The 1976 – 77 season would be memorable for the 76ers ; as a result of the terms of the ABA-NBA merger they acquired Julius Erving from the New York Nets, soon after the team was purchased by local philanthropist Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr., grandson of George Dunton Widener and heir to the Widener fortune.

" Kobe Bryant, who was invited along with Vince Carter, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, and Julius Erving as judges for the 2007 slam dunk contest, said that among the judges in their prime, Carter would win in a dunk contest.

The very first slam dunk contest was won by Julius Erving of the Nets at the 1976 ABA All-Star Game.

Erving enjoyed his brief time with Atlanta, and he would later duplicate with George Gervin his after-practice playing with Maravich.

This would total $ 6 million dollars overall, with the other half going to Erving.

Erving understood the comment to mean that all the Sixers needed to do was win four games in each series, but Malone claims he actually meant the Sixers would sweep the entire playoffs.

That final season saw opposing teams pay tribute to Erving in the last game Erving would play in their arenas, including in cities such as Boston and Los Angeles, his perennial rivals in the playoffs.

Erving would start by dunking two balls in the hoop.

In mid-air, it was apparent that Erving would land behind the backboard.

During that time, he worked with Prof. Everett Hughes, and became associated with a group of colleagues who would become known as the " Second Chicago School " ( e. g., Howard S. Becker and Erving Goffman ).

Carter was also given the impression that Peddie would consider Julius Erving as a serious candidate for G. M., thinking he could attract star players to Toronto.

Another example would be LaRue Martin, drafted 1st overall in the 1972 NBA Draft before Bob McAdoo and Julius Erving.

McAdoo & Erving would go on to be elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and are both usually mentioned as all-time greats, whereas Martin only played 4 NBA seasons for career average of just over 5 points per game before retiring as arguably the biggest NBA draft bust ever.

Becker and his colleagues, including Erving Goffman, Anselm Strauss, and Gary Fine, would later be considered part of the " second Chicago School of Sociology "

The team would struggle in their first couple of seasons without Erving, whose contract was sold to the Philadelphia 76ers due to financial struggles.

Anthropologists Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson identified two kinds of politeness, deriving from Erving Goffman's concept of face:

The sociologist Erving Goffman introduced the concept of " face " into social theory with his ( 1955 ) article " On Face-work: An Analysis of Ritual Elements of Social Interaction " and ( 1967 ) book Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior.

Some of the biggest stars of this era were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rick Barry, Dave Cowens, Julius Erving, Elvin Hayes, Walt Frazier, Moses Malone, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin, Dan Issel, and Pete Maravich.

Sociological theorists, most notably George Herbert Mead and Erving Goffman, saw the Cartesian Other as a " Generalized Other ", the imaginary audience that individuals use when thinking about the self.

The American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization ( AAAIMH ) was an organization founded in 1970 by Dr. Thomas Szasz, George Alexander, and Erving Goffman for the purpose of abolishing involuntary psychiatric intervention, particularly involuntary commitment, against individuals.

Along with McLuhan, Postman, and Anton, media ecology draws from many authors, including the work of Harold Innis, Walter Ong, Lewis Mumford, Jacques Ellul, Eric Havelock, Susanne Langer, Erving Goffman, Edward T. Hall, George Herbert Mead, Margaret Mead, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Benjamin Lee Whorf, and Gregory Bateson.

Most notably, the business leaders of Greater Seattle Inc., including its president George Gunn and vice-presidents R. C. “ Torchy ” Torrance, William Street and Erving Rable who combined in April of 1950 with the Seattle Salts led by Jerry Bryant and a committee that included Leo Weisfield, Emil G. Sick, R. J. Lamont and Henry Broderick.

With a club that included Julius Erving, George McGinnis, Lloyd Free, and Doug Collins, the Sixers made another solid postseason run, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Washington Bullets in six games.

Although blessed with a combination of Julius Erving (" Dr. J ") and a young George Gervin, the duo only played together late in the season.

George McGinnis was one of the marquee players of the ABA, and later teamed with fellow ABA alumni Julius Erving and Caldwell Jones on the Philadelphia 76ers that made the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) Finals in 1977.

Halftime of the 1976 ABA All Star Game saw the first-ever Slam Dunk Contest, which was won by Julius Erving of the New York Nets ( who took off from the free throw line for his dunk ) over David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets, Artis Gilmore of the Kentucky Colonels, and George Gervin and Larry Kenon of the San Antonio Spurs.

Notable NBA players in history include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Shaquille O ' Neal, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Bill Walton, George Mikan, Bob Pettit, Bob Cousy, Pete Maravich, Julius Erving, John Havlicek, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas, Earl Monroe, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Elvin Hayes, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West, whose particular silhouette is featured on the NBA's logo.

Although dunking from the foul line had been done by other players ( Jim Pollard and Wilt Chamberlain in the 1950s, for example ), Erving introduced the dunk jumping off the foul line to a wide audience, when he demonstrated the feat in the 1976 ABA All-Star Game Dunking Contest.

An eight-time NBA All-Star, Carter joined NBA players Julius Erving and Michael Jordan as the only players to lead the NBA All-Star Game fan voting three or more times.

* Julius " Dr. J " Erving, former professional basketball player

Julius Erving, former New York Nets superstar, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame

Instead, the, Erving signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks before the 1972 – 73 season when he discovered his former agent Steve Arnold happened to work for the Squires, deluding him to sign for a low paying contract.

Erving ( top left ) with other former NBA players visit the New York NBA Store in January 2005

Erving and former NFL running back Joe Washington fielded a NASCAR Busch Grand National Series team in the late 1990s, becoming the first ever NASCAR racing team at any level owned completely by minorities.

It was escorted by many former players, including Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell.

* Julius Erving ( Dr. J ) – former NBA star

Drafted in the sixth round of the 1976 NBA Draft with the 99th overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers, the 6 ' 2 " guard played for them for one full season along with Hall-of-Fame teammate Julius Erving and made the Finals in a losing effort against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Melchionni was a key player in the 1974 ABA Championship, led by Erving, Larry Kenon, John Williamson, and Billy Paultz.

Erving was the subject of a video game, One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, which was released originally for the Apple II and subsequently for several other systems.

Despite these defeats, Erving was named the NBA MVP in 1981 and was again voted to the 1982 All-NBA first Team.

He was dubbed " Dr. K ," ( by analogy with basketball's " Dr. J ", Julius Erving, and also in reference to the letter " K " being the standard abbreviation for strikeout ), which soon became shortened to " Doc ".

Jazzist Jeffrey Osbourne made a tribute song and music video called " Everything Good Takes Time ", or simply " EGTT ", when Erving won the 1983 NBA championship.

A disturbance described by Miriam and Erving Polster was " deflection ", which referred to a means of avoiding contact.

Washington's love of basketball, especially the Philadelphia 76ers, led him to dedicate the second track, " Let It Flow ", to Julius Erving ( Dr. J ).

* Julius Erving, otherwise known as " Dr. J ", member of the Basketball Hall of Fame who played for the Philadelphia 76ers until his retirement.