Allen Ezail Iverson AKA The Answer

[Oliver P]

As you all know Allen Iverson, also known as “Da Answer” decided to leave the NBA and sign in Turkey this year, which probably means the end of his fantastic NBA career. As he is one of my favorite players ever, and one of the most talented players of the history of the game, I decided to honor him with this thread. Personally I am glad that I have been able to watch his whole career, full of ups and downs right but still a great career. Despite what a lot of people may think of him he was a unique player and even if we cannot bypass his bad side, I hope that people will remember him more for the great things that he brought to the game.

 

Allen Ezail Iverson was born in June 7, 1975 in Hampton, Virginia. A few times after his birth his mother decided to move in her grandparents' house which was on... Jordan street. A sign ?

Anyhow it is not a secret for anyone Allen Iverson had a tough childhood. He grew up without a father and was the only man of the family, surrounded by his mother and sisters. At the age of 12 he had to take care of his family. When he mother was not here he was in charge. He was already a reponsible man, already very mature.

Sport was for him a way to escape, a way to forget about his everyday life. A way to become someone. At first Iverson was not interested by basketball. He was first a baseball and especially football player. As a matter of fact his mother was the one who got him to play basketball. As Iverson said himself, once he got back from school and his mother just told him “you have to go to basketball practice”. Iverson did not want to play basketball. Basketball was a girl sport for him. So her mother just talked about it to his coach and they forced him to play basketball. Iverson said that he did not want to play this sport so much that he was even crying for his first day of practice. But it did not take him long to like this sport.

Iverson immediately showed that he had great skill for basketball. At the age of ten he was already playing against people who were older than him. He was doing things that ten years old are not supposed to do. It was obvious that this kid was to become something. His coach said that at the time he even said that he could “beat” Michael Jordan. That he said that in a way that it was impossible not to take him seriously that he really meant that. That says a lot about how confident Iverson is and was already at that age about his game.

Later Iverson went to the Bethel High School. He was at the same time the star of both his football and basketball team. As a quaterback he led his football team to the state championship in 1993. As a point guard he led his basketball team to the state championship as well, that same year. He was elected both high school football of the year and basketball player of the year. Which tells us how amazing an athlete he already was at the time. See for yourself what he could do at the time first as a football player :

 

 

Then as a basketball player :

 

 

It was obvious that he would become a great player. In fact he could have become a great football player as well. Fortunately for us, basketball fans, he picked our sport !

 

Unfortunately for him problems occurred just after those two championships. As a matter of fact on February 14, 1993, Iverson and several of his friends became involved in an altercation with a group of white teenagers at the Circle Lanes bowling alley in Hampton, Virginia. Iverson's crowd was raucous and had to be asked to quiet down several times, and eventually a shouting duel began with another group of youths. Shortly thereafter, a huge fight erupted, pitting the white crowd against the blacks. During the fight, Iverson allegedly struck a woman in the head with a chair. He, along with three of his friends who are also African-American, were the only people arrested. Iverson, who was 17 at the time, was convicted as an adult of the felony charge of maiming by mob, a rarely used Virginia statute that was designed to combat lynching. Iverson and his supporters maintained his innocence, claiming that he left the alley as soon as the trouble began. Iverson said, "For me to be in a bowling alley where everybody in the whole place know who I am and be crackin' people upside the head with chairs and think nothin' gonna happen? That's crazy! And what kind of a man would I be to hit a girl in the head with a damn chair? I rather have 'em say I hit a man with a chair, not no damn woman."

After Iverson spent four months at Newport News City Farm, a correctional facility in Newport News, Virginia, he was granted clemency by Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder, and the Virginia Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in 1995 for insufficient evidence.

 

This incident hurt Iverson's reputation deeply. When Iverson got out of jail he was now considered as a punk, no college wanted to choose him. Worried about her son's future his mother went to see the legendary coach of Georgetown, John Thompson. At first Thompson was not interested by Iverson, he was worried about his reputation. But his mother really wanted him to give his son a chance sh even cried in his office. So coach Thompson accepted to meet Iverson. He was impressed by his maturity and intelligence and decided to give him a chance. He never regretted it.

Iverson has always said that he considered Thompson as more than a coach, he was like a second father to him.

At Georgetown, Iverson won two Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards, All Rookie Tournament 1st Team, and a gold medal for his win at the World University Games in Japan in 1995. Iverson led all USA players in scoring and assists, averaging 16.7 points per game and 6.1 assists per game. He ended his college career as the Hoyas' all-time leader in career scoring average, at 23.0 ppg.

Iverson was the first of just two basketball players, Victor Page being the other, to leave Georgetown early for the NBA under Thompson.

Here is a video of some of his best plays as a Hoyas :

 

 

And so after two seasons in Georgetown Iverson decided to go to the 1996 NBA draft. When the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers got the number 1 choice of the draft the Sixers general manager, Pat Croce, seemed rather over excited at the time. He explained later that it was because he knew that if he got the first choice he would pick Allen Iverson. Usually teams prefer to use the first pick to take a big man, so the choice of the 6'0 All Iverson could seem weird. But he was sure that Iverson was the best player a team could get among all these young guys. He was so right...

In his first game in the big league Iverson immediately showed who he was with 30 pts and 6 asts. Wow ! I guess you can call that a great beginning. His rookie season was fantastic he immediately became the Sixers' leading scorer with 23,5 pts per game. He even scored at least 40 pts 5 games in a row (!) breaking a record held by Wilt Chamberlain for 37 years.

 

No need to say that Iverson was named rookie of the year. But despite his incredible performances not everyone was found of him. As a matter of fact he was still a controversial figure. Many people still considered him as a bad boy. The fact that he refused to carry the older's players bags was considered as an injured for a lot of people. Especially Charles Barkley who said that during his rookie season he carried Julius Erving's bags and that it was a normal thing to do. Plus he was considered a selfish player. Barkley again used to call him “me, myself and Iverson”. This is not necessary false. As a matter of fact despite his incredible performances Iverson was not able to make his team wins. With Iverson Phila won 22 games, only 4 more than the 95/96 season. Plus Iverson even offended Michael Jordan, saying all the time that he was not afraid of him that he could beat him. And he actually did so once with a killer crossover that none of us who were watching basketball at the time could forget. That was amazing. But the fact is that what he said offended Jordan. And when Jordan is offended, America is offended. Iverson once said that 1 million people loved him and 1 million people hated him. This was definitely true at the time.

 

Next year the Sixers decided to fire coach Johnny Davis and to replace him with Larry Brown. Iverson and Larry Brown in the same team. Two people who had nothing in common at all. How could that work ? And the two frequently clashed indeed...

Larry Brown likes true point guards. Iverson is not the type of point guards he likes at all, Iverson was a scoring point guard. That is why it seemed odd for Iverson to have a coach like Larry Brown. Plus Iverson never really liked practices and did not hesitate to miss some of them, Brown could not stand that. Their first season together was not really a success, even if the Sixers won 31 games, 9 more than the 96/97 season.

 

At the beginning of the 98/99 season (the lock out season), Larry Brown decided to use Iverson as a shooting guard. In Brown's mind Allen was in no way a point guard (he was right), but a lot of people doubted that a 6'0 player could play SG. Many people thought that the Sixers would have a lot of problem with a SG that small. Larry answered by saying that it would be a problem alright but a problem for the opponents. He could not be more right. Iverson scored like crazy that year he became the league's leading scorer, the first time ever a NBA leading scorer was that small !!

The Sixers won more than half of their game for the first time since the 90/91 season with 28 wins (22 losses), and Iverson went to the playoffs for the first time.

In the first round the Sixers beat the Magic 3-0. In the first game in Philadelphia (game 3) Iverson broke a playoffs record with 10 steals in one game.

And in game 4 – still in Phila – Iverson led his team to the win with 37 pts.

 

After this amazing series for Philadelphia, the Sixers played against Indiana in the second round. Iverson and the Sixers were less successful in this series, they lost 4-0 against a very good Pacers team.

 

In 99/2000 the Sixers had a very good year as well, they won 49 games and if Iverson was not the league leading scorer he still scored 28,4 ppg and went to the All Star game for the first time. He was now officially a true NBA star.

The Sixers went to the playoffs again and beat the Hornets (3-1) in the first round. But they failed against the Pacers another time during the semis (4-2).

That season, he was the only player other than Shaquille O'Neal to receive a NBA Most Valuable Player vote, and he was named to his first All NBA first team.

 

During the summer of 2000 things were worse than ever between Iverson and his coach, Brown was really tired of Iverson's behavior. It seemed impossible now that Iverson would still be a Sixer the following year. As a matter of fact the Sixers decided to trade him to Detroit during that summer. And the only reason why Iverson did not become a Pistons in the 2000/01 season was because Geiger, who was to be traded with him, refused the trade. If Geiger had accepted the trade, it would have occurred. Iverson took it hard. Leaving Phila was the only thing he did not want. And so during that same summer Iverson went to see his coach and just told him : “I can change. Give me another chance”. Larry Brown accepted. He even decided to name Iverson as the captain of the team. This year was truly AI's last chance.

And Iverson immediately showed the world how motivated he was. He led the Sixers to win their first ten games of the season. It was sure that the Sixers would be dangerous that year. At the All Star break the Sixers were leading the East and so Larry Brown was the coach of the Eastern team while Iverson was elected in the starting lineup. Before the game the East did not stand a chance in everybody's mind cause if the best wing players like Carter, Iverson, McGrady, Allen, Spree were in the East the best big men in the league were all in the West. O'Neal was injured but how could a team with Garnett, Webber, Duncan, Sheed, Dice, Malone, Robinson could lose ? Especially cause they also got terrific wing players like Bryant or Kidd.. No one thought that the East even stood a chance.

And so the West led by 19 at the beginning of the fourth. It seemed that everybody was right. But people forget that when someone like Iverson is in your team everything is possible. And Iverson who does not stand to lose convinced his teammates that the game was not over yet, that they had to fight ! And so they did. Iverson was on fire in that quarter no one could stop him he got his team back in the game and with the help of two three pointers by Marbury at the very end of the game made them won the fourth 41-21 for a 111-110 victory ! Iverson was of course elected MVP of the game. This 2001 NBA All Star Game in Washington D.C. is definitely one of the best All Star Games ever. Unbelievable game...

 

During the game Brown observed that Iverson and Mutombo were playing great together and so he decided to trade Kukoc and Ratliff for Deke. Ratliff was injured anyway and the Sixers had a problem inside. Problem solved with the arrival of one of the best defensive centers ever.

The Sixers ended the season with 56 wins as the best team in the East. Iverson was named regular season MVP for the first and only time in his career and no need to say that he deserved it.

The playoffs could now begin. In the first round the Sixers had to play again against the Pacers. But this time they were the better team and quickly got rid of them, 3-1.

 

In the second round the Sixers played against Carter's Raptors. Great series. The Sixers won 4-3 and Iverson went to the ECF for the first time of his career. But he was literally exhausted, he gave all he got against Toronto. Would he be capable of leading his team to the win against the Bucks ?

 

Iverson still had enough energy to make his team win in the first game but in the second one he was way too tired he had a terrible game and the Bucks tied the series. Iverson had so many injuries that he was unable to play in game 3. And despite a brave performance by the Sixers the Bucks won that game as well. Iverson got back in game 4 and led his team to the win to tie the series. In game 5 Iverson was terrible but the brave Sixers still managed to get a 1 point victory to lead the series.

In game 6 Iverson was unbelievable again but Ray Allen was too strong for the Sixers and the Bucks tied the series.

Then came game 7 time. Iverson scored 44 points and led his team to the win, they literally destroyed the Bucks in that game (108-91).

 

And so this unbelievable Sixers team went to the finals against the Lakers. No one was believing in them at the beginning of the season and they proved how much HEART they got. The funny thing is that at the beginning of the 99/00 season Bowen (who was a Sixers then) said that the Sixers had a chance to go to the finals. Everybody laughed at him. Well he was wrong as the Sixers did not make it to the finals that year, but he was not that wrong as the Sixers went to the finals the following year...

So it was time for the Sixers to play against the mighty Lakers who had destroyed everyone in the West, considered as the best conference and by far. As a matter of fact they didn't lose one game that year until the finals. And so once again no one believed in the Sixers.

Everyone thought that the Lakers would destroy the Sixers in game 1 in Los Angeles especially that the Sixers were exhausted and injured. Plus O'Neal was motivated cause he was tired of hearing everyone talking about the Sixers' heart, he claimed “the Lakers have heart too !!”.

Once again the Sixers surpried everyone and Iverson scored 48 pts and led his team to the win in this first game of the finals in L.A.

 

The Sixers immediately showed that they were here to win and that they would make everything they can to do so.

But as great as the Sixers played, as great as those finals were, the Lakers were indeed too strong. They won the 4 other games in a row and got their 2nd ring. Well deserved. But the Sixers showed the world how great they were during those finals, they never EVER gave up, and the Lakers had a lot of trouble to win EVERY game. Well the games 4 and 5 were more tough for the Sixers though cause that is right that the Sixers were too tired and too injured. They just could not win those finals but the world knew now who they truly were. And Iverson was definitely now a true NBA superstar. This season was definitely a turn now most people loved Iverson it was now clear that Iverson would one day lead his team to a ring, that he would become a great champion. Unfortunately things do not always happen as expected...

 

Yes Iverson had a terrific season, yes he was now considered as a top player of this league, definitely in the top three. But this 2001 season will remain as his best season ever, he was never able to do better than that. He still had some great seasons with the Sixers, some unbelievable seasons, but was never able to lead his team to the finals again. Is he the only one to blame for that ? Certainly not the Sixers never gave him the teammates he was supposed to have. And as talented as you are, you cannot win by yourself. Things got worse and worse for the Sixers. Iverson and Brown kept on clashing until Brown eventually left in 2003. Iverson will remain in Phila for three years after Brown left but was able to lead his team to the playoffs only once. In 2005 and the team got destroyed in the first round by Larry Brown's Pistons...

 

During the 2006/07 season Iverson got traded to Denver. He played quite well with Carmelo they went to the playoffs twice together. But got destroyed first by the Spurs then by the Lakers in the first round.

After that he got traded to Detroit at the very beginning of the 08/09 season and had his worst season ever. While Billups made Denver better, Iverson got Detroit worse. There again he is not the only one to blame for that. Dumars made him come in Detroit but the Pistons never were able to make him play. They did not know how to play with him. So what is the use of signing him ? The Pistons sure are as much to blame as Iverson.

Well anyway Iverson signed in Memphis in the summer of 2009 and it just did not work. After that Iverson wanted to become a Knicks but New York did not want him. Then he signed with the Sixers, his former team, and on February 22, 2010, Iverson left the 76ers indefinitely, citing the need to attend to his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah's health issues. His NBA career was not supposed to end that way...

 

But anyhow his career did end that way indeed that is sad but I think that we should forget about that. We should rather focus on all the great things that Iverson brought to the game. On how boring NBA basketball would have been this decade without him. He is one of the most talented and exciting player in the history of the game. The 2001 NBA finals are in my opinion the best we had this last decade, even if there were only five games (that is only my opinon though) and it is first because of him. I sincerely hope that he will change his mind and come back to the big league one of these days, even if it is quite unlikely. He is not done, he can still bring a lot to the game. And he definitely still can become a champion. I definitely hope that he will change his mind indeed... But if he does not well just think about all what he gave us, just think about what a great player he was, and of how lucky we were to see such a great athlete play.

 

Yeah let us enjoy this fantastic player one more time :

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_RZE9KgtB4

 

And this is my favorite Iverson play ever :

 

 

Wow I am sure Antonio Daniels never forgot that one !!!

 

 

Thanks you Mr Iverson, thank you for all the great things you have done for us. We basketball fans will sure miss you !!!

 

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u86/tumh2007/allen_iverson.jpg

 

http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab116/jimstar12345/JX4OACA1XA93TCAFHAFYHCASI9LC8CACJHB.jpg

[Hawks Fly High]

I feel like i have read this somewhere else. You didnt write this right? Oh and correct his name in the title. Its *Iverson

[Big Penny]

great post

[Oliver P]

I feel like i have read this somewhere else. You didnt write this right? Oh and correct his name in the title. Its *Iverson

 

I actually wrote all of this by myself. It ain't my style to steal other people's posts dude...

 

And yeah I know there's an "s" in his name, thank you very much, it was just a typo... Pretty obvious as I wrote his name the right way many times in my post anyway.

 

I would love to correct it but I dunno how to do so, maybe a mod can do it... But it ain't a big deal to me anyhow.

 

 

great post

 

Thanks man.

[Hawks Fly High]

I actually wrote all of this by myself. It ain't my style to steal other people's posts dude...

 

And yeah I know there's an "s" in his name, thank you very much, it was just a typo... Pretty obvious as I wrote his name the right way many times in my post anyway.

 

I would love to correct it but I dunno how to do so, maybe a mod can do it... But it ain't a big deal to me anyhow.

 

 

 

 

Thanks man.

hahaha yeah. I just felt like I read something very similar, my bad dude. I justr wanted to point out the typo for you to correct not to poke any fun or anything

[Oliver P]

hahaha yeah. I just felt like I read something very similar, my bad dude. I justr wanted to point out the typo for you to correct not to poke any fun or anything

 

No problemo man we're cool.

[Dash]

I only read from his MVP season to departure but wow amazing job. Iverson will always be one of my favorite players and I'm so thankful to him for bringing excitement to a rather dull era (late 90's to early-mid 00's). I was pretty young back (middle school-ish) then but I will never forget being glued to the tv whenever the Sixers played on those ABC Sunday games.

[headliner]

It was an excellent read

[Oliver P]

Thanks for the kind comments guys, I'm glad that some people liked it.