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Ball Don't Lie - NBA

Ball Don't Lie

Mon Nov 21 01:30pm EST

The 76ers go to bat for Dr. J and their fans, purchasing his memorabilia

By Kelly Dwyer

The 76ers go to bat for Dr. J and their fans, purchasing his memorabilia

Last month we brought you the unfortunate story of Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving's financial woes, which included a hefty lawsuit brought on by those looking to collect debts stemming from his failed investment in an Atlanta country club.

Over the weekend, Yahoo! Sports' ThePostGame relayed the story of a recent auction featuring Erving, ostensibly with no ties to his legal frustrations (but, yeah, it probably was tied in), which drew in a staggering $3.5 million in exchange for various bits of Dr. J memorabilia. His 1974 ABA championship ring, won with the New York Nets, was the biggest winner -- drawing in over $460,000.

The auction company president has the reaction you'd expect:

"It was mindboggling," SCP president David Kohler said. "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."

And the Philadelphia 76ers? Well, Dr. J's lone NBA team went to bat for its fans. Via The 700 Level, here's Sixers co-owner and CEO Adam Aron, discussing his team's latest purchase on Twitter:

The 76ers go to bat for Dr. J and their fans, purchasing his memorabilia

A fine purchase, if we say so, sight unseen. Especially if this massive guy was part of the haul.

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