Dr. J. Fondly Recalls Catskill Summertimes

Julius Erving always wondered about the nets at Kutsher’s Country Club.

Like so many college and pro stars, Dr. J. used to make an annual pilgrimage to pursue his summertime basketball in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, where he played, coached and honed Hall of Fame skills.

There was this one problem, though. “They had funny nets at Kutsher’s,” he said. “I’d go up for a dunk and those nets would throw the ball back out.”

Erving was not accustomed to this kind of response to his high-flying drives to the hoop. “Earl Strom or Wally Rooney would be refereeing,” he said. “I’d complain but they’d say, ‘It didn’t stay in the basket. It’s no basket.”’

And then everybody would have a good laugh.

“Those were great times,” said Erving, who spent several summers at Kutsher’s with NBA stars like Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Frank Ramsey and Cliff Hagen. The coaching staff was legendary: Hank Iba, Red Auerbach, Claire Bee, Joe Lapchick and Adolph Rupp, among others.

Eventually, Erving evolved from a player into a coach. “The kids would ask how I played, why I did what I did,” he said. “At first, I didn’t have an answer. It was natural. But it made me think about things like the geometry of the court and understand the things I did.

“Good questions when you’re teaching make you into a student. That happened to me.”

Kutsher’s was like a home court for Dr. J. in those days but the politics of basketball prevented him from playing in the annual Maurice Stokes Benefit Game. “It was kind of ironic,” he said. “They wouldn’t let ABA players participate in the Stokes game.”

That’s about the only smudge in the history of the Stokes game, which will be played for the 37th time at Kutsher’s on Tuesday night. It remains a shining spot on the often gloomy landscape of sports.

Stokes was one of the bright, young stars of the league in 1958 when he was suddenly struck down by encephalitis. Teammate Jack Twyman became Stokes’ legal guardian and developed the idea of an all-star game to help pay medical bills.

Players such as Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Pete Maravich came from all over the country at their own expense on their own time. Kutsher’s contributed the rooms and the court, and a tradition was born. The game has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, first for Stokes and then, in the 25 years since he died, for indigent retired players.