Dr. "J" Julius Erving

You're a great basketball player, but I have the feeling as I read about you that it's always been important for you to be a good person, to be a well rounded person, as well.

“I think I started learning lessons about being a good person long before I ever knew what basketball was. And that starts in the home, it starts with the parental influence. I came from a broken home, so my mom was a major influence in my life. And I remember hearing her say hundreds, thousands of times, ‘You don't have to work that hard to try to be a good person, just do it.’ “

“I think she would add to that, even if there are a lot of things in life that you can't do, this is something that you can. This is a do-able thing. All it requires is programming your attitude properly and relating to people, as you would want to have them relate to you.”

[To see this entire interview with Dr. "J", go to  the Academy of Achievement]