“I firmly believe that respect is a lot more important, and a lot greater, than popularity.” — Julius Erving
(The legendary Doctor J! Arguably the greatest all around basketball players of all time! The man could do it all, but he was mostly known for his spectacular, long range dunks. They say he was “the first man to weaponize flight”! Can you imagine what a powerhouse the Milwaukee Bucks would have been had they been allowed to draft him back in 1972? With Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Oscar Robertson? Oh my god, they would have been unstoppable! But, his old ABA team – the Virginia Squires – threw a monkey wrench into those plans, eventually trading him to the New Jersey Nets. After a few years with them he went on to play for the Philadelphia 76ers. Both the Nets and the 76ers retired his jersey. And, to think that my Knicks turned down the opportunity to acquire him from the Nets! SMH. This is his first quote to be used in the Cryptoquote, since I’ve been posting the spoilers. So, we welcome the Hall of Famer to the Cryptoquote Club today! Be well and do good, friends.) — YUR
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Unclerave's Wordy Weblog 
UR,
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”…Wrong guy for that quote but it fits!!*
Swishsh…….k
I once found myself in the Philadelphia area and tried to see Dr. J play. I took public transportation to the arena (was that the Spectrum?) and was in line for tickets, close enough to the front that I was certain they wouldn’t have sold out. When they opened the ticket office, there was a huge and violent rush of people piling in front of the waiting lines, and it was a lost cause. Had to settle for a Greek restaurant up the street, nice but not quite the same emotional satisfaction. Never got the opportunity again to see him in the flesh.
It certainly does, Ken! — YUR
Great story, Art. I do believe it was the Spectrum. Not sure what year you tried, but if it was 1986 – the year that he announced that he was retiring – he sold out every game . . . home AND away. He carried that much respect. — YUR
Art wrote: “a huge and violent rush of people piling in front of the waiting lines”
It’s really sad, Art, that no one was there to enforce the line.