It didn鈥檛 take long for UMass to realize that in Erving the school had a spectacularly entertaining player. Not long after his arrival on campus, he found small crowds showing up at the Boyden gym not to watch him play pickup games but to watch him dunk. He accommodated the fans by demonstrating his repertoire of dunks, including reverses and rock-the-cradle slams.
AP
Julius Erving gets by Bill Walton of the Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA Championship Series game in Portland, Ore., June 1, 1977. Portland won the series, 4-2.