Part of the allure of Allen Iverson, and the reason the diminutive, dynamic guard became such a cult figure among NBA fans, the complex package he came in.
There’s nothing simple about Iverson, who was feted by the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday night, having his No. 3 raised to the rafters of Wells Fargo Center in front of a sellout crowd and a large group of former teammates and Sixers legends, including Julius Erving and Moses Malone.
That goes all the way down to the most basic thing that defines a player: what position he played. Was Iverson a point guard, as his size (6 feet) and the fact he always had the ball in his hands would leave you do believe? Or did the four-time scoring champion, who retired with a 26.6 scoring average – seventh all-time and fourth behind Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kevin Durant since the NBA/ABA merger – spend his entire career as a shooting guard?
Try throwing that question out at a bar or a party or on Twitter, and see what the response is. The only guarantee is there will be passionate arguments on both sides of the debate, which is maybe the best way to describe Iverson’s Hall of Fame career.
Whether or not you were a fan of the Sixers, it was impossible not to root for Iverson. Listed at 6-feet and 165 pounds – and that was generous – Iverson was guarded by players who were often six or seven inches taller and 40-50 pounds heavier, at least.
But that didn’t stop him from careening into the lane time and again, averaging a ridiculous nine trips to the foul line per game over his career and leading the league in minutes six different times. He played more than 40 minutes a game in 11 of the first 12 years of his career, including almost 44 in 2001-02. Whenever you watched Iverson play, there was little doubt he was going to give every ounce of himself to win every game, which is why he resonated so deeply with fans in Philadelphia and around the country.
With moves like his famed crossover of Michael Jordan during his rookie season, Iverson was a flashy, attention-grabbing player who could excite fans in way few players ever have before or since, and virtually none have at his size and stature.
If that was where you stopped when talking about Iverson, though, you would be missing a large part of the story. He was famously difficult to deal with.
He proved it most famously with his oft-quoted “practice” rant and his many run-ins with Sixers coach Larry Brown. Philadelphia nearly dealt Iverson to Detroit in a complicated three-team deal in 2000 that fell through when little-used center Matt Geiger, of all people, refused to rework a trade kicker in his contract.
But, in typical Iverson fashion, he then turned in arguably the best season of his career that next year in Philadelphia, winning the NBA and All-Star Game MVP trophies in 2001 and leading the Sixers to the NBA Finals. They won Game 1 behind 48 points from Iverson to hand the juggernaut Lakers what turned out to be their only loss of the postseason.
Still, that inability or refusal to conform in any way hindered Iverson as his career wore on. With his innate scoring ability, he should’ve been able to segue into a second half of his career as a dynamic sixth man – a better version of the kind of player Jason Terry was for years in Dallas. But Iverson never was able to make that kind of transition. He was traded twice in three years, then his career ended abruptly after 14 seasons when he still had more to give as a veteran scoring presence off the bench.
But that same unwillingness to bend helped make him an iconic figure. He was a different kind of star than guys like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson who came before him. He was cocky, he was brash, and he dressed and acted like it. That may have turned off some elements of Madison Avenue, but it made him a hero to a whole generation of fans who flocked to buy his Reebok sneakers and tried to imitate his moves on the playground, wearing arm sleeves and headbands to mimic his look.
One such person is John Wall, whose Wizards played the Sixers last Saturday night and who showed his respect for Iverson by posing for a photograph in front of his banner after the game. Several other NBA stars, including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, who was Iverson’s teammate in Denver, sent out similar messages of congratulations Saturday night, thanking Iverson for being an inspiration.
That respect from his peers is also part of the complicated legacy Iverson leaves behind both on and off the court. He got his proper celebration in Philadelphia Saturday night, one that almost certainly will be followed by an induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame next summer in his first year of eligibility.
Perhaps no better explanation of Iverson’s complicated history exists than this one from The Answer himself, which he gave during his acceptance speech Saturday night as he thanked the fans for supporting him.
“I love you Philadelphia,” Iverson said. “I love you all for accepting me, and letting me be me, letting me make my mistakes, letting me be human, letting me learn from them, and just embracing me and making this my home forever.”
Now, with his number hanging from the rafters in Philadelphia, there’s no disputing that.
Silver has golden touch with fans
If you haven’t already figured out that Adam Silver is going to be a different kind of NBA Commissioner than David Stern, this anecdote should bring you around.
Silver stopped to greet a couple of reporters inside Barclays Center before Wednesday’s game between the Nets and Grizzlies. As the conversation progressed, a couple of younger fans came over and interrupted.
“Mr. Silver,” they ask, “how about a selfie?”
“Sure,” Silver says, turning around to take a picture with them, then returning to the conversation.
Fans didn’t get to see a lot of those personal moment from Stern, who simply had a different approach to the job. It’s hard to argue with the way Stern went about his business given the amount of success he had over his 30-year run.
But Silver has been open about a number of different things already – mostly about the need for transparency in how the league operates – and has already set about trying to make that happen. He’s also gone on a bit of a media tour, including making a stop at the Sloan Conference last weekend in Boston, where he had a lengthy one-on-one interview with author Malcolm Gladwell.
Silver has said he will consider changes to the draft lottery, and has made it clear he would like to raise the age limit for players eligible to enter the draft. But, more than anything, Silver has shown a willingness to look at things differently, and a willingness to consider making changes – both of which are positives.
Is anybody here a playoff team?
Nothing has symbolized the weakness of the Eastern Conference better than the depressing “fight” that’s developing for the eighth seed.
The current No. 8 Hawks have a sizable lead, but are so decimated by injuries and playing so horribly – they’ve lost 12 of their last 13 going into challenging games with the Warriors in Oakland and against the Clippers in Los Angeles — it’s almost become a three-team race between the Pistons, Cavaliers and Knicks.
Those three teams are 3, 3.5 and 5.5 games behind the Hawks, respectively. The Pistons and Knicks are 2-8 in their last 10, meaning both have failed to gain much ground. The Cavaliers are “streaking” at 5-5 in their last 10, which has helped vault them back into the conversation after a very disappointing first few months.
The guess here is that Cleveland will eventually emerge with that eighth spot, with Atlanta looking destined to completely collapse and the Pistons and Knicks having too many internal issues (Detroit’s already fired its coach, and Mike Woodson seems set to be axed whenever the Knicks season ends, not to mention the drama surrounding Carmelo Anthony’s impending free agency) to overcome.
Getting feisty in the middle of the East
While the bottom of the East remains awful, there has been a surprising and under-the-radar turnaround for the teams in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
The Nets have recovered nicely from their disastrous start, going 20-8 in 2014 to climb over .500 for the first time all season at 30-29.
But Brooklyn isn’t the only team experiencing a renaissance in the new year. Each of the teams from three through six in the Eastern Conference standings – the Raptors, Bulls, Wizards and Nets – has played better than .500 ball since Jan. 1, and the Raptors, Bulls and Nets are in the top 10 in the NBA in winning percentage since then.
And with the Raptors and Nets having the easiest and second-easiest schedules for the remainder of the season, respectively, and the Bulls above their heads since trading away Luol Deng, that seeding race should only intensify.