A lawsuit for $200,000 hits Julius Erving one day, and soon thereafter an auction of some of his personal basketball memorabilia collection is announced.
 
Erving — best known as the high-flying Dr. J during playing days with the New Jersey (soon-to-be Brooklyn) Nets and Philadelphia 76ers — says it’s just a coincidence that the news items arrived so close together. The NBA Hall of Famer told the Associated Press that the auction was planned well in advance of him being hit with the lawsuit by Georgia Primary Bank.
 
"That irony actually gave me a sleepless night last night," the 61-year-old Erving said. "I had to laugh at it and cringe at it that these stories would run concurrent with one another."
 
Erving has listed some pretty impressive items, including his 1983 NBA Championship ring, two championship rings with the then ABA-affiliated New Jersey Nets and MVP trophies from both NBA and ABA.
 
"My family is 100 percent behind it," he said. "We decided to do it a long time ago. To claim it's a fire sale or to clear up some debt, I don't think so. You don't do an auction overnight. This has been long planned. We had 4,000 catalogs that have been mailed already to people who buy this kind of stuff."
 
The items that are available can be found at www.scpautions.com. Just be prepared to spend a bundle if you decide to take home some original Dr. J memorabilia.
 
Contact Terrance Harris at terrancefharris@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Terranceharris

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