Allen Iverson

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Image:AIverson.jpg

Position: Guard
College: Georgetown
NBA draft: 1996, 1st round,
1st overall,
Philadelphia 76ers
Pro career: 10th season
Hall of Fame: none
(still active)

Allen Ezail Iverson (born June 7 1975, in Hampton, Virginia), nicknamed A.I. and The Answer, is an American professional basketball player. He is an All-Star point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A ten-year veteran at the age of 30, he is considered by many to be among the greatest guards of his generation and one of the most prolific scorers in the history of the game.

In 2003, Iverson was ranked 53rd on SLAM Magazine's Top 75 NBA players of all time.

Contents

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Early years

In 1975, Allen Iverson was born on the Virginia Peninsula (where both Hampton and Newport News are located). While attending Bethel High School in Hampton, Iverson excelled at both football and basketball. As quarterback, he lead his team to the Virgina State Championship, but focused on basketball after high school. He received a scholarship to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he played for the Hoyas under college coach John Thompson.

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NBA career

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Impact on the 76ers

Image:AllenIverson2005.jpg Upon leaving Georgetown after his sophomore year, Allen Iverson was selected with the first overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and has led the team in scoring ever since. Iverson quickly established himself in the NBA by winning the Rookie of the Month award in November of his first season, and ending that season averaging 23.5 points per game (good for sixth in the NBA).

Iverson's talent almost immediately led to an increase in fan interest in Philadelphia and improved ticket sales at the Sixers' box office. Dubbed The Answer, Iverson had arguably his best season in 2001, leading the NBA in scoring, winning the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, and reaching the NBA Finals. Once there, and up against the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers, Iverson carried his team to a shocking overtime victory in the series opener in Los Angeles. The Sixers nearly upset the Lakers again in Game 2 before the Lakers managed to regroup and take the series in five games.

Iverson has led the NBA in scoring four times (1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, and 2004-05) and, in the process, has tied George Gervin for the third-most NBA scoring titles by one player. He only trails Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. On February 12 2005, Iverson scored a career-high 60 points against the Orlando Magic.

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Relationship with Larry Brown

For most of the early portion of Iverson's career, his head coach with the Sixers was Larry Brown. Iverson often praised Brown, saying that he would not have achieved so much in the sport without Brown's guidance. Iverson had a love-hate relationship with Brown, however, and the two frequently clashed, most famously after the 76ers were defeated in the first round of the 2002 NBA Playoffs. Brown criticized Iverson for missing team practices and Iverson defended himself with what would become a famous and oft-quoted monologue which some observers felt indicated a lack of appreciation by Iverson for the importance of practice.

I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're in here talking about practice. I mean listen, we're talking about practice. Not a game . . . We're talking about practice. Not a game . . . that I go out there and die for, and play every game like it's my last. Not the game. We're talking about practice, man. I mean, how silly is that? We're talking about practice. I know I'm supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example . . . I know it's important . . . I honestly do. But we're talking about practice, man. What are we talking about? Practice? We're talking about practice, man . . . We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We ain't talking about the game, we're talking about practice, man. When you come into the arena, and you see me play . . . you see me give everything I got, right? But we're talking about practice right now. We're talking about practice . . . We're not even talking about the game, the actual game, when it matters. We're talking about practice.
— Allen Iverson at a press conference on May 8, 2002

He said "practice" more times than he's actually practiced.
— Larry Brown speaking to reporters the next day
Nonetheless, when Brown left the 76ers in 2003, both he and Iverson indicated that the two were on good terms and genuinely fond of one another. Iverson later reunited with Brown when Iverson became a member and co-captain of the 2004 United States Olympic men's basketball team.
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2004 Olympics

Template:MedalTop Template:MedalSport Template:MedalBronze Template:MedalBottom However, the team's performance in at the Olympic Games would ultimately prove to be a disappointment. Iverson, along with teammate LeBron James, were benched during a game, when they were late to a practice session. The United States team had a dismal start against Germany who had failed to qualify for the Olympic competition. However Iverson kept the game from going into overtime with a miraculous half-court shot in the closing seconds.

Despite the dramatic win, however, the team would continue to struggle. They would ultimately claim a bronze medal, a very disappointing showing by the standards of United States basketball.

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Achievements

  • First Team: 1999, 2001, 2005
  • Second Team: 2000, 2002, 2003
  • 7-time NBA All-Star: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
  • 2-time NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2001, 2005
  • 4-time NBA regular-season leader, scoring average: 1999 (26.8), 2001 (31.1), 2002 (31.4), 2005 (30.7)
  • NBA regular-season leader, total points: 2005 (2302)
  • 3-time NBA regular-season leader, steals per game: 2001 (2.5), 2002 (2.8), 2003 (2.7)
  • 2-time NBA regular-season leader, total steals: 2003 (225), 2005 (180)
  • NBA regular-season leader, free throws made: 2005 (656)
  • NBA Rookie Of The Year: 1997
  • NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge MVP: 1997
  • Ranked #53 SLAM Magazine's Top 75 NBA players of all time in 2003.
  • One of only three players in NBA history to rank among the top five in points, steals, and assists per game average in a season (2005)
  • Shares NBA record for most seasons leading league in steals with 3 (2001, 2002, 2003).
  • Shares NBA record for most consecutive seasons leading league in steals at 3 (2001-03).


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Player profile

Iverson is a prolific scorer who has averaged 28.0 points per game in his career, trailing all-time leader Michael Jordan in this category by only 2.1 points per game. Iverson's trademark crossover dribble is regarded as one of the most effective moves in the game, making him difficult for a defender to contain in one-on-one play. Iverson is also known for his ability to draw fouls, at times seeming to get the free-throw line almost at will. He is regularly one of the NBA's leaders in free throws attempted.[1]

On defense, Iverson is also an ept ball-thief. He again regularly ranks among the league leaders in that category.

Critics point out that neither Iverson's career shooting percentage (.421) nor assist average (6.1 per game) are very remarkable. They also frequently accuse Iverson being a ball hog: as of April 2006, he has taken ~15,800 shots in just under 700 games, averaging over 23 per game.

Desite this criticsms, however, as of 2006, Iverson is still generally regarded as one of the best point guards in the game, as evidenced by Iverson's being named the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference in the NBA All-Star Game for the past seven consecutive seasons. He and Kobe Bryant are arguably the only two current NBA guards widely regarded as "franchise" players.

Iverson is considered certain to be an inductee in to the Hall of Fame after his retirement.

Reference: [2]

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Controversy

Image:Jewelz ivyalbum.jpg

Iverson has often been a controversial figure, dating back to his teenage years, including some troubles with the law.

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1993

A highly publicized incident that almost jeopardized his college career involved in a racially-charged fight at a Hampton, Virginia bowling alley. On February 14 1993, Iverson and several of his friends were provoked by racial slurs into an altercation with a group of white teenagers. During the fight, Iverson was accused of attacking a woman and hitting her in the head with a chair. He, along with three of his friends, also black, were the only ones arrested in the incident. Iverson, 17 years of age at the time, was convicted as an adult of the felony charge of "maiming-by-mob" and received a 15-year prison sentence (10 years suspended).

This incident was profiled on the television newsmagazine 60 Minutes due to evidence of racially charged justice. L. Douglas Wilder, at the time Governor of Virginia, became convinced that Iverson had been treated unfairly and controversially granted Iverson clemency, releasing him from his sentence. Iverson's conviction was later overturned on appeal.

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1997

Iverson was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and for possession of marijuana. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to community service.

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2002

Iverson allegedy threw his wife Tawanna out of the mansion during a fight. The following night, an enraged Iverson later went looking for his wife at his cousin's apartment. According to the police report, Iverson repeatedly threatened to kill his cousin Charles Jones and Jones's roommate while showing them a semiautomatic gun. Iverson was arrested and charged with 14 different counts. All charges were ultimately dropped after the witnesses refused to testify. The charges have since been shown to have been fabricated. Template:Fact

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2004

During the latter half of the 2003-2004 season, Iverson bristled under the disciplinarian approach of the Sixers' new head coach Chris Ford. This led to a number of contentious incidents, including Iverson being suspended for missing practice, fined for failing to notify Ford that Iverson would not attend a game because he was sick, and refusing to play in game because he felt "insulted" that Ford wanted Iverson to come off the bench as he worked his way back from an injury.[3]

On February 24th, 2004 Iverson, a noted regular casino patron, was spotted at Bally's Park Place in Atlantic City urinating in a trash can in full view of staff and patrons. He was told by casino management not to return.[4]

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2005

On December 9, 2005 after the Sixers defeated the Charlotte Bobcats, Iverson paid a late-night visit to the Trump Taj Mahal. After winning a hand at a three-card-stud poker table, Iverson was overpaid $10,000 in chips by a dealer. When the dealer quickly realized the mistake and requested the chips back, Iverson refused and a heated head-turning argument between him and casino staff began. Atlantic City casino regulations reportedly state that when a casino makes a payout mistake in favor of the gambler, he or she must return the money that they did not legitimately win by playing.[5]

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Rap music

Iverson recorded a rap album named 40 Bars. However, after being criticized for its controversial lyrics, he eventually was unable to release it.

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Punk'd

Iverson was initially denied entry to his own 30th birthday party held at the Garden of Eden Club in Los Angeles, California, by a bouncer, who told him that he couldn't enter because one of the President's daughters and the Secret Service were inside the club. According to some, Iverson reacted "true to his expletive-filled on-court persona" by becoming belligerent and shouting "I didn't vote for him!" When he was "Punk'd" by Ashton Kutcher, Iverson laughed it off, then successfully played the same prank on another guest, this time keeping Indiana Pacers' forward-center Jermaine O'Neal out of the party because O'Neal did not bring any girls. Iverson's wife, Tawanna, who also attended that party, was later "Punk'd" by Kutcher.

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NBA dress code

In 2005, NBA commissioner David Stern banned what critics and supporters call "hip-hop culture"-related attire such as Mitchell & Ness throwback jerseys, baggy jeans, crooked baseball caps, knee-length t-shirts, large items of jewelry, and Timberland boots. Punishment for violations would include fines and possible suspensions for repeat violations.

Iverson harshly criticized Stern's dress code, saying that it "would not change a person's character regardless of what type of clothing they wore", and that "associating hip-hop styles of dress with violent crime, drugs, or a bad image is racist." Iverson also said that, "the advertising of many prominent NBA sponsors, such as Nike, Reebok, Puma and adidas were heavily influenced by hip-hop culture."

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Trivia

  • Married to Tawanna Iverson for 6 years.
  • Has 4 children with Tawanna: Tiaura (b. 1995); Allen II (b. 1998); Isaiah Rahsaan (b. August 8, 2003); and Messiah Lauren (b. August 16, 2005).
  • Iverson served as Team USA co-captain at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, and led the team in scoring (13.8 ppg).
  • On February 19 2004, against Seattle, scored 40 points in a game for the 50th time in his career.
  • He was named an Eastern Conference All-Star starter in 2005 for the 6th year in a row (2000-05).
  • Iverson was the 10th fastest player to reach 14,000 points on January 23, 2004.
  • He averaged 14.3 points and 3.8 assists per game helping USA Basketball Men's Senior National team qualify for the 2004 Olympics.
  • He was named the 2000-01 NBA Most Valuable Player, leading the league in scoring (31.1 ppg) and steals (2.51 spg).
  • He received the sole first place vote that did not go to Shaquille O'Neal for the 1999-2000 NBA Most Valuable Player (the vote came from Fred Hickman.)
  • He set the Sixers all-time rookie record with 1,787 points.
  • He scored 40 points in five straight games in April 1997 to set an NBA rookie record.
  • Iverson was named NBA Rookie of the Month for November, 1997, leading all rookies in scoring (21.8 ppg), assists (6.4 apg) and steals (2.67 spg).
  • NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Brendan Gaughan was Iverson's college basketball teammate at Georgetown, and is considered one of Iverson's close friends.
  • As a junior, Iverson quarterbacked Bethel High School's football team to the state championship title.
  • His favorite song is "Unbelievable" by Notorious B.I.G.
  • His favorite movie is "The Color Purple".
  • He enjoys drawing in his spare time.
  • Wears tights (leggings) along with many other NBA players including Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant.
  • Wears a compression sleeve on his right arm during games to keep his shooting arm warm.
  • His favorite actor is Al Pacino
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See also

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External links

Preceded by:
Shaquille O'Neal 		2000-01
NBA Most Valuable Player Award 		Succeeded by:
Tim Duncan
da:Allen Iverson

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