Allen Iverson has not played a professional game of basketball since January 2011, he has not played in the NBA since February of 2010 and as of October 30, 2013 he has announced he will play no more. Thinking about the career of Allen Iverson chokes me up. Never was there a player with more heart, more creativity, more passion, more love for the game yet was so maligned for his actions both on and off the court. He truly may be the most polarizing figure in the history of the league. With honors including; 1997 Rookie Of The Year, 2001 MVP, four time NBA scoring champion (1999, 2001, 2002, 2005), 11 time all-star (2000-2010), three time all NBA first team (1999, 2001, 2005), three time all NBA second team (2000, 2002, 2003), all NBA third team in 2006, ranking 24th on the NBA's all time scoring leaders list and on and on. Much is made about Iverson's size, listed at 6' and 165 lbs, he is the smallest scoring champ ever due in part to his fearless style of play that bordered unsafe.
Iverson was raised in Hampton, Virginia by his 15 year old single mother, sports as his refuge and seen as his only way out of an impoverished upbringing. In and out of trouble throughout his youth Iverson was sentenced to fifteen years in jail, 10 suspended, for his alleged involvement in a racially charged bowling alley brawl at the age of seventeen. While serving his time in prison during what would be his senior year of high school an agreement was reached with an alternative school for troubled youths for Allen to receive tutoring that would allow him to complete his high school coursework on time in hopes he could be eligible for college. The schooling was expensive and Iverson's supporters chipping in to foot the bill included; Spike Lee, Bill Cosby, and NBA great Michael Jordan. After four months in prison Allen was granted clemency by Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder due to insufficient evidence in the case. Although he was free, Iverson had missed his final year in high school to showcase his talent for college recruiters. Coach John Thompson at Georgetown University was convinced enough of his first three years of high school basketball to take a chance on Iverson.
Iverson's road to the NBA was lined with hardships and controversy but in 1996, in one of the last great drafts, he was chosen first overall by Philadelphia in what went on to be one of the most loving and simultaneously tumultuous relationships in sports. He took the team through some of the great playoff duels of the time, facing off against his peers and elders, time and again proving his lone dominance of a generation that could only look on in awe. Through all of his successes Iverson was constantly seen by league officials, fans of the old school and league veterans as an errant problem child, disrespectful, cocky, a symbol of the hip-hop culture etc. All of those things were true though and it was a new thing the NBA would have to learn to address. With a new wave of players coming into the league, raised just as Iverson had been, he was not simply a lone rogue antagonist looking to stir up trouble he was the first of a generation, ushering in a cultural revolution that would change the league's landscape over the next ten years.
Infractions placed on Iverson include things such as his ankle brace covering up too much of his sock, his shorts being too baggy, what he wore to press conferences, comments on offciating, engaging fans, etc. Iverson was the first to sport corn-rows in the NBA and he is seen as the instigator for the NBA's current dress code. It is safe to say that despite Iverson attracting millions of fans and personifying an image that many fans identified with, more so than with Karl Malone or Michael Jordan, he made David Stern and the rest of the league's front office very uncomfortable. But Iverson was real, he did not pose for the media and he did not put a facade on the bad. He was a result of the disenfranchised and it always seemed that if David Stern had had his way Iverson would've stayed disenfranchised, and in a way he would.
During the first half of the 2006-2007 season, in which Allen was second in the league in scoring, the 76ers would trade Iverson to the Denver Nuggets starting what would become the journeyman and most troubled stage of Iverson's career. Almost two years later Iverson would again be traded to the Pistons, where he would eventually lose his starting role to Rodney Stuckey. Coach Michael Curry had similar issues with stars Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace and discontent was spread throughout the team causing Curry to be fired at the close of the Pistons' 2008-2009 campaign. Iverson was traded to Memphis where he played only three games before his position on the bench again became a point of frustration and his contract was terminated. Iverson was given his last chance in the NBA from Philadelphia, the team that brought him in. He was offered a non guaranteed one year contract and played 25 games for the squad through back injuries and eventually leaving the team indefinitely to be with his family through his daughter's on going health concern. The team would later announce he would not return that season, thus ending the contract.
A year and a half later, in the months leading up to the lockout shortened NBA season, Iverson came out saying he wanted one last shot to play for an NBA team in any capacity, that he was mentally in a good place. While his numbers in his final seasons; 76ers (13.9 ppg, 4.1 apg, with a defensive rating of 114) three games with Memphis (12.3 ppg, 3.7 apg, defensive rating of 116) and Pistons (13.8 ppg, 4 apg, defensive rating 114) were not all star level (Steve Nash had similar defensive ratings of 114 in 09-10 and 115 in 08-09) I find it hard to believe that no team in the league could have benefitted from having Iverson on their roster over some of the other point guards in the league. Sure he had his off the court issues but he never let it mar his performance on court until it came to his daughter's health. The league and the media let Allen's persona become more important to them than what he had to offer on the court which is the ultimate tragedy of his career, as all he wanted was for him and his legacy to be defined by what he produced on the court playing the game he lived for. He was the greatest little man to ever play, one of the most creative and prolific scorers in the history of the game period, and one of the most loyal, ambitious, hungry, exciting, and heartfelt players to lace up and it would seem that his impact on the game will largely be remembered as a cultural one. The attitude that defined a generation searching for the next hero in the Michael Jordan vacuum. Not by choice but because we hoisted it upon him, only to cast him into exile when he refused to be defined by our cultural expectations and subsequent dismissal of him, to be better than the expectations we set for him.
With news of Iverson declaring bankruptcy and suffering through divorce and other personal issues that have been laid open for the world to see, I really hope that Iverson finds solace. Cast out of basketball, he moves onto a new stage in life hopefully one that is kinder. A lot of people may see his time in the league as a dark period, plagued by big contracts, "me first" play, baggy shorts, tattoos and whatever else, but the league wouldn't be where it is today without Iverson and I for one am grateful to have grown up with him in the game. Thank you Allen, forever.
During the first half of the 2006-2007 season, in which Allen was second in the league in scoring, the 76ers would trade Iverson to the Denver Nuggets starting what would become the journeyman and most troubled stage of Iverson's career. Almost two years later Iverson would again be traded to the Pistons, where he would eventually lose his starting role to Rodney Stuckey. Coach Michael Curry had similar issues with stars Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace and discontent was spread throughout the team causing Curry to be fired at the close of the Pistons' 2008-2009 campaign. Iverson was traded to Memphis where he played only three games before his position on the bench again became a point of frustration and his contract was terminated. Iverson was given his last chance in the NBA from Philadelphia, the team that brought him in. He was offered a non guaranteed one year contract and played 25 games for the squad through back injuries and eventually leaving the team indefinitely to be with his family through his daughter's on going health concern. The team would later announce he would not return that season, thus ending the contract.
A year and a half later, in the months leading up to the lockout shortened NBA season, Iverson came out saying he wanted one last shot to play for an NBA team in any capacity, that he was mentally in a good place. While his numbers in his final seasons; 76ers (13.9 ppg, 4.1 apg, with a defensive rating of 114) three games with Memphis (12.3 ppg, 3.7 apg, defensive rating of 116) and Pistons (13.8 ppg, 4 apg, defensive rating 114) were not all star level (Steve Nash had similar defensive ratings of 114 in 09-10 and 115 in 08-09) I find it hard to believe that no team in the league could have benefitted from having Iverson on their roster over some of the other point guards in the league. Sure he had his off the court issues but he never let it mar his performance on court until it came to his daughter's health. The league and the media let Allen's persona become more important to them than what he had to offer on the court which is the ultimate tragedy of his career, as all he wanted was for him and his legacy to be defined by what he produced on the court playing the game he lived for. He was the greatest little man to ever play, one of the most creative and prolific scorers in the history of the game period, and one of the most loyal, ambitious, hungry, exciting, and heartfelt players to lace up and it would seem that his impact on the game will largely be remembered as a cultural one. The attitude that defined a generation searching for the next hero in the Michael Jordan vacuum. Not by choice but because we hoisted it upon him, only to cast him into exile when he refused to be defined by our cultural expectations and subsequent dismissal of him, to be better than the expectations we set for him.
With news of Iverson declaring bankruptcy and suffering through divorce and other personal issues that have been laid open for the world to see, I really hope that Iverson finds solace. Cast out of basketball, he moves onto a new stage in life hopefully one that is kinder. A lot of people may see his time in the league as a dark period, plagued by big contracts, "me first" play, baggy shorts, tattoos and whatever else, but the league wouldn't be where it is today without Iverson and I for one am grateful to have grown up with him in the game. Thank you Allen, forever.
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