Last summer, Hall of Famer Julius Erving — Dr. J to the generation that watched him levitate for 16 seasons in the ABA and NBA — moved to Atlanta.
His prodigious afro blooming high above the rim, Erving once proffered basketball’s most elegant dunks. He almost single-handedly kept the ABA and its red, white and blue ball viable while becoming one of the evolutionary figures in the game.
Now 59, Erving and his second wife have three children still at home and his move to Atlanta put him close to three grandchildren.
He’s always at the golf course these days — working, not playing. Erving bought the former Heritage Golf Club in Tucker, revamping it under the name Celebrity Golf Club International.
This weekend, he welcomes scores of his former peers as the NBA Retired Players Association’s Legends World Sports Summit comes to town. After a private charity banquet and weekend seminars, the event concludes with a golf tournament at Dr. J’s place.
Staff writer Steve Hummer spoke to Erving last Wednesday about life in Atlanta, life as a golf entrepreneur and life as a gracefully aging basketball icon.
Q: When you own your own golf course, does that mean you can make up your own rules — free drops anywhere, gimmes from 10 feet in?
A: Only when I’m playing by myself.
Q: Is owning a golf course a good business move these days?
A: If it comes down to owning versus leasing versus renting versus borrowing, versus everything else — yeah. If you’re going to be in, I think it’s good to have “owner” on your calling card. Is it the best, most purposeful use of capital? No. But, if you’re going to be in, I’d rather be the owner than the maintenance guy.
Q: So you’re all in on the golf thing?
A: I have a personal investment, a financial investment, an emotional investment. We have a good plan here.
This is a big weekend, showing the support of my peers. They cared enough to take a chance coming here and allowing us to present the whole weekend, not just the golf piece. They’re entrusting that to us. The results are going to be good, not only rewarding but memorable.
It’s a good thing we have here, I feel good about it. I feel as excited about this as any of the things I’ve done in my life.
Q: What kind of physical shape are you in at 59?
A: You ever try the Wii Fit (video exercise game)? My son got one this Christmas. We all signed up and registered and got evaluated. So, on my first foray, my evaluation came back (age) 79. I thought: “I gotta work at that.” I quickly got it to 59. Now, I’m in the high 40s after a little morning workout.
My icon’s got white hair, white beard, and it had a pot belly. I’m watching my pot belly shrinking. I took 30 years off.
Q: When was the last time you dunked?
A: Last year, before August.
I have a personal thing, just do it once a year until I can’t do it any more. Now I’m heading into the fourth quarter of this year and I haven’t tried it. Sometime between October and December, I’m going to try to dunk, and I should be able to do it.
Q: Good luck on your attempt this year. What a sad day that will be when Dr. J can’t dunk.
A: One of my favorite sayings comes from (another legendary leaper) Connie Hawkins: “Well, I guess they have to lower the rim or raise the floor because the Hawk can’t soar no more.”
A footnote to local sports history is that Erving was very briefly a Hawk. After one season with the ABA’s Virginia Squires, he became NBA draft eligible in 1972. Drafted by Milwaukee, he nonetheless signed as a free agent with Atlanta. Erving played in a pair of Hawks preseason exhibition games before an arbitrator ruled that his NBA rights belonged to Milwaukee. Erving instead returned to the ABA and the Squires.
Q: Why Atlanta?
A: Just look. What’s not to like? Look around (pointing out to the golf course greenery) and this is like my backyard. That’s pretty special. I rented for nine months, and we just moved in to our new place (in Buckhead). It’s a work in progress. I did not give up my last residence (in southern Utah) and everything is still in there.
I think we’ve been back there twice since we’ve moved here. This is the real deal. It feels right. It’s wearing right.
When I moved to Utah (in 2006), I thought about it as moving into semi-retirement, the back nine of my life. I was going to be out West. And now I find myself East and South at a place I’ve been before, coming this time with a whole different perspective. And also a sense of being able to truly make a difference on a lot of fronts.
Q: Have you ever thought about how things would have been different had you been able to stay with the Hawks?
A: I was in camp with Pistol [Pete Maravich], Walt Bellamy, Lou Hudson. We had an All-Star team. We played two exhibitions games, and I bet you in both we scored north of 140 points. We were an unstoppable team. I don’t know if anybody could have stopped us. It would have been different for everyone involved.
Q: Maybe there’s something to be said about ending up where you belong?
A: Yeah, how ’bout that, you end up where you belong. Divine intervention, maybe.
