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Julius Erving Details How His Nickname Evolved from ‘The Doctor’ to ‘Doctor J’

Tonoy Sengupta
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Julius Erving Details How His Nickname Evolved from 'The Doctor' to 'Doctor J'

Julius Erving is one of the biggest names in NBA history. However, he’s mostly known by his famous nickname, ‘Dr. J’. Many have long wondered where this moniker came from.

So, during his appearance on the Come and Talk 2 Me show, the hosts asked him just this question. In his response, Erving revealed the real story behind the name which dates back to his childhood.

The NBA legend admitted with a grin on his lips that his nickname did not come from the NBA. Instead, it was one of his childhood friends who started to call him ‘Doctor’ as part of a little inside joke between them.

Later, when the legend played for the ABA’s Virginia Squires, his nickname evolved due to the need of the hour. Erving explained,

“My buddy started calling me ‘the doctor’ when I started calling him the professor. We were in maybe middle school… When I got to the Virginia Squires, you know, they were calling the team physician ‘the doctor’. They were calling the medical guy, ‘the doctor’.”

“They had about four people who they called ‘the doctor’. So the trainer said, ‘You got to be Doctor J!'”

Erving then revealed that the Squires ran with this nickname. The franchise used it to promote him as a player and their games as a franchise.

Even judging solely by the popularity of Erving’s nickname today, it’s clear that the strategy worked wonders. In fact, as mentioned previously, the NBA legend is now known better by his moniker.

For quite some time now, Julius Erving is referred to almost primarily as ‘Dr. J’, pretty much like how Earvin Jonson is almost universally known as Magic Johnson.

Post Edited By:Satagni Sikder

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta

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Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.

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