Former NBA and ABA great Julius Erving says it wasn’t mounting debt or a lawsuit that moved him to sell some of his memorabilia in auction, but instead a need to unload some stuff he never even looks at anymore.
 
Whatever the case, the man known as Dr. J during his career, hit the jackpot when the numbers came in Sunday morning on his online auction of items, such as his 1974 ABA championship ring from the New York Nets, three MVP trophies and five other rings. Erving, 61, sold 144 items for a hefty $3,552,627, according to Yahoo! Sports’ The PostGame.
 
Erving’s ABA championship ring brought in $460,741 by itself, making it the highest take ever for a sports ring, according to the report. A major buyer of Basketball Hall of Famer's items was the Philadelphia 76ers, who bought 18 of the items to put on display, team CEO Adam Aron confirmed on his Twitter account.
 
According to SCP Auctions, which billed the auction as “the largest and most significant player basketball collection ever sold,” Erving’s unwanted memorabilia set a record for the most money raked in for one man’s collection.
 
"It was mindboggling," SCP president David Kohler said in the Yahoo! Sports report. "Normally, rings go for $25,000 or so. Before the sale I didn't think they'd bring $50,000. We were blown away. I spoke to Julius and he's ecstatic."
 
What it all means is Erving won’t have trouble settling the lawsuit for the $205,277.84 owed to a bank in Georgia.
 
Contact Terrance Harris at terrancefharris@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Terranceharris.

(Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)