame, and has made mistakes like all of us do at some points in our life. Highly recommended !

Insightful!

Unflinchingly honest and derailed account of the coolest if all the superstars. The Dr is still the man.

Phenomenal book! One of the best sports autobiographies ever!

Julius Erving has a uniquely American story - the underdog driven by a great work ethic and an ability to see and do things on the court never before imagined.

This book tells the whole story and is wonderfully written and narrated.

Buy it and listen and you follow the Doc in his flight from Hempstead to Amherst to Norfolk and on to Philadelphia and beyond.