On this day in 1971: Julius Erving’s pro debut — 21 points and 19 rebounds for the Virginia Squires

Fifty-five years ago, on Oct. 15, 1971, a 21-year-old out of UMass walked onto the floor at Greensboro Coliseum in a Virginia Squires uniform and started the professional career of Julius Erving. He played 40 minutes, scored 21 points and pulled down 19 rebounds as Virginia won its opener at the Carolina Cougars, 118-114, in front of 4,803 fans.

It wasn’t a flawless night. Erving made 6 of 16 shots from the field, finished with four fouls and needed the free-throw line, where he went 9 of 12, to get to 21. But the rebounding number told the story of what was coming. Nobody on either team grabbed more boards, and he did it as a rookie forward on the road in his first game that counted.

Not the star of the box score, yet

The headline scorer that night was Charlie Scott, who poured in 36 points on 13-of-32 shooting for Virginia. Jim Eakins added 20 and Neil Johnson had 18 points and 14 rebounds. Carolina got 32 from Jim McDaniels and 23 from Randy Denton, but the Squires made 32 free throws to the Cougars’ 19, and that gap decided a four-point game.

Erving barely had time to think about it. The next night, Oct. 16, he played 43 minutes in a 94-93 loss at Memphis and posted 20 points and 17 rebounds. Five days later he scored 26 in a win over Dallas. The pattern was set early: heavy minutes, double-doubles and a forward who could finish above the rim in a league that sold itself on exactly that.

• Debut line: 40 minutes, 21 points, 19 rebounds, 3 assists, 6-of-16 shooting, 9-of-12 free throws.
• Final score: Virginia Squires 118, Carolina Cougars 114 at Greensboro Coliseum.
• Rookie season: 84 games, 27.3 points, 15.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game; ABA All-Star, All-Rookie, and runner-up for Rookie of the Year.
• First playoff run: 33.3 points and 20.4 rebounds per game over 11 postseason games in 1972.

From Virginia to the Nets to Philadelphia

Erving spent only two seasons in Virginia. In the second, 1972-73, he averaged 31.9 points and finished second in MVP voting. He was also chosen 12th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1972 NBA Draft, a reminder that the two leagues were still fighting over the same players. By 1973-74 he was with the New York Nets, where he won three straight ABA MVP awards and two ABA championships before the leagues merged.

The 1976 ABA Slam Dunk Contest, the night he took off from the free-throw line, became the image most fans connect with that era. In the clip below, Erving looks back on that contest alongside George Gervin and David Thompson.

His NBA debut came five years and a week after the Greensboro opener, on Oct. 22, 1976, when the Philadelphia 76ers lost 121-118 to the San Antonio Spurs. In Philadelphia he added the 1981 NBA MVP award, seven All-NBA selections and the 1983 championship.

Where the 30,026 points started

By the time he retired in 1987, Erving had scored 30,026 professional points: 11,662 in five ABA seasons and 18,364 in 11 NBA seasons. He averaged 28.7 points per game in the ABA and 24.2 across his whole career, collected four MVP awards between the two leagues, entered the Hall of Fame in 1993 and was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

The first 21 of those points came on a Friday night in Greensboro, in a game where he wasn’t even his own team’s leading scorer. The 19 rebounds were the clearer sign. That’s the part of Dr. J’s debut that holds up best 55 years later: before the dunks became famous, he was already doing the work that made them possible.