Julius Erving Ask Quotations

If you get depressed about being the second-best team in the world, then you've got a problem.

I started playing professional basketball in 1971, and I played professionally for five seasons before going to Philadelphia.

I didn't want to become a reserve player, or a bench player, and it was time to move on and take on another challenge.

I came from a broken home, so my mom was a major influence in my life.

I think I was chosen by basketball, although I never really physically got drafted to any team that I played for.

I think that my God-given physical attributes, big hands, and big feet, the way that I'm built, proportion-wise, just made basketball the most inviting sport for me to play.

The first professional game that I ever played remains, to me, the most exciting moment of my professional career.

If you do things with a certain type of result and cause a certain type of reaction or effect, then you increase your market value. It's very much a competition for the entertainment dollar, and that's never been more clearly evident than in today's NBA game.

In a lot of areas of my life, particularly in my teenage years, I began to think about the world, and to think about the universe as being a part of my conscious everyday life.

My role models in the business were the older guys on my team when I first got there: Gray Scott, Adrian Smith, Roland Taylor. These were the guys who took me under their wing, and really schooled me in terms of what the business was about.

One of the things in the back of my mind is that, after my sports experience, I never want to be, totally consumed by any one endeavor, other than my family life.

When I went to Philadelphia I was 26 years old and really sitting on top of the world. Family life, a professional career, plenty of friends and associates, and a good reputation, a wish list that could be the envy of many.

And from the first time I picked up a basketball at age eight - I had a lot of difficulty when I first picked up a basketball, because I was a scrub - there were things that I liked about it.

When handling the ball, I always would look for daylight, wherever there was daylight.

With the crowds on your side, it's easier to play up to your potential.

Teachers are sort of faced with a thankless task, because no matter how good they are, unless they find a way to personally rationalize the rewards of their effort, nobody else is really going to do it for them en masse.

Being a typical Pisces, I might have experienced mood shifts, but I don't remember any depression, or needing to do anything, or to have someone bring me out of being depressed.

I had to spend countless hours, above and beyond the basic time, to try and perfect the fundamentals.

That was just my own personal program: I didn't want to get too high over the good moments because I didn't want to be saddened and depressed when things didn't go as I had planned.

And I continued to grow until I was 25 years old.

Every team that I've played on, I've either been the captain or co-captain.

I pulled the plug on it at a time that I thought was right for me to exit.

In 1981, at age 31, I was voted the best player in basketball, and the most valuable player in the league.

One of the commitments that I personally have now is to a diverse approach to buying businesses, and the operation of those businesses.

Right up until the time I retired at age 37, I felt like there were still things that I could do better.

I wanted to undertake the challenge of daring to be great.

The biggest thing that I felt basketball could do for me was help me get a good education.

My mom is one of 14 children. She's a great lady. She's a Taurus. Has been a profound influence in my life, still is to this day. Born in meager surroundings in rural South Carolina.

So much of becoming a good athlete involves bringing other things to the table, other than physical skills. It involves intelligence, it involves many of the things that you learn during the process of being educated. How to analyze, how to assess, how to equate, how to reason.

They are taking steps, but they are baby steps.

Many people think sports are totally physical, that you don't have to think, everything is done for you and you're catered to, I found that to be so far removed from the truth that it's almost a joke. The ones who become stars are the ones who have a head on their shoulders and know how to use it.

If you've experienced having control, you don't want to be moved to a subordinate position, if you have your druthers.

I am very proud to be featured, especially when you consider the outstanding champions who have had this honor. It is great company to be in.

It's better to stay too long than to leave too soon.

I grabbed 19 rebounds in my first professional game, and somehow found a way to score 20 points. I felt real good about it. I felt that this was the beginning of something good.

I liked the game, I enjoyed the game, and the game fed me enough, and gave me enough rewards to reinforce that this is something that I should spend time doing, and that I could possibly make a priority in my life, versus other sports

Goals determine what you're going to be.

When the crowd appreciates you, it encourages you to be a little more daring, I think.

I think I started learning lessons about being a good person long before I ever knew what basketball was. And that starts in the home, it starts with the parental influence.

I always try to keep a pretty conservative demeanor on the court.

I demand more from myself than anybody could ever expect.

Attitude is altitude.

I keep both eyes on my man. The basket hasn't moved on me yet.

The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life - mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical.

Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don't feel like doing them.

I firmly believe that respect is a lot more important, and a lot greater, than popularity.