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Today Marks The Day The Doctor Came To Town

By Ray Boyd

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- October 20th, 1976 is a day that forever changed the fortunes of the Philadelphia 76ers. That was the day the Doctor moved his practice to South Philadelphia.

Julius Erving was the premiere player on the New York Nets. The Nets were one of four ABA teams that were going to complete the ABA/NBA merger. Each team was required to pay an entry fee to join the NBA, but the Nets had to pay extra.

The team was required to pay nearly $5 million to the New York Knicks for territory rights. Since they couldn't afford the price tag, they were backed into a corner and had to let go of their best player.

The Nets loss was the Sixers gain. The Sixers gave up a total of $6 million to take Erving from the Nets and to sign him to a deal. That move not only gave the Sixers a great player. It gave the team a player that would ultimately define what a superstar was in that period of time and a player that would forever influence the way some of the games' greats would play after him.

Players like Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter have attributed parts of their games to Julius Erving. He brought a distinct level of "cool," to the game of basketball that could only be summed up in the way he could cup a basketball and glide through the air with amazing ease.

Erving lead the Sixers to the playoffs every season he spent with the team and helped to bring home a championship in 1982-83.

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