Julius Erving is an NBA legend and hobby icon and has been considered one of the 40 most important athletes of all time. He was explosive, entertaining to watch, and one of the games’ best dunkers (from the free-throw line!).
He won three championships and four MVP awards between his ABA and NBA days. Erving scored over 30,000 points, had 10,525 rebounds, and 5,176 assists over his career, which earned him 11 NBA and 5 ABA All-Star appearances.
It’s no wonder that his 1972 Topps #195 Rookie Card is experiencing staggering growth with even PSA 5 variants commanding prices over $1000.
If you are looking to add a few cards, at more reasonable prices, of this basketball Hall of Famer, here are 5 Julius Erving basketball card alternatives to consider.
1980 Topps
If you ignore the Scoring Leaders Bird/Erving/Johnson variant, a few 1980 Topps Julius Erving cards are available at reasonable prices. This Bridgeman/Erving/Sobers example graded PSA 8 recently sold for just $10.
1978 Topps #130 Julius Erving
I’m biased as 1978 Topps is my favorite basketball set of all-time, but you can acquire a PSA 8 for between 75-$100; just a few months ago, they were $20.
1981 Topps #104 Julius Erving
PSA 8s sell for under $20 and are wildly available with almost 500 graded examples in the PSA population report.
1987 Fleer #35 Julius Erving
The 1987 Fleer is the last major release of Erving’s from his playing days, and PSA 8s are $25.
1977-79 Sportscaster Julius Erving
When it comes to NBA legends, there are a lot of oddball choices too. And the Sportscaster set is gigantic and has over 2000 multi-sport cards with multiple Julius Erving options.
The 1977-79 Sportscaster #03-15 Julius Erving Italy variant graded PSA 8 recently sold for $32.
Are you a Dr. J collector? What advice do you have for folks trying to collect cards of one of the greatest players of all time? Let us know in the comments or over on Twitter.