JULIUS "DR. J." ERVING - BASKETBALL SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: JERRY WEST, LIONEL HOLLINS, M. L. CARR, ALEX ENGLISH, GEORGE KARL, K.C. JONES, BOB McADOO, ALVAN ADAMS - HFSID 277326

BASKETBALL GREATS: JULIUS ERVING and OTHERS
Basketball covered with famous names
Basketball signed: "Julius Erving", "George Karl", "KC Jones", "ML Carr", "Alex English", "Jerry West", "Bob/McAdoo", "Alvan Adams", "Lionel Hollins" and 11 unidentified signatures. In all 20 signatures. Spalding NBA-endorsed basketball, David J Stern Commissioner. JULIUS ERVING, played his college ball at the University of Massachusetts before playing five seasons with the Virginia Squires and New York Nets in the American Basketball League (prior to its merger with the NBA). In the ABL, Erving won 3 MVP awards and 3 scoring titles. In 11 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA, Erving made the All-Star team every year (twice the game's MVP). He was league MVP in 1981, and let the 76ers to the NBA Championship in 1983. Erving, nicknamed "the Doctor", and his famed gyrations to the basket were known as "house calls, entered the Hall of Fame in 1993. GEORGE KARL played for the San Antonio Spurs (1973-1978), during which the Spurs moved from the ABA to the NBA. His coaching career has been much longer. The twelfth coach in NBA history to win 800 games, he has directed the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Seattle Supersonics, Milwaukee Bucks and since 2004 the Denver Nuggets. He also found time to be 3-time Coach of the Year in the Continental Basketball Association. His son Coby is an NBA guard with the Los Angeles Lakers. KC JONES was a teammate of Bill Russell on the University of San Francisco's back-to-back NCAA champions (1955-1956), on the 1956 gold-medal US Olympic team, and on the Boston Celtics teams which won 8 consecutive NBA titles (1959-1966). Returning to the Celtics as head coach, Jones lead the team to Atlantic Division leadership in all five of his seasons there, and to NBA Championships in 1984 and 1986. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1989. M.L. CARR was MVP of the European Pro Basketball League before signing with the ABA's Spirits of St Louis in 1975. Moving to the NBA, he played for the Detroit Pistons (1976-1979) and Boston Celtics (1979-1985), playing on the championship teams of 1981 and 1984. In the nasty Game Four of the 1984 NBA Finals against Los Angeles, virtually a tag team wrestling match, Carr's steal and slam dunk clinched the Celtics overtime win on their way to a 4-3 series triumph. He was less successful in his return to the Celtics as General Manager and then head coach (1995-1997). An All-American at South Carolina, ALEX ENGLISH was the NBA's leading scorer of the 1980s, the first ever to score 2,000 points in eight straight seasons (for the Denver Nuggets). Retiring with 25,613 points, 7th most in league history, the 8-time All-Star entered the Hall of Fame in 1997. JERRY WEST spent 40 years with the Los Angeles Lakers as a player (1960-1974), head coach (1976-1979), General Manager and Vice President (until 2000). A 14-time NBA All Star. He is the Lakers' all-time leading scorer with 25,192 points, an average of 27 per game. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1979 and was named one of the NBA's 50 all-time greatest players in 1996. BOB McADOO played for 8 NBA teams in 15 seasons (1972-1986), and then extended his career with solid years of European basketball through 1993. His best performances, however, came early and late in his NBA career with the Buffalo Braves and Los Angeles Lakers. With Buffalo he was NBA Rookie of the Year (1973), league MVP (1975), and the league's leading scorer in three consecutive seasons. During the 1973-1974 season, he was the last NBA player to average both 30 points and 15 rebounds per game. After playing for some disappointing teams, he became the valued "sixth man" on the Lakers championship teams of 1982 and 1985. An All-American at Oklahoma, ALVAN ADAMS played all 13 of his pro seasons with the Phoenix Suns (1975-1989), becoming the franchise's all-time leader in games, rebounds and steals. The NBA Rookie of the Year in 1976, Adams boosted the Suns to the NBA Finals that year. He averaged 14.1 points per game over his career. Point guard LIONEL HOLLINS played the first five of his ten NBA seasons (1975-1985) with the Portland Trail Blazers, turning in an All-Star year on the Blazers' NBA Championship team of 1977. He was later head coach of the Vancouver Grizzlies. Many signatures are difficult to read on dimpled surface. Otherwise, fine condition.