Basketball legend Julius “Dr. J” Erving is learning a life lesson on the greens of Atlanta, Ga., which is a far cry from the lessons he taught on the hardwoods of Philadelphia, Pa., throughout much of the late 1970s and 1980s.

The original creator or the “slam” dunk appears to have been hoodwinked in a real estate investment gone bad.

Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Hall of Famer trusted his friend and former partner to assume an $11 million loan in 2007 to purchase and operate the Heritage Golf Club in Tucker, which the pair later re-named Celebrity Golf Club International.

Unfortunately, the 27-hole, 20-acre course is only worth about $2 million today. And it’s unable to generate the $75,000 monthly loan obligation.

Foreclosure is, therefore, likely imminent. However, the good doctor, who lost about $5 million on the deal, is apparently taking it all in stride.

His attorney, Dorna Taylor, reveals that Erving will cut his losses and focus on other projects instead.

In fact, he intends to “develop seven courses throughout the world.”

Rock the baby!

Former Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star outfielder, Lenny Dykstra, is about to lose his 12,360 sq. ft. mansion in the ritzy Sherwood Country Club Estates in Thousand Oaks, Calif., to foreclosure, according to Reuters.com.

“Nails” purchased the six-bedroom, seven-bathroom sprawling compound (it sits on 6.5 acres) from National Hockey League (NHL) legend, Wayne Gretzky, for $18.5 million in 2007.

However, reports indicate that Dykstra — who has been plagued with major financial problems, bad business decisions and a litany of lawsuits since his retirement from the sport more than a decade ago — purchased the home primarily as an investment. But when the real estate market tanked, he was unable to unload the property.

As a result, he failed to make mortgage payments and let it fall into disrepair. In fact, the Ventura County Star reports that Dykstra recently removed more than $50,000 worth of lighting fixtures, wood flooring and kitchen appliances late last year to help pay his other debts.

Dykstra is now in the midst of bankruptcy, during which he dropped a $100 million lawsuit that claimed he was the victim of mortgage fraud on the purchase of Gretzky’s former home.

Accordingly, JP Morgan Chase, which is owed at least $13 million on the loan, has been given the green light to foreclose on the home and “pay the bank $92,000 from insurance proceeds to clean up the trash-strewn property.”

The home is currently on the market for $14.9 million.

That was fast.

Just a few days ago, Nadya Suleman — mother of 14, which includes a litter of octuplets — was being threatened with foreclosure for not paying the mortgage on her four-bedroom home in La Habra, California.

Today, Associated Press reports that Suleman has accepted an advertising offer from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that will help her satisfy her monthly mortgage obligations.

Suleman will reportedly receive $5,000, as well as a month’s supply of veggie burgers and hot dogs, for erecting a sign in her front yard that reads:

“Don’t Let Your Dog or Cat Become an Octomom. Always Spay or Neuter.”

You can’t make this stuff up.

Meanwhile, Jeff Czech, Suleman’s attorney, is working feverishly to refinance the $450,000 balloon payment that is overdue on the home.

Stay tuned … this story appears to have eight nine lives.

Nadya Suleman, who was branded “Octomom” by the press after giving birth to octuplets in Jan. 2009 while on government assistance to help support her other six children (now 14 total), is in danger of losing her home La Habra, Calif., to foreclosure, according to TMZ.com.

Her father, Ed Doud, actually negotiated the deal for the 2,583-foot four-bedroom home in Orange County, Calif., for $564,900 about 12 months ago.

This was just after their family home in Whittier, Calif., was mentioned in a pending foreclosure case — Angela (Nadya’s mother) owed her lender $20,000 in arrears for late mortgage payments.

Now it appears that little more than a year later, the oversized family finds themselves in a similar predicament, owing a balloon payment of $450,000 to the note holder on the La Habra home.

Amer Haddadin, the seller of the home, indicated in the report that he intends to initiate foreclosure proceedings if Octomom and/or her father can’t come up with the outstanding payments.