Tucson, Arizona—Julius Erving, also known as Dr. J, is coming to Tucson for a fireside chat with Bob Elliott.
Bob and Beverely Elliott sat down with Erving and his wife six months ago and came up with the idea of having him come to Tucson. Erving told them he wanted to help out the African American Museum of Southern Arizona (AAMoSA).
“When we went to dinner with Julius and Dorys we were talking about the museum and he said he gets the newsletter and knowing that we needed to raise funds to be sustainable he said ‘What can I do to help?’. So we immediately were like okay let’s throw this out there and see where it goes,” said Beverely Elliott.
The idea for the museum sparked when Bob & Beverely’s grandson, Jody, who was doing a school report on an African American hero or ‘shero,’ at the time asked where the African American museum was in Arizona. At the time, there wasn’t one. After finding out there wasn’t a museum in Arizona, Jody suggested Elliott open one up.
“He looks at me and says ‘Well I think you should start a museum and I’ll help you.’,” said Beverely Elliott.
On the 14th the museum will be celebrating two years of its opening.
Elliott met Erving in 1977 during the Philadelphia 76ers’ training camp. During training camp, the veterans would get their own rooms, and the rookies had to bunk up with each other. After the first week, cuts were made, and Elliott had a single room, which left some veterans frustrated.
“Some of the vets were like ‘No that is not going to happen. Put three of them little rascals in a room.’ Julius said ‘No, Bob can move in with me’ and that’s when it started and he’s been my big brother ever since,” said Bob Elliott.
One of the biggest takeaways Elliott learned while being teammates with Erving was despite being the icon ‘Dr. J,’ Erving stayed true to himself.
“I go into practice and learn pretty quickly in the rectangle he was Dr. J, once he left the rectangle he was just Julius. That was the biggest thing I learned about him,” said Bob Elliott.
The fireside chat with Erving will be held at Palo Verde High School on Thursday at 6 p.m.
“This is something we do not usually get in Tucson. Phoenix, different market, more people, etc. But for Julius to come here and share his life story with Tucsonans this is going to be a great event,” said Bob Elliott.
For more information about the African American Museum of Southern Arizona visit the link below:
https://www.aamsaz.org/